Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series has a history of exploring themes of duality. In A Link to the Past, the player explores Hyrule as well as a twisted mirror image of the same landscape known as the Dark World. Countless iterations of the same idea have comprised the franchise's DNA since: The Twilight Realm in Twilight Princess, the Silent Realm in Skyward Sword, and Lorule in A Link Between Worlds as a few examples. With The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 on the way, one long-running staple it could explore to stand out from its predecessor is time travel.
While moving through time shows up in brief sections of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword and temporal concepts are seen in Oracle of Ages and Phantom Hourglass, no doubt fans are most familiar with the usage of time travel in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. After completing that game's first three dungeons, Link unlocks the ability to traverse Hyrule as a child, where he's in a lofty and innocent world; or as an adult, where an oppressive miasma signals the evil designs of Ganondorf.
Based on the E3 2019 Breath of the Wild 2Â trailer, Ganondorf may be returning in a human form following the defeat of Calamity Ganon. If the developer decides to bring back an Ocarina of Time-style time travel system along with the King of Evil, there are many story and gameplay possibilities that could follow
Breath of the Wild 2: A Time Traveling Adventure
Though exploring the duality of similar worlds is a Zelda staple, Breath of the Wild did not play into that mold as much as it could have. The Nintendo Switch launch title has often been treated as a reboot of the NES Legend of Zelda, focused on free exploration rather than story. However, the background narrative of Link's memories from before his 100-year slumber offers glimpses into the differences between a thriving Hyrule and an empty, post-apocalyptic land.
Princess Zelda likely plays a more pivotal role as Link's partner in the sequel based on its E3 trailer. The Goddess' powers she harnessed by the end of Breath of the Wild could theoretically make time travel possible. If, for example, the return of Ganondorf is too much for the duo to handle and they have to find more power to stop his resurgent wave of terror over Hyrule, they could take refuge in a place of significance like the Temple of Time. The temple, iconic for facilitating Link's transformation between childhood and adulthood in Ocarina of Time, still exists in ruins at the top of Breath of the Wild's Great Plateau.
If this Temple of Time holds the same significance as in Ocarina of Time, Zelda could use it to access the Sacred Realm that holds the Triforce, and in turn allow Link to return to the past. From there, the story potential of Link finding closure in a world he was forced to abandon seemingly writes itself. While Breath of the Wild introduced great characters, the Champions who fought alongside Link pre-Calamity felt half-baked because they were relegated to flashbacks. Mipha, Urbosa, Revali, and Daruk could get more time with the player by virtue of Link time traveling.
The developer has confirmed Breath of the Wild 2 will reuse the first game's map. Nintendo will have to do something to adjust that map if it wants to make it feel fresh, and a perfect way to go about this would be making a parallel version set in the past that allows Link to explore a world players only got to learn about through hearsay. This might create problems with optimization, especially given Breath of the Wild's giant open-world map led to some performance issues, but it would make for a great redux of the Dark World concept.
The Potential of Time Travel Mechanics
By moving between two worlds like in Ocarina of Time, the surface-level gameplay applications are virtually limitless. A perfect example of this is Ocarina of Time's quest to unlock the Song of Storms: Link learns the tune as an adult in order to teach it to Guru-Guru as a child, thereby creating a temporal loop in which he inadvertently teaches himself. Imagine this concept, and the similar applications seen in the three-day loop of Majora's Mask brought to an open world where one's actions could change countless things.
Time travel in Breath of the Wild 2 could also see the four Champions taking their place as Link's companions once more. In the first game, he works alongside their descendants to regain control of the Divine Beasts, setting a precedent that's easy to build upon. Daruk's descendent Yunobo is the most instructive example, as the escort mission to Divine Beast Vah Rudania in Death Mountain has the two characters traveling together to perform a task. If Link returns to the pre-Calamity Ganon era for some McGuffin hunt, perhaps related to the returning Divine Beasts, the developers could introduce the original Champions as battling partners to build upon the team-up mechanic from Yunobo's quest.
One thing fans have been clamoring for in Breath of the Wild 2 is the inclusion of Zelda as a playable character. That idea could be stretched even further through time travel by making a playable character out of Zelda in present-day Hyrule, and the four Champions in pre-Calamity Hyrule. Even if players are not given direct control of these characters, having them serve as constant allies — and in Zelda's case, a mechanically integral source of time travel — would also be worthwhile inclusions.
Thematic Purpose
The duality of similar worlds in Zelda games have always served a thematic purpose. In Ocarina of Time, many argue the two versions of Hyrule are perfect encapsulations of the terrors that come with growing up. As a child, Link is able to explore a land which feels awe-inspiringly huge to someone from a tiny forest community, and he makes lots of friends along the way. As an adult, Link is forced into taking responsible for his opening the Sacred Realm through the Temple of Time, which gave Ganondorf access to its power and ultimately led to ruin.
If Breath of the Wild focused on expansive freedom, introducing time travel into its sequel could narrow the focus to a deeply personal theme of closure. Not only would Link have to confront his past in some way in order to stop the evil entity he once thought banished, but doing so would bring him face-to-face with the allies he left to die. Add onto that the ability to flesh out characters who were underdeveloped and introduce a slew of possible new combat scenarios, and there are plenty of reasons to see why Breath of the Wild 2 could stand to follow in Ocarina of Time's footsteps.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2Â is in development.