The trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 that was released last June was rather striking. Its ominous opening followed by the sharp cut to Link falling from the sky, with floating islands in the distance, was breathtaking and has been solidified in the minds of fans since it released. Of course, there are still many questions surrounding the game, but the trailer also gave players a peek at some of the various abilities they would have in Breath of the Wild 2.
The abilities look as though they are tied to some sort of new attachment to Link's arm. The attachment looks as though it is made with the same ancient technology as Breath of the Wild's Sheikah Slate, but it isn't clear where it comes from as of yet. One of Link's apparent new abilities is a modified version of Breath of the Wild's Stasis ability, which seems to let Link better control objects and weaponize them against enemies. There is also a quick clip that looks like Link using the arm as a flamethrower, as well as a new ability that looks much more bizarre than the others shown.
Breath of the Wild 2's Bizarre Traversal Mechanic
The most eye-catching ability in the trailer showed Link sticking out of the bottom of one of Breath of the Wild 2's floating islands before being sucked up into it, accompanied by watery sounds. Link then travels through the rocky body of the floating island before popping out on the surface of the island. The trailer raised a lot of questions about the ability, as well as how it would play into the gameplay of Breath of the Wild 2 and its world traversal.
However, it will be very important for Breath of the Wild 2 to make sure that the new ability is well-balanced. The game will have to ensure that it fits well within the game's exploration without over-simplifying traversal, which could make it boring. If the ability is executed well, however, it could lead to some very interesting new options and mechanics for players to experiment with. It could even lead to some very interesting secrets like those in Breath of the Wild for players to hunt for.
Breath of the Wild 2: Avoiding An Overpowered Movement Option
Breath of the Wild 2 will have to make sure that the ability is not too easy to use or prevalent across the game's world, otherwise it could start to feel overpowered or otherwise generic. From what has been shown of the ability so far it doesn't look as though it will have a big impact on combat, but it looks like it could have a massive impact on traversing the game's world.
The floating islands will undoubtedly play a large role in the game's exploration, and this ability to phase through physical objects at will could emphasize the game's verticality. There are some lessons that Breath of the Wild 2 could take from games like Immortals: Fenyx Rising in regards to its exploration, but getting up to and using the floating islands to glide far distances is a great opportunity for the game to stand out.
It remains to be seen how Link will get up to the floating islands, but it does seem plausible that Breath of the Wild 2 will incorporate features from Skyward Sword, which could include Loftwings. This would be a solid inclusion in the game, as it would bring some new traversal options to the game, as well as allowing the game to keep the floating islands gated off until players progress far enough into the game. Using the ability to just travel through the islands to their surface, however, would likely make getting to them far too easy, and potentially impact the appeal or wonder of using this new ability far too often.
Breath of the Wild 2 Ability Shouldn't Be a Gimmick Either
The ability could be underpowered if it's limited to only a few instances across the game. If that happens, the ability will end up feeling more like a gimmick than an option for players. Breath of the Wild emphasized the freedom of exploration, so the new ability feeling like a gimmick would be disappointing. This does seem unlikely, however, as the ability being featured in the trailer seems to indicate that Nintendo plans on it being central to the game.
Requiring some sort of resource or having a long cooldown period between uses could also make the ability underpowered or otherwise less useful. This approach would make a lot of sense and could work if balanced well, but it would also be very easy for the cost to use the ability being so high that it simply makes more sense for players to spend the time getting to the island another way. If players never use the ability, spending the time to explore all of the islands in a longer format could lead to Breath of the Wild 2 being even longer than the already very long Breath of the Wild.
Of course, there is no way to know what games like Breath of the Wild 2 play like until they release. There are already some very interesting options that Nintendo has for approaching the game's abilities and mechanics, but if they are done well, it will help the game stand out from other open-world titles. Balancing abilities in a game like Breath of the Wild 2 is no easy task.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is in development for Nintendo Switch.
