The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is on the way, and though it’s been some time since the original trailer released, fan expectations for the best-selling Switch game’s sequel have only gotten higher. The new game appears to take place after the events of the first Breath of the Wild, and the trailer sees Link and Princess Zelda exploring the ruins of Hyrule castle before discovering what appears to be the corpse of Ganon, just as he reanimates and the castle itself appears to begin lifting off from its foundations.
While Zelda was trapped in battle with Calamity Ganon for the majority of the last game, the Princess’ big role in the trailer has led many to speculate that she could be playable in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. While this might strike some fans as unlikely given the series’ track-record and formula, there are a few reasons that a playable Princess Zelda could be key to the success of Breath of the Wild’s upcoming sequel.
Zelda has rarely been a playable character in the franchise so far, and the Legend of Zelda franchise is known for its formula. The player character is Link, the Hero of Time, tasked with rescuing Princess Zelda from an evil known as Ganon – or Ganondorf in his Gerudo form – using the Master Sword and often parts of the Triforce. Often each game can be seen a sort of soft reboot of the Zelda story, with different Links and Princess Zeldas almost every game (although the truth is slightly more complicated). One way the series has broken from this formula have been the times the games have had direct sequels.
For example, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time follows the formula quite closely. Its sequel, Majora’s Mask, which is supposed to continue the story of the same Link from Ocarina, breaks from that story structure to tell a tale with a new villain. This makes it likely that, if any game was going to break the formula and give players a playable Zelda, it would be a direct sequel like Breath of the Wild 2.
There are important reasons that a playable Princess Zelda could be vital to the success of Breath of the Wild 2. Nintendo has already confirmed that the game will take place on the same map of Hyrule as the original The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While this makes sense, it also risks making that map less exciting to explore for the first time. By making Zelda a playable character, Nintendo could find a way around this.
Over the course of the first Breath of the Wild, the player can discover the Sheikah Towers that allow them to uncover the map on their Sheikah Slate. As they regain control of each of the four Divine Beasts, they also gain new abilities from the spirits of each of the champions they free. They gain Mipha’s Grace, a healing ability; Daruk’s Protection, a magical shield; Revali’s Gale, an updraft for flying using the paraglider; and Urbosa’s Fury, a lightening-charged spin attack that can hit enemies at long ranges.
Each of these abilities, particularly Revali’s Gale, has an effect on how the player explores the landscape of Hyrule. If Princess Zelda was her own playable character with her own special abilities which affected how she traversed the game’s map, her inclusion could go a long way towards making the original map of Hyrule from the first game feel fresh and worth exploring once again.
It’s not clear what these abilities could be yet, but the inclusion of a rewind sound effect in the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer implies that the manipulation of time from previous games could be returning as a theme in the next Breath of the Wild. In the trailer it appears that some kind of rewind effect is taking place, allowing Ganon to come back to life in some form. However, it could also be a power which Link and Zelda could take on.
Another option is simply that Link himself has new abilities in the upcoming sequel; that’s not to mention that it’s possible that being able to switch back and forth between Zelda and Link could accommodate a wider array of playstyles. It would also allow Nintendo to avoid having to explain why the Link from the first Breath of the Wild had forgotten his gifts from the champion, though it remains unclear in general how Nintendo plans to handle Link’s power at the start of the next game considering the fact that he’s just defeated Calamity Ganon and should technically be at his most powerful.
Both Zelda and Link, as well as the other champions seen in spirit-form in the first game, are now playable in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Nonetheless, the introduction of Princess Zelda as a playable character in the “main” series could be an elegant way for Nintendo to switch things up in Breath of the Wild 2 and make the kingdom of Hyrule feel worth exploring once again. Until more information is released by the Big N, however, fans will have to wait and see.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has no release date yet but will also be available for Switch.
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