Breath Of The Wild's Sequel Came From Having Too Many DLC Ideas, Aonuma Says

Good problem to have. At least for us.

I'm glad it ended this way

I wouldn't want BotW to turn out like the Destiny series, good call.

I will always, always, prefer a new game over DLC.

No problems here! The work that went into the engine for the first game is begging to be used again.

I stopped playing this game when I found out the world resets after you beat Ganon. Like what is the point, why even bother?

Question, wasn't there supposed to be new DLC anyways? Or not anymore?

@Swaz No it doesn't. You will continue from the point before fighting Ganon, but the world will definitely not reset.

And yet the worst ideas made it to the $20 cut, saving the best for a $60 game.

@KoopaTheGamer The world resets to right before you beat him, I find that kinda lame.

Hopefully this means the sequel has been in development since well before the DLC was announced.

I'd be happy with a 2021 release to make sure this is the tits.

I was admittedly disappointed that it takes place in the same world, and thought I might as well just play Master Quest, but then I realized this sequel has an opportunity to add new enemy AI, and fix issues from the original game as well. We could get more enemies... or bosses that are more like Yiga Master Kohga or Monk Maz Koshia, rather than Ganon Blights, and story might be told during gameplay instead of through flashbacks... Who knows, Link might actually talk this time!

@Swaz I heard a friend say this to me (who had actually not played the game) and I was confused as to where he heard this from. Its absolutely not accurate.

Unless what you're getting at is that the game doesn't continue post Ganon's defeat. Which would have been cool. But that's a bit different than the world resetting. That sounds like you start back at the Great Plateau from the beginning

@Swaz it does this in every Zelda game.

@Swaz I think this was the best solution for replayability. This way you can refight Ganon anytime you want. Not to mention, this makes sense storywise because without Ganon's influence, Guardians wouldn't cause any risk at all.

@Swaz that's cos it's the end of the game!! This is such an illogical reason for stopping playing. BotW is one of the finest games ever made. I made sure I found all the shrines before finally beating Ganon knowing that after the end fight I would take a rest from the game. Then the DLC came along so was straight back in.

@KayFiOS we know some of it is based in the same world. There is no way Ninty would expect us to re-explore the same world. Nah, that would be boring. IMO there's gonna be whole new areas/world/timeline to explore for sure.

This is great news and all, but since we’ll likely be waiting until 2022 or later for a release, I’d rather not know anything until 6 months prior to launch.

As I get older, I’m not a fan of getting teases and announcements when the releases are years away.

I am still hoping for a parallel world or time travel: A Link Between Wilds. Make the parallel world as dark as the mountain and the forest in A Link to the Past.

That's great, I just hope they don't gimp the next Xenoblade by taking two thirds of it's developers this time.

@KayFiOS and yes please more bosses, temples, better items, less focused on survival and more focused on story progression (dark story please) and Link will never talk, he communicates in grunts.

I just want some more water content. Underwater caves, shrines and temples, swimming improvements, diving, fishing rods, etc. And proper boats too.

I hope its different enough but I have never been disappointed by zelda game.. except for Minish cap

So like super mario galaxy 2 then

I still have serious doubts since it reuses the same map. There would have to be insane changes in the enemy bases placement + the addition of proper dungeons. And what is to be with the current shrines?

@Kalmaro Exactly, that certainly came to mind when I read about this.

I always felt this was going to be the case because even though I very much enjoyed the DLC, it felt constrained. There was definitely this feeling of them holding back for a sequel. I hope they deliver!

@Spanjard yeah, the DLC never interested me and the difficulty increase was just adding more health. No thanks :/

New game beats dlc any day of the year.

I could see an alternate world (not necessarily a dark world) using the same (or similar) map. Maybe that world could be the source of that green energy with the hand holding down Ganondorf. It could explain some changes to the geography. Maybe the Shrines & Castle could be areas where you go to switch between worlds. Aaannnd fingers crossed that themed or at least varied dungeons make an appearance in this alternate world.

@Rhaoulos No thanks. That's such an overused element in Zelda.

I'm more than okay with this, I'll happily take a brand new Zelda game.

Too many ideals for DLC for Zelda, but none for Mario Odyssee? Come on Nintendo..Were waiting.

I hope they implement some type of co-op in this!

@KoopaTheGamer I do agree with @Swaz somewhat though, even though I've been playing Zelda since the original on NES, which is the only game that actually doesn't start from before you defeat Ganon. It actually starts you on the Master Quest (without having to use the name "ZELDA" at the character creation screen. After you beat the Master Quest, it does not reset. Ganon is simply not there, while everything else is the same (like all other bosses in every other dungeon).

In Breath of the Wild, I kind of felt like it was pointless to go through all the trouble to defeat Ganon and will certainly not do it more than the one time I did. I think it would have been great to have the game evolve so that even after defeating Ganon, the Guardians become more unpredictable on their own, making them harder to defeat.

I would love if they did something like AC: Odyssey did with some of the DLC. Puts the ZBOTW season pass to shame.

But at least maybe get this one done faster now. Either way I am buying it.

@Tyranexx And to top it off, this time completely free from the whole Wii U co-development chains, that in certain respects definitely held the Switch version back.

This new Zelda game will be using the same engine, but it will still be built from the ground up for the Switch only.

Games that actually could use some new dlc... Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Party.

I believe it. The first game was packed with too many storylines as is. There was the actual game (100 years after Hyrule's Fall), Hyrule's Fall (100 years prior and in flash backs) and then the Guardian War which prompted the events of Hyrule's Fall in the first place. They could do a Trilogy and still have left over material.

It would be funny if all the dungeons that people were complaining about missing were buried beneath Hyrule, the same as the towers and shrines had been. Depending if this is the New Kingdom Hyrule established after spirit tracks or Old Kingdom Hyrule there could be a lot of lore for that.

I like a lot of people's ideas listed here, it gets me excited to think about. If we get a new map, I hope it involves the borders beyond Hyrule, and/or some kind of subterranean kingdom. I think that would make most sense, being a direct sequel, the terrain of Hyrule would presumably be the same. Well, unless the end of that trailer is teasing some crazy geological shifts...

@xxMeepsxx I'm pretty sure we'll see a Super Mario Odyssey 2 with how successful the first game has been. Nintendo will probably release a port of SM3D World and get that out the way before it's announced.

@ThanosReXXX Normally I'd say that I definitely can't wait - which is true - but I should probably get around to the first game before this one. XD I WILL have a Switch by the end of this year.

Did Link have the Sheika Slate in that trailer? I wonder if the next game will also use those mechanics. That’s the key difference here. If Link had to acquire all those abilities slowly then BOTW would have been much different.

They will do a great job either way. I like almost all Zelda games in every style. I’m having fun just going to new places and looking under rocks and exploring little things I missed. There are even some fun NPC conversations in the Wild I missed the first and second time around.

I really, really hope they'll put in the aliens this time. Seeing that alien invasion concept art made me wish they put it in.

@KoopaTheGamer They totally could've handwaved it by having the corruption/blood moons/etc. continue after "defeating" Ganon, so Zelda had to go away to find the cause (setting up the sequel?), and you were free to keep exploring.
The end took away any enthusiasm I had to keep playing - I didn't really want to go back before defeating Ganon, even though I really wanted more Zelda. Sure, every Zelda game does this. But does it have to?
The DLC did get me back in for a bit. But at this point I just want a new game.

@beazlen1 HAAAAH!!

Hyped for this! Loved BotW.

A DLC should be always as an after-thought and not beforehand ready DLC. Just like in some other gamestudios who finished the game and having DLC ready, it makes me wanna puke. Glad a sequel is coming. They can put much much more to it this way

@rushiosan Worst ideas? Are you blind? That Tingle costume could easily justify the price of three whole games

@Swaz so you want to play a game where you can do nothing except cooking, climbing, fishing and cutting grass or gliding around? Without any enemies left, without any challenges left, without any guardians, shrines with guardians and monsters etc? making most quests impossible to beat after you have beat Ganon?

@Swaz but... It doesnt

More enemy variety would be welcome. Probably my biggest complaint with the first game. Maybe the ability to repair weapons/shields as well.

Understandable with BotW being a Wii U game, long term BotW support would've meant Nintendo not being able to drop Wii U support. Shame that there wasn't a final piece of DLC that allowed both health and stamina to be maxed out though.

Hopefully BotW 2 goes the further DLC support route.

I'm glad they have a lot of new ideas. The DLC as it stands was rubbish.

So this has been in the works for the last 2 years then by the sounds of it. I'm thinking this is going to be here 2020. The game engine and environment is already so highly tuned. BOTW was almost bug free. So I can see this getting on quickly. Also with no need for Wii-u support should have more headroom to play with

I would rather them do a brand new game than just getting more DLC

Glad that some developers still realize when they need to stop working on their Frankenstein monster, and get on with a new game.

@TooBarFoo I agree with you - I think this is holiday 2020. I may be setting myself up for disappointment, but like you said - it's likely already been in development for a while, and reusing the same engine and many of the same assets should greatly reduce development time.

So why was its actual DLC largely just copy and pasted form the main game?

I'm glad they're making a sequel instead, let's just hope you don't have to pay to see how the map tracks you or to power up the Master Sword.

As for the main game, how about some legendary weapons/shields that don't break and maybe not take the Master Sword off you every 5 minutes oh and some dungeons and a bit more story. Everything else was pretty much perfect

@Swaz No, it doesn't. You continue to do the rest of the missions after you beat Ganon. The only thing that resets is Ganon's fight.

Oh cr*p, is this gonna be a new game with a bunch of unrelated DLC ideas thrown together?

@Swaz it doesn't at all

yep that is a better idea than having bunch of DLC, just 2much so yeah l rather to download a game instead of dlc.
Also it will take up less data

@Tyranexx Whaaat?? Still don't have a Switch? This is beginning to look suspiciously similar to the Blu-ray player debacle...

You could have gotten Breath of the Wild on Wii U, though. There really isn't all that much of a difference. In fact, in some respects, the Wii U version is actually better, which is another reason why I'm looking forward to the sequel, for the very reason I mentioned earlier. No need to take older hardware into account anymore...

Haha I love this man! That is exactly the type of attitude we need when doing anything in life. Maximum effort!

This was the development process for SM Galaxy 2, and we know how that turned out. This would be an incredibly exciting time for me right now if I had a Switch or even cared about Zelda.

@Nesstephan They've already said it's darker than Majora's Mask! I'm so hyped!

In the words of Peter Frampton: BABY, I CAN'T WAIT!

@Nesstephan It may very well be from that trailer alone, to be honest. I already have my hunches how they'll do it even.

This was such a short trailer, but I get the feeling they have willingly shown us a LOT in there without telling us.

@ForgottenArctic Actually my feeling is this time the DLCs idea might be MORE related to the main game.

Basically have the main game and more proper story segment to add to it's longevity, especially as they were mentioning originally wishing to make something to expand upon what happen after Ganondorf is defeated.

@Ludovsky Hmm...I don't know.

@TooBarFoo I see this as holidays 2020 as the very latest possible release date. Only reason it might not come in 2020 would either be a massive development roadblock.... or a release ever earlier than anticipated with an announcement within the next 6 months to reveal a December 2019 release(by which 2 years and 9 months would have passed since BotW's original release).

I still think it'll be 2020 nonetheless but this is just to say I wouldn't even be completely surprised by an earlier release(and tbh, Dec2019 is definitely the earliest I see this happening, if not a more logical March 2020 3 years after BotW's release) than we expected.

@Rhaoulos Tbh I suspect this might happen.

The biggest tell for this is the arm keeping Ganondorf down. It's jewelry seem heavily inspired by the aztec-like stony ruins that we find in BotW that, until now, seemed to have no ties to the story.

But more importantly was the arm itself, it's fingers are bony like a wraith's with nails to match... and the color is the same than the ghostfire that surrounded the ghosts of the Champions or King of Hyrule.

So if my hunch proves right, what we'll specifically see this time will be something like at least a Spirit Realm overlaid over the current map of Hyrule, where the spirits of people(and I guess spirit realm versions of their villages which we could get a glimpse at the pre-destruction states of) who died in the Calamity or other periods of the past.

It could even look like something akin to a "Day of the Dead" dimension of Hyrule. Or at the very least, considering their Aztec-theme, that's likely the look that could be carried by ghosts of "Zonai Warlocks" that might replace the Sheikah monks this time around.

@ForgottenArctic They pretty much stated wishing to expand hyrule's post-Ganon presence iirc. And wishing this as a way to support a game over a longer period.

With a sequel, they'll also have the bonus of not having to worry about supporting a WiiU version of the game anymore considering the support for the WiiU as a console was meant to end with the Switch's release in 2017.

Just in that context, they have a lot more freedom with how they could wishes to support this game in the years that would follow since they wouldn't to worry about the DLC's relevance for a console of the last generation.

So long as they don't pull an "Ultra" and reuse 80% of BotW with just a small amount of actual new content, this could be great.

But if it is BotW with a handful of new mechanics and dungeons, then DLC would have been the better choice.

Sorry if I don't like paying full price for 80% of a game that I already own on the same system, with the same graphics.

We are so far away from release that anything can and will happen in development. Botw was such a great experience for me that I am lowering all my expectations for a sequel.

That said: it was cool to see the video.

I need it NOW!!

But in all honesty, they should take their time and make it as best as they can.

I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a darker sorta left field direction with BotW. That seems to be what they do with Zelda games when they make a sequel based upon the tech from an earlier one.

Hope it actually has a story to be engrossed in.

@ThanosReXXX That's where the weirdness comes in. I already own Breath of the Wild - the Switch version. XD I caved and got the Special Edition back when the game was first announced, but there was no Wii U bundle that I know of. I've been tempted to pick up the Wii U version more than once, but I just can't justify double-dipping when I know one copy will already consume my life....

I'm glad they also said "new gameplay and story" at E3. The gameplay of breath of the wild could do a lot better.
About this game I want Zelda to go back to its roots in terms of gameplay. No more breaking weapons etc.
Also the magical elements of ocarina and Majoras mask. Those where legendary!

@Tempestryke Used a lot, yes, but still one of the best elements. I wouldn't mind something like Chrono Trigger either, with multiple eras.

@Swaz That's how it was in A Link To The Past too - which I played multiple times.

@Tyranexx I'm just going to quietly sit here, and try to let my brain process that one...

You're something else, alright. Which is basically just the positive version of weird...

But all kidding aside: I've done the same several times. With my Wii, Xbox 360 and my Wii U. I knew I was going to get these consoles anyway, so when I came across some interesting and discounted games, I bought them even before I had the console, so that I'd at least have something else to play than whatever game came with the console itself.

In the case of the Wii, it was kind of a different scenario though, because I pre-ordered that, together with a couple of game, but because I didn't pay in full beforehand (and because there was such a demand for it back then), my pre-ordered console didn't turn into an actual purchase, so I had to wait for the next batch of Wii's to arrive, which left me with two games and no Wii to play them on...

@ThanosReXXX What can I say? I just go by my own tune a lot of the time. In most cases, that tune saves me money. XD

There are a small handful of other Switch games that I've picked up too. Most were discounts, but I'm guilty of pre-ordering a couple of games that I wanted post-E3. One was another special edition, while the other is for a limited print run. That said, I've really tried to restrict myself this time around. There's a reason why I had so many Wii U retail games for the longest time....

@Tyranexx I only had one, before I finally bought my Wii U: Zombi U. Found it online, for a MASSIVE discount. Only paid €6 for it, which roughly translates to $7.

@ThanosReXXX Nice find! I paid the exact amount for Metroid: Other M. I'd say it was more than worth it at that price.

If I'd pick up every Switch game that I wanted right now, I'd exceed 20 total retail games. That's not even including all the eshop games that I want.... Clones self

@Tyranexx Right back at you. I don't think I've ever seen a copy of Other M for that little, not even in the used games section, so I'd say that's one heck of a find as well.

@Rhaoulos Its not that great and 5 games is overdoing it.

@Tempestryke I have no idea what you're talking about.
Chrono Trigger and A Link to the Past are better than great.

Makes sense. Silksong (Hollow knight sequel) was originally also meant to be dlc. But they had to many ideas. Or think of Majora's mask, that game also started as a expanded Oot.

@walzon you have literally predicted the future. Not exactly oydessey 2, but hey, I really want it. Same with 3D world port, but it’s preordered and ready to get 100% precented.