While the game is considered by many to be a masterpiece, there are still a couple of things that the sequel could stand to address, such as the lack of underwater exploration, the absence of major Zelda-style dungeons, etc. It appears that Nintendo understands these issues and is working toward building off of them, as an interview from last year with Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that the team is actively working toward making Breath of the Wild 2’s open world map even better than the original. Here are a few games that could inspire BotW 2 to achieve just that.
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Red Dead Redemption 2
Nintendo actually directly referenced Red Dead Redemption 2 as a potential influence for the sequel to Breath of the Wild. During an interview last year, Legend of Zelda series producer Aonuma stated that members of the development team were playing Red Dead Redemption 2 on the side, similarly to how the development team for the original BotW was playing Skyrim at the time. Just like how Skyrim influenced BotW (and probably its sequel as well), Red Dead Redemption 2 could influence Breath of the Wild 2 in some major ways. For one, BotW 2 could borrow RDR 2’s base camp system.
After the events of the first game, Link and Zelda might have to rebuild Hyrule as they know it in Breath of the WIld 2, and a base of operations would provide players the ability to build up resources in order to take on that task. Red Dead Redemption 2’s stranger quests are another thing that would work well in BotW 2, and would give life to an otherwise empty Hyrule. Nintendo should be wary about mimicking everything from RDR 2 though, as the game has an abundance of systems and gameplay mechanics that can prove to be a bit overwhelming at times.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Games of the same general genre tend to borrow from one another anyway, so it’ll make sense if elements found within Assassin’s Creed Odyssey end up finding their way into Breath of the Wild 2 as well. The biggest difference between the two games is the fact that AC Odyssey lets players travel via the sea and allows for underwater exploration. Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask allowed players to travel the open seas and travel underwater respectively, so the precedent is there; Nintendo just has to execute on the idea (although one shouldn’t expect naval combat to be in BotW 2).
Another gameplay element that Breath of the Wild 2 could borrow from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the mercenaries/cultists enemy system (which itself is an iteration of the nemesis system found within the Middle Earth games). Imagine Link and Zelda having to go through a list of leftover Yiga Clan members in the same fashion as those games with tiered enemy networks. Besides reintroducing dungeons into Breath of the Wild 2, the enemy system could also freshen up an otherwise barren Hyrule kingdom.
Minecraft
There are already so many things in common between Minecraft and Breath of the Wild that it wouldn’t be a big deal if BotW 2 took some more ideas from the famous blocky game (Minecraft Dungeons represents the reverse of that idea). Most notably, both games have a deep focus on collecting and utilizing resources. BotW was lauded for allowing players to climb up virtually anything and everything (excluding shrines) but BotW 2 should go a step further and allow for terraforming and digging through earth, similar to Minecraft. If Link and Zelda truly are going to rebuild Hyrule, then they should use some Minecraft shovels.
The sequel to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch, with no confirmed release date.
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