Breath of the Wild sequel gameplay revealed at E3 Nintendo Direct

Cal Jeffrey

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In a nutshell: In Breath of the Wild 2 or whatever Nintendo ends up calling the sequel to the Switch hit, Link will have some new ways of getting around and defeating his enemies. Some seem to be related to manipulating or reversing time.

The last time we heard anything about a Breath of the Wild sequel was almost precisely two years ago when Nintendo dropped a minute-and-a-half teaser for the game in a Nintendo Direct presentation. Since then it has been radio silence from Mario and company.

As E3 2021 winds down, Nintendo finally treated Legend of Zelda fans with a new teaser trailer for the upcoming Breath of the Wild sequel. It is relatively short, like the first glimpse we got, but whereas the first was more of a cinematic reveal, this one shows a few well-edited gameplay clips (below).

In Link's newest adventure, our hero appears to have a few new powers for getting around. He still has his hang glider, of course, but he also seems to fly or at least freefall from high perches above the clouds. The trailer shows floating islands that Link will have to navigate somehow. Flying and gliding will no doubt help.

There is also a new teleport-like ability, but it's not for fast traveling. The teaser shows Link magically grappling to an island above him and emerging through the ground as if traversing through solid matter. Whether this ability will work linearly through walls, the clip did not reveal.

Another mystical power that Link seems to have allows him to freeze an object in time and then act upon it to bend it to his will. For example, he freezes a spiked ball rolling toward him then sends it back in the direction it came to smash his foes.

The trailer does not reveal much of the story but hints that a new antagonist has spread a similar kind of corruption throughout the land, just as Calamity Ganon had in BotW.

One other interesting thing we noticed was that Nintendo might have slipped another hidden message into the teaser. You may be aware of the hidden reversed audio from the first trailer that says, "Help us, please." You can hear it in the video above if you missed it.

In this teaser, right at the 49-second mark, we see a water droplet go in reverse (also a nod to time manipulation powers) followed by several seconds of audio that sounds backward. We reversed the audio and listened for some hidden speech like the first trailer but couldn't make anything out. If you are adept at interpreting backmasking, let us know in the comments if you find something we missed.

Whatever the case, we'll have to wait a while to play. Nintendo didn't nail down a date, but did say it would be out in 2022.

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Let's just all admit that Nintendo's E3 showing was lame. Yes, I would like BOTW2 and the Metroid Dread looked good, but all in all, it was a lackluster showing. Especially for a company raking in money off the NS, and a console that should be hitting its stride at 4+ years old now.
 
Metroid looked very meh, a hodgepodge of different things from different Metroid games. As for BOTW2, they really need to something impressive, hopefully the Switch hardware won't drag them down. Unlike the time they released the first BOTW game, they now have other games like Genshin Impact to compete with.
 
Metroid looked very meh, a hodgepodge of different things from different Metroid games. As for BOTW2, they really need to something impressive, hopefully the Switch hardware won't drag them down. Unlike the time they released the first BOTW game, they now have other games like Genshin Impact to compete with.

Genshin Impact is mostly just another generic MMO. I've spent plenty of time playing it, its nothing special.

BOTW was a great game start to finish, and a game that someone really would need to do a complete playthrough to really appreciate. Spending 6 hours doing the intro and little bit of the main game is hardly enough to get a real feel for it. Even years after playing it I have very fond memories. And like Zelda games of old, there is very little hand holding. You need to figure the game out yourself.

I'm a sucker for Fun games on the Switch. More Mario Party, another Rabbids + Mario game, Metroid, Zelda, etc. There was a lot to like, just not a lot coming out in 2021. I'm a big fan of games me and the wife can play together.

Nintendo has been slow going these last few years. I love my 3DS, but really wish some of the best 3DS games would come to the switch. Metroid: Samus Returns for example should have been a switch port long ago.
 
Genshin Impact is mostly just another generic MMO. I've spent plenty of time playing it, its nothing special.

BOTW was a great game start to finish, and a game that someone really would need to do a complete playthrough to really appreciate. Spending 6 hours doing the intro and little bit of the main game is hardly enough to get a real feel for it. Even years after playing it I have very fond memories. And like Zelda games of old, there is very little hand holding. You need to figure the game out yourself.

I'm a sucker for Fun games on the Switch. More Mario Party, another Rabbids + Mario game, Metroid, Zelda, etc. There was a lot to like, just not a lot coming out in 2021. I'm a big fan of games me and the wife can play together.

Nintendo has been slow going these last few years. I love my 3DS, but really wish some of the best 3DS games would come to the switch. Metroid: Samus Returns for example should have been a switch port long ago.
The number of players that like Genshin say otherwise. The combat at least is way above BOTW and it isn't an MMO, just co-op.
 
The number of players that like Genshin say otherwise. The combat at least is way above BOTW and it isn't an MMO, just co-op.
The game is free, that's why people play it. Just because a lot of people play it doesn't mean it is anything special. Its still just another generic game and nothing really special. It's a decent time waster type of game. I can play on my Phone, I can play on PC.

The game was designed as a MMO, and pretty much turned into a CO-OP game with not a lot of CO-OP action. Most of the time people do their own thing.

The combat is not even comparable to BOTW. We're talking two different types of games. And If you ever played a Zelda game its more about mastering the controls and combat. There are enemies in BOTW that can be pretty hard to take down if you can't master blocking and parry. Granted give yourself enough health and even those enemies can be dealt with using basic methods.
 
The game is free, that's why people play it. Just because a lot of people play it doesn't mean it is anything special. Its still just another generic game and nothing really special. It's a decent time waster type of game. I can play on my Phone, I can play on PC.

The game was designed as a MMO, and pretty much turned into a CO-OP game with not a lot of CO-OP action. Most of the time people do their own thing.

The combat is not even comparable to BOTW. We're talking two different types of games. And If you ever played a Zelda game its more about mastering the controls and combat. There are enemies in BOTW that can be pretty hard to take down if you can't master blocking and parry. Granted give yourself enough health and even those enemies can be dealt with using basic methods.
Nobody plays a free game in such numbers if the game is bad. It's universally received praised from both reviewers and people who played the game. If this is "generic" then you prolly have very niche tastes or you just don't like the majority of games.

The different combat styles doesn't mean that you can't compare them. Instead of blocking you have dodging and the weapon doesn't break. The biggest difference is that combat is much more engaging and fast paced in Genshin with a well thought out combo system. It's more about "mastering the controls and combat" than BOTW.

Hopefully, the graphics and combat system get a big upgrade in BOTW2 since it doesn't need to be compatible with WiiU anymore.
 
Nobody plays a free game in such numbers if the game is bad. It's universally received praised from both reviewers and people who played the game. If this is "generic" then you prolly have very niche tastes or you just don't like the majority of games.

The different combat styles doesn't mean that you can't compare them. Instead of blocking you have dodging and the weapon doesn't break. The biggest difference is that combat is much more engaging and fast paced in Genshin with a well thought out combo system. It's more about "mastering the controls and combat" than BOTW.

Hopefully, the graphics and combat system get a big upgrade in BOTW2 since it doesn't need to be compatible with WiiU anymore.
That's because Genshin not a bad game. But its also free to play. Its no different than fortnight, you can easily claim that its a great game to play because of high user base and praise. But that game wouldn't be what it was if it wasnt free. Its still very much a quirky Japanese game and nothing close to being a classic masterpiece. Metacritic agrees with me, on both user and critic scores. The game is heavily MMO like, BOTW is not.

BOTW is considered one of the greatest games of the last decade, as well as being the best Zelda game ever game.

I don't think you understand that BOTW follows the classic Zelda style of gameplay. We don't want fast pace button mashing than modern Japanese games are known for. Zelda has always been slower pace with the need to parry and block. The only thing I wish BOTW2 has over the first is more enemy variety.

We all have our opinions. These are just two games you cant really compare, you're better off comparing Genshin to Xenoblade
 
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