The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was our Game of the Year 2017 thanks to its beautiful world, seemingly endless exploration and fearless reworking of past Zelda tropes and conventions. Producer Eiji Aonuma recently mentioned that he’d like to maintain the level of freedom seen in Breath of the Wild when creating future titles. This means the next Zelda game could open up even more possibilities and unique interactions that would allow us to spend another 100+ hours messing around in the lush lands of Hyrule. We’re not expecting anything tangible to be shown for quite some time, but that hasn’t stopped us from coming up with a list of some of the things we want to see in the next Zelda epic.
1. More dungeons
Breath of the Wild introduced bite-sized puzzles that made excellent use of Link’s runes within his trusty Sheikah Slate. We had great fun scouring the vast lands of Hyrule in search of hidden shrines and treasures, but they didn’t sate our taste for grandiose dungeons. Dungeon exploration has always been at the heart of Zelda games and it’s this feature that makes certain titles in the series stand out more than others.
Unfortunately, dungeons took a backseat in Breath of the Wild, with only four major dungeon-like sections making an appearance in the form of Divine Beasts. While the trials of these mechanical behemoths broke the conventions of past labyrinthine trials, we still found ourselves missing the deeper dungeon exploration of past Zelda games.
For example, traversing the dimly lit hallways of Ocarina of Time’s Forest Temple and hearing its eerie theme will always stand out for its complexity and haunting nature. Breath of the Wild is definitely the best Zelda game to date in terms of pure exploration and unique mechanics, but its dungeons fail to deliver the experiences we hold dear from past entries. Hopefully, the next title will deliver more compelling and creepy dungeons that can even rival the series’ best.
2. Improved crafting system
You either love or hate Breath of the Wild’s durability system, but we think it could be improved. Watching your prized Savage Lynel Crusher explode into a thousand blue shards after 35 swings is extremely frustrating, especially when certain weapons are much harder to come by. Of course, there are ways to increase the longevity of a given weapon, but these tactics usually require the player to only dust off their prized swords and clubs for special occasions. Most RPGs allow the player to repair the weapons in their arsenal, so we’d like to be able to craft and polish new and existing items. This feature would also give us more uses for the materials and monster parts we obtain during our quest to save Hyrule.
For many, Breath of the Wild’s durability system added a tactical approach to combat, but for others it was a frustrating mechanic that made it difficult to become invested in the game’s weapons. Ultimately, we think the addition of an improved crafting system would give weapons more depth, while still maintaining the risk of weapon degrading.
3. Play as the princess
Link has vanquished more bad guys than you can shake a Deku Stick at, and while it’s fun to play as the Hero of Hyrule, it would be great if the next mainline title mixed things up. After all, fans of the series have wanted to play as the titular princess ever since they first donned Link’s green tunic all those years ago. Hyrule Warriors gave us a unique opportunity to slash our way to victory with Zelda’s rapier, while the introduction Linkle only served to tease the possibility of a female hero being playable in future titles.
In Breath of the Wild we see Link’s memories of Zelda as she attempts to find the power to vanquish Calamity Ganon, but we never get to experience any of her trials first-hand. It’s certainly a missed opportunity and we’d love to alternate between both Link and Zelda in the next installment. The Witcher 3 allowed us to play as Geralt and Ciri during key moments in the game’s story, which not only gave both characters greater depth, but also added different mechanics and heightened our overall experience. Breath of the Wild may have given Zelda a voice, but we think it’s time for the Hylian princess to have more meaningful interactions outside of the usual cut-scenes and flashbacks.
4. Populated towns and urban areas
While Breath of the Wild’s open-world experience wasn’t anywhere near as detailed as The Witcher 3 and Skyrim’s bustling towns and taverns, it did give us an excellent experience devoid of handholding and clutter. Breath of the Wild’s Hyrule really felt like a wilderness and it allowed us to map out our own adventure. Running through dense forests, stumbling upon ancient ruins and discovering treasures atop snowy mountains will always be exciting, but we’d love to see more populated townships and villages in the future. It’s understandable that Hatano and Kakariko village are small settlements in the context of their role, but they feel devoid of the usual hustle and bustle we’ve come to expect from AAA RPGs.
Even the most populated areas like Gerudo Town feel insignificant and small in comparison to the lively townships we’re used to seeing in Tamriel and other open-world games. Hyrule Castle Town was off-limits due to the destruction during the Great Calamity, but it would be great if this iconic town was filled with colourful characters in a future title. It would certainly make for a great spectacle and having populated villages and towns is something we’ve yet to see in a Zelda game.