We collect every shred of information on the upcoming Zelda sequel

Update: We've given this article a thorough sweep and added a whole bunch of new information on the biggest game of 2023. Feel free to delve into our BOTW2 TOTK trailer breakdowns and, hopefully, find some answers to your burning questions...

Polishing off the last few shrines and giving Calamity Ganon what-for in the final battle of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a bittersweet act. After such a wonderful, rich journey it was time to bid farewell to Link, Zelda and the largest, most expansive iteration of Hyrule we’d ever visited - what were we going to do with ourselves?

Of course, we returned to devour the DLC and burn across the kingdom on our motorcycle while vacuuming up several hundred Korok seeds, but then began the wait for the next 'proper' Zelda game. Sure, in the intervening time we've had Cadence of Hyrule, the Link’s Awakening remake, the Skyward Sword remake, and Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity, and there are plenty of Zelda-like games available for Switch, but there’s nothing quite like a full-fat Zelda experience.

We already knew that a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild was in development, after Nintendo revealed it during their E3 2019 Direct presentation. But after E3 2020 was cancelled, we didn't get another peek at the game until Nintendo's E3 2021 Direct presentation.

In March 2022, the game was delayed to Spring 2023, as the series producer Eiji Aonuma took to Twitter to announce further delays... and a (very short) clip of the game! Then, in September 2022, Nintendo finally announced a name — The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — and a solid release date: May 12th, 2023. Clear that day in your calendar, pals.

So, grab that Master Sword and let’s get lost (in the woods)...

Absolutely — here's the box art:

We would guess $60/£60/€70. Maybe more.

We're not really sure. Link seems to be in it, Zelda's in it (for a bit, at least), plus a dead guy that looks like Ganondorf, and a Hyrule that has been torn up, with many new islands being launched into the sky by... something. Something bad, presumably. And there are tears... of the... uh... kingdom. Whatever that means.

Read our unhinged and unconfirmed theories instead, if you like!

Yes and no. The Hyrule below seems very similar, but the islands above seem new — they're covered in yellow foliage and temples we've never seen before. There's also evidence of caves we haven't yet explored... but otherwise, a lot of the world does seem very similar. It's up to you whether that's a good or bad thing!

Hard to say. It was, for a long time, called "the Sequel to Breath of the Wild", and some trailers have shown Link and Zelda looking more or less like their BOTW versions... but there are also plenty of elements that could take place before BOTW, too. So who knows!

Slow your Eponas, pal! The game's not even out yet! But... we'd venture a guess at "yes". Eventually.

She might be. That would be a bit of a bummer.

The day we had all been waiting for: The reveal of the release date. And the title! An unexpected double-whammy. This September Nintendo Direct was leaked a little bit ahead of time as a "Zelda blowout", only to be a bit more of a Zelda gentle breeze, but we didn't mind too much with a new 90-second trailer, a release date, and a title.

That title: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

What does it mean? We don't know! You think Nintendo tells us anything about Zelda? Absolutely not.

However, we can speculate... and boy, have we. Read our three pages of Zelda lore theories right here.

But to summarise what we learned for certain from this latest trailer that we didn't already know:

Oh, and we've done a video, too:

Eiji Aonuma announces that the game has been further pushed back to Spring 2023, breaking the hearts of Zelda fans everywhere... but possibly leaving 2022 open for a Wind Waker HD remake, right? Right?

Not much new info was included in this 90-second video, but a small snippet of new footage is still worth analysing and dissecting, so here we go!

We begin the new footage with Link climbing out of the ground, as we've seen before...

But this transitions into Link looking at some glowy orb-thing. Is it important that his sword is glowing blue, and the glowy orb-thing is yellow? Who knows!

Link then reaches for the Master Sword, which we recognise from the hilt, and we see those long, manicured nails... which we mentioned in the E3 2021 teaser breakdown, too (see page two).

But... oh no! The Master Sword is all... melty! And Link's hand is also glowing yellow! The blue/yellow glow has been a prominent feature of past trailers and teasers too, so presumably it means something.

In past Zelda games, the colour blue has represented many things: Magic, the goddess Nayru, the "Wisdom" part of the Triforce, and anything to do with water, like the Zora race. It's also a colour that represents Zelda herself (who possesses the Triforce of Wisdom), and anything to do with spirits and guidance, like Navi in Ocarina of Time, and Fi, the embodiment of the Master Sword, in Skyward Sword.

Yellow, on the other hand, usually represents the desert levels and electricity, but the other two goddesses — Din, the goddess of Power, and Farore, the goddess of Courage — are green and red. It's hard to say if this is even the right avenue to go down! It could just be nice colours!

Link's hand appears to be glowing on the back, which is usually where the Triforce appears. Link's Triforce wedge is the Courage one (Zelda is Wisdom, Ganon(dorf) is Power) — so perhaps yellow represents Courage/Farore in this game? That would make sense, since the dragon Farosh is the equivalent of Farore in this game, alongside Dinraal and Naydra, and Farosh is an... electricity dragon. INTERESTING.

The Master Sword being melty seems quite important, though — in past trailers, we notably haven't seen the Master Sword, as Link's always been using some other weapon. What melted the sword? Is it going to be okay? Is the quest in BOTW 2 going to be all about re-forging the sword? We'll have to wait about a year to find out.

Other important features to note: Link has tattoos, lovely long hair, and an entirely black arm (which could be tattoos, or some kind of arm-curse), and most importantly of all, Link does not have nipples. Is this a plot point? It could be.

Head over to pages two and three to read our breakdowns of the 2021 teaser and the 2019 reveal trailer...

Formerly of Official Nintendo Magazine, GameSpot, and Xbox UK, you can now find Kate's writing all over the internet. She moved to Canada a few years ago, but gets tea imported from England, because she has good priorities.

I know Nintendo have said the game takes place in the same Hyrule but do we think that means the game map will be the same or were they referring more to it taking place in the same timeline/universe as the first?

@Ooccoo_Jr I can't imagine the game map being the same. That would be pretty boring, wouldn't it? A lot of the fun of BOTW was the exploration, and that would be gone. I would guess something happened to change the world drastically.

@Ooccoo_Jr From what you can see in the trailer. Yes, it's the same map, but with minor differences (as expected). Death Mountain is no longer active for example. And the towers are gone (but they could easily be retracted again).

I'm sure, and I hope, there will be more dramatic differences. New towns, locations changed, big dungeons, etc.

@Octane It appears there is a catastrophe beginning at the end of the trailer, which I expect will change the world map drastically.

@roboshort I wouldn't mind them reusing some assets/locales etc in order to speed up production but as you say the exploration was the number one thing that made the first game so great so I really hope we don't lose that. Perhaps the map could extend to the north? Or maybe they will go all Link to the Past on us and introduce a dark world version of Hyrule?

i always felt the the places in botw like the castles and all where probably fully built in dev and then knocked down to ruins for the game. my guess is that it will all thoes places will be fully formed in botw2

@Ooccoo_Jr Yeah. A dark world version might be interesting. I think they should still be able to reuse a lot of assets while still making a lot of changes and improvements to the world... I'm guessing Monolithsoft is behind a lot of the world design and I can't imagine them just doing a recycle job

It would be nice to have Demise as the main vilain. That would force Nintendo to release a remastered version of Skyward Sword before BotW2. Also I wonder if Zelda will be captured the Peach way (5 minutes after the game starts) or if she will be playable on some quests like her ghost in Spirit Tracks.

I believe a 2020 or early 2021 release is entirely possible. Perhaps they covered less on this game in order to wait for a larger reveal at the Games Awards and then a full E3 Treehouse segment next year.

@jockmahon hmm, That's actually a very interesting analogy. I am assuming we will not see any form of the game anytime soon, they must have a lot of development work to do.

@Ooccoo_Jr think about it. If the sheilah ruins are gone, what's the best way to look into another layer of hyrule's past?

Look at the color of the arm sealing Ganomdorf. Look at the ghost fire surrounding the spirits of the king of hyrule and four champions. Look at color of thes motes of light Sheikah monks dissolve into when passing into the afterlife.

Look at the aztec-like(rather than jomon-inspired like the Sheikah) jewelry worn by the arm then the many stony ancient ruins with serpent sculpture of the Zonai, an extinct people of Hyrule that seem to have had a lot in common with Azrec before suddenly disappearing without trace. Or how Ganondorf look like the victim of an Aztec sacrifice here?

Recall how they want to make a game slightly darker than Majora's mask?

We're not going to revisit the events of the past by visiting the past

We'll do it by visiting the realm of the dead themselves.

Hyrule, land/day if the dead edition. At least that's an aesthetic I can bet they could end up using.

They could really open the game up by adding in some much-needed verticality. If Hyrule Castle is off (back) into the sky then having Link he able to explore upwards as well as outwards would be a start.

The first ability that needs adding in to BOTW 2 is the ability to swim and dive underwater. Then they could also add in under sea exploration (look how well they did it in AC: Origins) as well as under lake Floria.

They could also expand some of the barer areas of Hyrule. There was literally nothing of note in the Gerudo Highlands or Faron.

Anything but another dark world or more time travel.

So Nintendo life have exactly the same details about the game, based off the trailer, as us?

@NES_64 THIS is literally my only concern and the only thing I care about! Grinding 900 korok seeds makes up the majority of a 100% completed file. I NEED some of those goodies to transfer over with my previous BotW save data! 😭

It could be set a few years after BOTW so that towns have been rebuilt. More characters to interact with. If just the same landscape we'd get bored quickly.

Or/and maybe a dark world too to shake things up.

I see the trailer much differently. I see the mummy returning, in the process the bridge breaks and it appears Link falls. The underground collapse I think will cause a change in the landscape and I think we will have to guide Zelda on an adventure to find Link, or an amnesia Link back to Hyrule to save the kingdom

Probably reading too much into it... but I got a vibe that MAYBE Zelda will be playable and that there might even be a multiplayer mode. At least that's my hope

isnt that one of the dragons spiraling upwards?

1 thing this missed is the fact that Link is going to lose his right hand. In the trailer we see that the blue glowing arm grabs links right hand, and it slowly starts disintegrating. It seems as though they are following the original concept for Breath of the Wild, where Link had a fake arm that acted as a multipurpose tool. In the concept art Link lost his right hand, just like in the trailer. Also if the gameplay of this game is centered around Links fake arm, then it looks like Zeldas not going to be playable.

@Cartune but what about us that played on the WiiU version. This would be like a double "screw you". First they took away gamepad implementation so the WiiU version wouldnt be superior and then adding extras for people that played on Switch?

@Thorthegreat12 the "now in development" let me to believe this is not for next year. But as they are now launching Zelda games every year I would say next year we will have a HD remaster of one of the GC/Wii era

@Balta666 "I would say next year we will have a HD remaster of one of the GC/Wii era"

the only one in that camp we dont have is Skyward Sword.

@NOOGA Can’t miss what you never had. 🤷🏾‍♂️

@Cartune but we did have it. in WWHD and TPHD and it worked beautifully. As much as you are forced to be in the menus in BotW it really would have come in handy.

@NOOGA I mean, it’s not necessarily a ‘screw you’ to the Wii U owners, I’d look at it as a ‘you missed out’ more so... Think about it. If the Switch owners got a bonus for having completed goodies on their BotW save file, would that really stop the Wii U owners from purchasing the sequel? 🤔

Why is Zelda's new haircut an indicator, that she might be playable? I mean: WHAT?🤪

@Cartune oh, im purchasing it regardless. Im just a little bitter still about the gamepad thing xD

@NOOGA on switch we have none and I hope that is fixed. Actually I would prefer the other two as skyward sword is very close to the bottom of the list in my opinion (and not because of the motion controls)

I’m hoping we get some insights sooner rather than later. Be a bummer to wait until E3 2020 to hear something about it.

The story is not that important, there is so few details in that reveal so first impressions are likely to change. I think it definitely sets a tone, a dark one, so I take that mostly from the tease.

plz l don't want to play as ugly Zelda because l hate her new haircut, l hate her voice, she has an ugly face, and l don't want to play as a girl.

Also if Link is taken away, l would like him as a dark Link and have him to be a boss fight.

@Balta666 i would love a version of skyward sword without motion controls tbh but i do agree that at least WWHD would be a better choice.

If you can play as Zelda, then the title Legend of Zelda finally makes sense. I truly believe that Nintendo made a mistake not naming the game Legend of Link, I mean who's the protagonist in the game?

Super Peach World, Peach Galaxy, Super Peach 64, etc. That's Zelda logic applied to Mario games.

Ganondorf will resurrect, kill Zelda. Link will inherit new time travel capabilities. He will go back 100-150 years in the past to put an end to the beginning of the Calamity and ultimately save Zelda from death at the hands of the resurrected Ganondorf.

The map will primarily be the older Hyrule, so more populous. Whatever Link does to avert crisis in the past will effect the modern Hyrule. Much time travel.

Link will work to stop the Calamity but ultimately see the other version of himself fall right at the 100 year mark when Calamity rises. Then time travel Link will take the place of the fallen hero and end the Calamity.

After the fall of the Calamity in the past Link will return to the new future to greet his resurrected self and they will join forces to end Ganondorf in a co-op battle. Then Zelda will be saved from death and both Links can fight over her because they both want her. “Old” Link will become Dark Link because she prefers “New” Link and “Old” Link will be the ultimate final boss. The history of Hyrule will be written in blood.

@NOOGA unfortunately that doesn’t seem in the cards. Nintendo commented that “it would be nearly impossible to make Skyward Sword without motion controls” in all those Zelda interviews after/during E3.

@NOOGA I don't see how would possible to as the whole gameplay revolves around that gimmick anyway. I suspect that if they ported as rumoured you will have to play with joy cons detached with right one was sword and left one as numchuck

@Supadav03 "it would be nearly impossible" So you're telling me there is a chance?

@Zach777 I came here to post almost exactly this same theory, minus the hokey Back to the Future plot.

My theory: One of the best ways for the devs to reuse the map but make it different enough from BotW is to introduce time travel. Link and Zelda uncover Ganondorf sealed away, they realize that whoever sealed him there (probably the Sheikah) made a mistake by not destroying him completely, now he's escaped and Zelda falls to her death. The glowing hand controls time, and Zelda's death solidifies Link's decision to go back in time. He goes back 100 years to when the Champions were still alive (another gripe fans had in BotW, we were supposed to care about people who we knew were already dead). However, like in OoT, there's only 1 Link. Maybe current Link doesn't actually time travel, maybe he rewinds time altogether (MM) to before he was put in the Shrine of Resurrection 100 years ago. But he retains all the knowledge of what happens, and he knows that his Champion friends will perish if things stay the same. He also knows that the true threat isn't just Calamity, but Ganondorf underneath.

So, Link goes on his own quest because he knows everything they did the first time was a waste of effort. Underground with Zelda, they read the markings on the wall and they learn about the existence of other dungeons around/underneath/above Hyrule that contain some great power that can defeat Ganondorf, and he goes off to find that power. Maybe he convinces the Champions to help him (Medli and Makar style in WW) where their unique Champion powers can come in handy to solving the dungeon puzzles.

By going back in time, entire villages that were wiped out by the Calamity would still be around, which means more NPCs and sidequests. The shrines and the towers wouldn't be around yet. The map could be terraformed a bit here and there to make it different enough. They could include traditional items to breathe new life into the map (i.e. a hookshot you could use like the grapple hook in Arkham, zip up a mountain and pop over it into a glide) because the Sheikah Slate still isn't active. The Master Sword would be powered down, as would Link (back to 3 hearts, no armor upgrades). Keeping him in the future, they would need to come up with some other explanation why his armor/sword/hearts are all back to square one.

They could use this opportunity to tell a truly fantastic story, maybe even a grand retelling of Ocarina, which would help us get over the fact that the map is still relatively the same. The only thing I haven't figured out how to place in my theory yet is the castle rising up. Not sure if that would be in the present or the past, but it would make more sense to be in the past since the towers/shrines are gone from the overworld in the trailer.

I think there will be enough differences to make the sequel worth playing. I trust that with Monolith Soft's help there will be new areas to explore and more enemy variety and I'm excited. I'm switching back and forth between normal mode( trying for 100% completion) and master mode right now waiting for Link's Awakening to release.

@nintendolie It's "The Legend of Zelda" not "The Adventures of Zelda". Also, why isn't "Metroid" called "Samus"?

i just hope they get rid of that weapon/shield durability thing or at least give them a cool-down period like the master sword has. i also would like the ability to fuse weapons and shields together rather then the waste it is to have to toss them out for better ones

A theory I have goes along with the Demise is back plot. The glowing hand belongs to Ghirrahim who's back for his master one more/last time. Those kind of look like his arm bands too. "But it saves Link"! Does it? All that's shown is it grabs Link's arm while possibly taking his other one at a different point. Could also help with finally being Zelda if he takes out or captures Link.

@MrBlacky a technical indication. Long hair is difficult to animated in real time and avoid surrounding items.

I just want to travel through a living world this time... More towns, more people, more enemies and creatures.

@Zequio http://img07.deviantart.net/15a0/i/2017/117/a/5/link_in_ancient_armor_by_enriquearreguin777-db7bml9.jpg 🙄

I need this game next year. I'm not banking on it coming next year, but I'm not ruling it out. It could be a holiday 2020 game for sure. Prime 4 could be the holiday game for 2021. At least that's my thought. Probabaly not right though 😋

@Balta666 It’s been “now in development” a lot longer. I think the reason they chose those words was to not commit to a release frame and also inform people who may not already be aware it’s at that stage. The project has been in development since the end of Breath of the Wilds in planning stages. Then, as described in Master Works, the actual game making had begun prior to the interview in December 2017. Since then we’ve seen countless job listings and positions offered for development. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility at all that this game is coming out in 2020. Core design principles have been set through the engine and art style, so it is highly likely this project will be streamlined in development. At the end of the day, this is speculation. I don’t know where they are with the game, but I’m hopeful that we could see it in 2020/2021. That being said, King Zell has mentioned a 2020 Zelda game if you “liked botw”.

Multiplayer would be a dream come true

I like how this seems to be taking a darker turn. I can, however, wait...until after I finally play and finish BotW.

Guarantee they've been building this for over a year now, ever since they finished the DLC they would have been working on this. I reckon a year from now we'll see it, either holiday '20 or Q1'21 would make the most sense.

I also reckon it'll be the same world but a lot of it rebuilt, more towns and NPCs. I hope this happens too as after playing AC Oddysey for the past 5 months it made me realise how few sidequests are in BoTW

@NES_64 That's totally what I was thinking too! I would love if they had that feature

All I'm hoping is that they'll reconsider, and have it also supported on the Wii U, because that's the only console I own. I personally don't care if it is released a month later, or costs $10 extra.

@BotW2WiiU Atleast now I know that I aint alone

Can they get rid of the bullcrap weapon degradation?

And add in more stock Zelda stuff like large dungeons.

BOTW was interesting but as Zelda games go I don't think it was quite what I was looking for. Link's Awakening is much more what I like to see in a Zelda game.

They can change up some things but the core needs to stay relatively stable. It was like if Sony made God of War 4 a first person shooter.

@sword_9mm that's a horrible example. Many, many OG Zelda fans like myself completely connect with BotW as the modern realization of what we first played on the NES. This is the Zelda we had back then, met with the 3D in-world experience first introduced in Ocarina. Sure, it's missing some of what people expected with the repeated themes that were begun with Ocarina, but Hyrule as we knew it is destroyed. What would you expect? The whimsy of that world was lost and they've been just-surviving for 100 years. What exactly were you missing in BotW? The Zelda theme and Field of Hyrule music? An Ocarina? I mean, imagine a handful of looping overworld songs while you're wandering and exploring for 20 hrs... That's guaranteed obnoxious. And as for the weapon degredation, I think it's a refreshing idea the keeps battle and survival hand-in-hand, as it should be. You can't just take hit after hit on a shield and not expect it to split at some point. Likewise with a weapon. Some weapons are more brittle than others (stupidly brittle in some cases) but that's called variety and unexpected circumstances.

I wasn't talking about the music.

The weapon degradation is awful and is awful in EVERY game ever. I also don't want to mix potions, cook food, or any of that micromanagement BS. We have Elder Scrolls games for that. Adding odd-ball realism type things to a Zelda game is silly imo. How about they do the same to Mario. No you can't jump like that; find the step stool and ladders....

The shrines are BORING. The larger dungeons are much more interesting. Maybe not even dungeons but different areas to complete.

Look; it's nice they tried something different but I'd have rather they made a new series than to put Zelda in it.

Different strokes for different folks. I'm glad you enjoyed it but I've basically given up on it.

I hope that Zelda and Link are both playable in the next game with their own unique ways of dealing with things and perhaps their own dungeons.

@sword_9mm fair enough. But I think you may be in the minority on a couple of those points. I agree that they could do with a change in the food/health replenishment department. But we aren't going backwards to hearts manifesting from grass cuttings. As for the jump mechanic, I just don't understand your point there...

One of the things I thought after finishing BotW was how much more fun it could be with online co-op, one as Zelda, one as Link or something. More dungeons and a mix between exploring and a set path for story wouod be welcome, as well.

@Ooccoo_Jr It would be cool to have a sort of dark world with tons of portals, and a minecraft nether type thing where distance travelled in the dark world is three times as much in the real world

My guess, based on the trailer, is that the castle is going to be destroyed/sink underground and this event will alter the complexion of the whole map. Think WoW: Cataclysm.

As someone who subscribes to RSS... please stop pushing minor edits into RSS broadcasts if possible. I have no idea why I keep seeing the same articles over and over but it gets really tiresome.

@RadioHedgeFund Couldn't agree with you more. Underwater exploration really felt like missing in BoTW. Dungeons as well - but that's been already said like 1 million times. Or more.

The sky exploration possibility is also very interesting but in my opinion cannot compare with the underwater one.

Sure thing is they can do lots of staff in order to deliver us a fresh experience revisiting the same Hyrule. And I totally trust they can nail it because if they is a game designer out there in the world I put my blind trust on is Eiji Aonuma and his team.

Those HD remakes titles after all seem like a substitute for heroin when compared to the PURE DOPE a brand new Zelda title offer.

In Japan, it is often tradition that when they cut their hair short (into a Bob), it is the start of a new era in their lives. Zelda spent her life being ruled and burdened by the task of harnessing this power that she had no time to herself with what she wanted. Now that she is free from that, she started a new era of her life where she can live life how she wants along with her appointed Knight, link.

next year is Zelda 35th Anniversary so they will release BOTW sequel next year to celebrate it

I would think that BOTW 2 would be a holiday title for this year, as they have nothing else so far, they like like to promote holiday titles early on in the year, and they are running out of series that can hold that spot. The rumored Mario celebration stuff is still a rumor, and that can’t really carry Nintendo throughout a holiday, especially not a Holliday where two consoles are potentially releasing

If they reuse this map, it will completely seal Nintendo's fate as one of the laziest companies in the video game industry.

Seriously no information from all this write ups whatsoever Or you have no idea what you guys are publishing. You have to wait for the developers to give a hint than writing in circle in other to gardener views. You guy's made no point atleast for me. The only good thing you did was mere suggestions like releasing next year due to what's happening recently around the globe.

@thechetearly why? That means that they are using their resources well and that they are trying to be creative using the resources they hav

@thechetearly I still don't believe, it will be the same map as in BotW. How could there suddenly be dungeons or anything, if you explored every corner in this world already?

@ChrisDono OR far in the future or past. The basic terrain could be the same or similar, but you could implement new stuff like dungeons and what not.

@NES_64 interesting, but the idea of transferring your home or items wouldn't really be fitting. It can't be canonically explained how a home or items you bought in the future came back into a past time (the game is a prequel)

@thechetearly Facts. Odyssey was good, BOTW is their main hit to this day, the most effort into a 1st party game I've seen. Pokemon sword is a joke.

i hope the game wont be a co-op that would not make a sense for this type of series at all

The castle is not blasting off to sky or anything like that. To me, it just looks like there happens some sort of explosion on the base of the castle. "500 feet..." what the hell? More like, if it really floats, it's like 5 centimeters above the ground. Sarcasm aside, if the castle really floats, it'll probably just gain 10 meters or something like that off the ground.

I think Zelda has a new haircut so it's easier to animate. This would suggest Zelda might be a playable character in this game. I wouldn't rule out co-op play with Link and Zelda.

So excited to maybe play as Zelda!

Breath of the Wild 2 will be delayed till 2022. Though not a "Switch Pro" exclusive, it will display a higher color fidelity on Nintendo's upcoming revised console. Similar to the differences of how Hyrule Warriors Legends appears between the 3DS & 'New' 3DS, but better.

Just wondering, could the new sky stuff be things from an ancient past? Maybe the way they sealed Ganondorf before?

All we know so far is that it will be AMAZING!!!

I'm very intrigued about how Link looks like the tapestry hero... I really hope it's because he IS the same hero. This would mean time travel, and I'm honestly all for it! Everything looks great so far!

Has anyone else noted how the first three notes of Zelda's Lullaby play during the last scene with the floating castle?? If you ask me, that seems to be the most important thing in the whole trailer. HMMM....

The first trailer had me assume that it would be the same BotW map, but with underground locations added.

Now the 2nd trailer makes it seem that its whats above ground that will be added.

Ideally, both, as one or the other wouldn't seem like it would add too much new area to explore to the base game map.

I think you're going to be moving between the BOTW Hyrule, with Gannon sealed away again and the AOC Hyrule were the calamity was averted altogether.

In BOTW the Sheikah tech was all but destroyed and the people would be afraid of any attempts to move technology forward, where in AOC Hyrule would have complete control over not just current tech, but with the help of the tiny guardian, would be able to recreate an almost Sheikah level society again.

So the primitive looking "link" could be from the BOTW timeline, while "link" from the AOC might be a Sheikah cyborg by now, explaining the arm.

@AlexOlney Link's hair Is different...

Ok, bear with me, but I synched up the trailer with Rodea the Sky Soldier's original advert. And it's glorious how the music kicks in just at the ray of light and Link is free falling. (goes a bit serious at the 2022 date hahaha!)

This game is looking beautiful

How will be the story? I have the feel that this game will have the same story as the first except this time a twist.

reminding everyone that theyre still working on a game announced last year and not giving a more precise release date than "2022... maybe" is not what I would call a show win.

We know Hyrule Castle is going to be lazily circled by flexible black & red neon energy beams again like it already was for the entirety of the first game.

The floating castle makes me think this game will be called Breath of the Chaos Emeralds. Remember how the island in Sonic lifted up from the emeralds? Yep, we just confirmed a Zelda/Sonic crossover.

In all honesty though, I’m beyond excited for this! Thanks for the breakdown; I was I’m hoping ya’ll would do something like this, pointing out the details for us folks who are too lazy to play that reverse audio in the correct direction. See you in 2022!

It's going to be released in March next with the Switch Pro. Believe me, I know!

@GrailUK I won’t ask why 😅 but great idea. Also agree

@kducky11 It's really feel good. Especially if you can nail the drums with the flash of light

@Rhaoulos if only he can return. Imo the way he was banished or killed(l don't remember the very ending of the boss) it seems like he won't return. But l remember that he was fun to fight👍 But l hated the part when the motion is sensitive that link won't have his sword powering up because l have to be perfectly straight. xD

@NotTelevision okay, not quite sure why you and others are saying "2020" instead of "2021" or "2022" or "2023"

Is it just me? or are there a few posts in this thread that seem out of wack with the years?

Here's everything I know about botw2....day 1!!!

@dugan Check the dates of each comment (to the right of each name). Most of these comments are from an earlier version of the same article from 2019.

Kind of annoying how NintendoLife reposts old articles with the old comment sections, but maybe it's a quirk of the website OS. Other websites do the same thing, so maybe they share the same framework.

A PORTAL like portal.... isn't a portal a portal... most portals in my experience with the word in movies, books, and video games is a mystical opening from point A to B .... PORTAL the game didn't invent portals.

Looks more like Zelda in half of those scenes. When (what is clearly) Link is on the ground, there is not a single floating island. My guess is Zelda falls into the pit, and somehow ends up in a different time (10000 years ago?), Leaving Link in the present. Maybe you switch back and forth between them, fighting Ganon in the past and present. Would at least explain why the "ground" scenes don't have floating islands anywhere.

Teasers years and years after a teaser. Oh Nintendo... why?

Remember how people thought we’d get a grand awesome underworld to explore lmao sorry that’s not Aonuma Style who has very clearly taken over full creative control again after feeling threatened so say hello to the vast empty sky world full of interrupting NPCs and puzzles that can only be solved one way.

@Optimist80 As much as Nintendo is deeeeeeep into courting body pillow loving waifu creeps now I doubt they’d go as far as give us topless Zelda.

@SalvorHardin lmao. I had to go back and watch the trailer again. It does look like the person may be partially topless on that opening scene. I still stick with my time travelling theory however, even if it's always Link.

I was gonna say, I could do without more zoomed in images of Zelda's face, but then I saw the 3rd picture in and I just laughed at myself

Well, to whoever plays this stuff, I hope you're super excited, and I hope you get a great many hours of fun out of it.

NINJA APPROVED FOR YOUS GUYS

@roboshort Well whatever caused the Castle to rise up seem to have created a massive earthquake doing so. Judging by the many ruined structures and bridge in BOTW, I can at the very least expect a few to collapse. The Great Tabantha Bridge, rickety wooden misrepaired mess that it is, in particular feels like a likely target of such change/collapse.

So that will likely force some players to explore at the very least alternate routes they weren't used to take when they played BotW to reach some of these regions.

There's also the possibility of stuff 'unearthed' by that quake. Or other malice-infested area because of that mess spilling out of the hole.

I also suspect the breach of Demise, that weird bonelike canyon, will be a target of Some Changes. Especially with all the ties to Skyward this game seem to be throwing(am I the only one who noticed that Lich Ganon's long waistcloth and long unbound hair gives a proto-Demise look?).

@Optimist80 My own theory about "Sky Link" is not time travel oddly enough... but close. We know that the hero is a reincarnation, just like the princess. So while there's been "other" Links.... as a reincarnation they're ultimately all the same individual, just their appearance for a new era.

Meanwhile the sky islands have... an invisible sacred vibe to them. And the teleportation seemingly the mean to access them make me think they're not as much in normal space that it is.

So when you're there I suspect that you don't as much travel in time than simply appear, due to the sacred realm-like influence of the place, as your "true" self. I.e.: you're not the Link of any era, but rather what the "OG Link" at the start of the reincarnation chain could have looked like.

Kind of like the Dark World of A Link to the Past but instead of a bunny you appear as the "true" self of Link to the metaphysical eyes of the world so to speak.

Of course it's not a theory without flaw; "Sky Link" seem to be able to get his own specific sets of gears so to speak.

This said... I might expect some time travel from this game. Just not the kind people expect.

This look like a VERY powerful Ganondorf. Maybe beyond the peaks we've seen in the past titles. With aeons of hatred borne from imprisonment and his lifeforce slowly leeched((I have a theory that the "ancient energy" ancient sheikah tapped into originally without realizing it might have been the real trapped Ganondorf all along))... his hate and thus power is even stronger than even. Demonic even.

And there's the other thing; a lot of asian mythology and cosmology see time not as a linear line, but as a circle or wheel which turns in cycles. So I half wonder if time travel might not play in BOTW2's ending.... by facing a Ganondorf now too strong for the reincarnation of the goddess to seal anymore... but perhaps still not powerful enough to face the actual goddess... in the past.

Thus ergo the sealing of Ganon in another fashion: by sending him in the past, to face Hylia herself. And in the doing... becoming Demise, creating a perfect circle cosmology. Demise is the one who reincarnate in Ganondorf... who might end up being sent from the very end of the Zelda timeline(BOTW2) to the very start(pre-Skyward Sword) to become Demise in the first place. The beginning would be the end and the end would be the begining.

Mind you it's a fair stretch but lots of folks are noting how Luminous stones look like unrefined version of Skyward's Timeshift stones that were capable of localized timeshifts. Meanwhile the Temple of Time had the biggest refined timeshift stone in Skyward Sword implied to be the reason for time travel in Ocarina of Time. And there IS still a Temple of Time in BOTW.

@Ludovsky I haven't played a Zelda game since Zelda 64, is what you just described where the story is, now?

Looks to me, that the "prequel theory" us no longer holding to what is showing in the trailer. Looks more like a sequel to me.

i hope it is not coop as coop does not really work in the Zelda games....the Zelda franchise is about almost methodical approach to exploration, it is not the game which dictates the tempo but the player himself/herself ...coop/MP always broke this formula and that's the reason why it just never worked

I'm calling it. The player character is zelda. We never get a good look at the player character's face. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

Will it run at 60fps tho? That's what I'm most concerned about. I loved botw but playing a 30fps game on a 120fps monitor isn't exactly the most pleasant thing

Nobody is pointing out there are no visible shrines or towers. Also the segments where ‘Link’ is in the sky, the Tabantha area has no visible Stable where it should be. This has led me to believe (combined with Bill Trinens note on the title) that we will go back 10 000 years ago to the era where the Sheikah were banished. We see Zonai ruins in the sky, but much less decayed - I feel this is another justification for the possible time mechanic inclusion. Going between old/current Hyrule will being that freshness I feel a lot of fans were looking for with the reuse of the map. Obviously this is all a theory, but I have looked in depth into many elements of the trailer - the whole concept of inversion being a repeated motif is important! The music and continuity of events in the trailers are played back and fourth and I feel this is all speaking into a broader thematic meaning. Time will tell - but tell me what you guys think!

Who else expected a joke article with one word: nothing

@AlexOlney Yeah it's cool but ***** the first game was already so hard and Ganon again? I thought he was dead for hell! I would be fine if it wasn't the same bad guy. Well, holy crap! I'm so ***** excited for this game, I was waiting for this! But next time, I hope Ganon is gone!

I was just thinking the other day if they can’t give us new games then how about the 3 below all on one cartridge as remaster type release. Wind waker Super Mario Galaxy 2 Metroid Prime

That covers Adventure, platform and shooter.

@Dezzy70 I don't think there's any precedent for this kind of release whatsoever. Multiple games in the same series, of course that's happened. But across three main IPs? In short... lmao no

Launch title for Switch “Pro”. Same thing happened for BotW.

@Bret Just thought it might be something nice Nintendo could do to burden the BOTW delay.

Of course I would much rather prefer new AAA in house game maybe a Mario Odyssey 2 or DK platform game, but it all seems very go slow at Nintendo house at the moment.

I want an option of pink nails.

@solidox Problem is that BOTW does not have the graphics to promote a Switch Pro.

Forget about Botw2, stop trying to make capital from it. Something has gone wrong for it to be delayed. My guess, it was not as good as Botw1. Maybe they are on their third attempt.

@zool Botw 1 got delayed more than this game has buddy, that game definitely wasn't bad, that's just something that happens to basically every 3D Zelda game. Just means that they're trying to improve it, "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad" - Shigeru Miyamoto

@FroZtedFlakerZz sometimes to much is expected from a delayed game and gamers are left disappointed.

Five or six years is not rushed, I'd say Nintendo are dragging their feet. Most things have deadlines and they are they are there for a reason.

A delayed game is a delayed game, no one is working on it. If the game isn't broken then it's finished. Nintendo for their own reasons don't want it release yet. And that will be financial.

@chipia True you would expect it to run on the current spec but in a new 3DS fashion, running in native 4k, HDR, 60fps, more foliage, increased draw distance on a more powerful device would be a system seller. They needed more time for the first title as well.

I'm so excited by the thought of traveling through the skies. It seems like this game will have exactly what Skyward Sword was lacking.

There have been times that courage was yellow/gold instead of green, eg Phantom Hourglass. But it is on the back of his dominant hand, so I'm leaning toward Triforce

@zool I doubt that for all the reasons previously stated but you do you, seriously look up how often mainline 3D Zelda games get delayed and for how long, this is not uncommon. I don't doubt financial reasons could play into it as well though!

Sometimes too much IS expected from delayed games, but not with Nintendo really, if you can give me 3 big examples of first party delayed Nintendo games that turned out bad I'll give you a lollipop.

Also, delayed games almost ALWAYS have people working on them, I listen to several podcasts with people previously from the games industry, some rom Nintendo itself, a game being delayed means that they want to work on it more, not that it isn't being worked on.

Hope this clears up your confusions.

I hope they don't turn BOTW into a Skyward Sword/Windwaker combination with many many random small islands lost in the sky and have lots of travelling with a bird, and that will be that extra something from BOTW and not the main game. (You see, I don't like Windwaker and Skyward Sword that much, I prefer TP and OOT) One more year to know!

@roboshort im assuming sky with link and underground with zelda and a pretty different overworld to really make breath of the wild's hyrule shine like never before

They were always going to have to nerf the Master Sword in some way

@FroZtedFlakerZz I am not confused.

Botw2 is finished and is sitting on a shelf somewhere. Why? Only Nintendo know, but the most lightly reason is financial, or they are keeping it to launch on a new console.

Let's not forgot that the Switch is the least powerful console of the three and maybe it has been struggling to keep up with the old hardware.

Hopefully Breath of the Wild 2 will have an actual soundtrack.

@zool Either you're funny or a ding dong and I sadly expect the latter to be true.

My guts saying some sort of loftwing will return there's statues of them probably Robbie is making one like the mastercycle to whiz around on

We still hardly know anything about the sequel other than it looks similar to BotW but a lot sky areas now which isn’t anything new. I just hope there is more to this that they are leaving out of these trailers otherwise it will just be botw 1.5

Until they confirm some solid soundtrack samples and/or dungeons.. I'm not going to get too excited for this game. Breath of the Wild was a HUGE letdown for me and my second least favourite Zelda of all time (After Phantom Hourglass).

Skyward Sword mechanism. 10/10 already for it. I don't like the Wii one but I love the Switch one. I also have been reading the Manga for the Legend Of Zelda recently now. It's pretty good.

@Mauzuri it's worse than Zelda 2 imo lol

@Mauzuri I'm not blaming you, it can be pretty glitchy but it is really good to me. I got teleported through a floor in a shrine and kept dying and dying and couldn't leave until I turned my game off. Then when I went back it just glitched still. In the exact shrine. From one of those tiny Guardians that knocked me over.

Without spoiling anything (since I might still play it someday)... I wonder if anything that happened or was shown in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is relevant to the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom story or reveals any clues?

Would be a good time to put that on sale, but y'know.. Ninten-don't-do-deep-discounts.

@wuntyme8 The only thing I can tell you is that there are some important factors in that game...I won't specify what or how they relate to TotK, and I sincerely hope no one else does either.

Given this descrption from the official Tears of the Kingdom website that mentions an "expanded world that goes beyond" Hyrule and the skies above, it's clear that Nintendo is indeed hiding stuff from these trailers.

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