Nintendo’sLegend of Zeldafranchise often plays with the dichotomy of two worlds overlapping one another.TheLegend of Zelda: A Link to the Pastestablished this trend in 1991 via the introduction of the Dark World: an alternate version of Hyrule that Link could travel to using portals and back from using his Magic Mirror. Since then many different takes have been core toZeldagames, andThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2could be retreading this idea.
TheE3 2021 trailer forBreath of the Wild 2offered fans their first glimpse at one of the defining gimmicks for this sequel to the Switch launch title. Chunks of the same Hyrule mapBreath of the WildandAge of Calamityplayers are used to will be uprooted, floating in the air due to some malevolent power. Nintendo has yet to reveal all its cards, as even the game’s subtitle is being kept a secret, but these floating islands should create two worlds: upper and lower Hyrule.
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Despite this premise sounding close toSkyward Sword’s two worlds, floating islands above the clouds and the natural Hyrule below,Breath of the Wild 2may instead want to look back to the map created forA Link to the Past. Specifically,Breath of the Wild 2could take some interesting pointers fromThe Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, a 2013 3DS game featuringA Link to the Past’s Hyrule contrasted with Lorule instead of the Dark World
The Zelda Franchise’s Multilayered Worlds
A Link to the Past’s Light and Dark World split was the first of many variants to come. WhenOcarina of Timecame around, the first 3DZeldagame on Nintendo 64, it created a “past” version of Hyrule with a character whomSmash Bros.popularized as Young Link and a “future” version set about seven years later. This emulated the light and dark dichotomy ofA Link to the Pastas future Hyrule was corrupted by the rule of Ganondorf. The first look at this future world that players get is a devastated Hyrule Castle Town overrun by ReDeads where children once roamed free.
Ocarina of Time’s direct sequelMajora’s Maskdid not follow the same mold, though Termina is also a sort of dark funhouse mirror of Hyrule.TheLegend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerfeatured the Great Sea as its main map, and revealed Hyrule as a locale frozen in time deep beneath the waves. After thatTwilight Princesssaw Hyrule overtaken by the Twilight Realm, with Link needing to free its guardian spirits in order to return the light; and thenSkyward Swordhad its hero travelling between the aforementioned cloud layer. Other games like theOracleduology andThe Minish Capalso have Link explore the same world in different contexts, but few were as prominant asA Link Between Worlds.
A Link Between Worlds' Lorule Stands Out
Many fans of theZeldafranchise were looking forward toA Link Between Worldswell before it released. Beyond bringing backA Link to the Past’s Hyrule years into the future, and reviving a top-down 2D formula in the process,A Link Between Worldsalso intended to set itself apartby letting players buy their tools in any order. As a result it had a more open layout than most 3DZeldagames, which were become increasingly linear and focused on dungeon progression up untilBreath of the Wild.
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Another wayA Link Between Worldsdifferentiated itself from other Zelda games, particularlyA Link to the Past, was through its execution of the alternate world mechanic. Link gains the ability to merge into walls like the antagonist Yuga; a sorcerer who hopes toresurrect Ganonand use his power to become god-like. Eventually he’s able to use this to pass through magical fissures into Lorule. While similar to the Dark World, Lorule is narratively distinct for featuring Princess Hilda, a mirror of Zelda who wants to steal Hyrule’s Triforce to preserve her home; as well as Ravio, a shopkeep revealed to be Lorule’s Link whose bracelet facilitates the wall-merging mechanic.
UnlikeA Link to the Past’s Dark World, which is largely interconnected outside a few areas like the Swamp of Evil,A Link Between Worlds' Lorule is also unique because it is partitioned off. Different fissues must be used to access particular dungeons in almost all cases, even if Link’s purchasable toolset opens up different routes. Based on what has been shown forBreath of the Wild 2, a limited means of access to the sky may be analogous.
Moving Between Worlds in Breath of the Wild 2
The E3 2021 teaser trailer forBreath of the Wild 2doesn’t show a lot of movement between the upper and lower regions of Hyrule, it mainly depicts Link skydiving toward floating island or using a hang glider to pass between them. Only one instance shows him going from the ground to a floating island via some kind of magic that lets him phase through the floor. While there may be more ways totraverse across Hyrule inBreath of the Wild 2, it’s possible only a few “hotspots” will allow Link to ascend in the same way only a few fissures could access Lorule.
Though it’s unlikely thedifferent sections of floating islandswill be partitioned off ala locales in Lorule given the aformentioned footage of Link skydiving and gliding around, this movement could still be limited. If there aren’t particularly strong updrafts, Link may be able to descend from higher to lower islands but not ascend the other way. Even ifBreath of the Wild 2is as open as its predecessor, hiding access to higher places via one magic portal in challenging surface areas may be an inherent difficulty scale.
In this way,Breath of the Wild 2could design more unique bossesand difficult encounters that the player is encouraged not to face without barring access entirely. The wayA Link Between Worldspartitions off its Lorule dungeons without putting many restrictions on the order in which players tackle them seems like a great system to evolve. Both games are sequels to acclaimedZeldaadventures, butBreath of the Wildgoing this route would give them something more interesting in common.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2releases in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
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