Although The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 looks like it preserved a lot of the fundamental parts of the original game, it's already promising to change in a lot of ways too. For instance, the latest trailer for the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild hints at major changes to the enemies that Link can encounter and how he fights them; fans can spot various new monsters, as well as a horned Bokoblin variant. The game reuses BotW's map of Hyrule, but notably, there will be several sky islands that Link can now explore, offering fans fantastical new horizons.
These sky islands are exciting due to their possible connections to Skyward Sword, but they also have major implications for the rest of the game. The appearance of the sky islands could mean that the ground-level terrain of Hyrule changes significantly, which could have an impact on other mechanics. For instance, riding horses in Breath of the Wild 2 may be a slightly different experience than it was before, due to a combination of new inconveniences related to the sky islands. Unless Nintendo innovates some ways to send horses into the sky, Link's steeds may be a little less useful in the new game.
How Breath of the Wild 2 Could Affect Horses
Breath of the Wild 2 will probably encourage players to spend a lot of time in the sky; Nintendo wouldn't add these islands if they weren't crucial to the game's plot. Obviously, however, Link isn't well-equipped to bring horses up to the sky with him. Even if he did, horses might not be practical to use in the sky islands, since the islands may be too small to require a horse or even to have room for safe riding. Even if horses can come up to the islands, Link still needs ways to move horses between separate islands.
The new islands could also affect the surface level of Hyrule significantly. While it's possible that some of the sky islands were hidden in Hyrule's atmosphere all along, Hyrule Castle lifting into the sky in the most recent Breath of the Wild 2 trailer suggests that the islands are made of terrain from ground level. Depending on how much and which territory gets lifted skyward in BotW2, the ground might be much harder to navigate on horseback, whether the holes in the ground are dangerous or simply too steep for a horse.
Beyond the sky islands, it's possible that Breath of the Wild 2 features a significant amount of underground content. Link and Zelda introduced fans to the game by delving into Ganondorf's tomb in a mysterious cavern, and one trailer shows Link fighting a monster underground. Hyrule's landmarks floating away in chunks may have exposed a variety of new underground locations for Link to explore, but these caves will almost certainly be too narrow to explore with a horse. All in all, the sky islands seem to create a lot of new exploration opportunities, but none of them seem very horse-friendly.
How Nintendo Could Help Horses in BotW2
Horses may still prove useful as long as Nintendo gets creative when making new horse mechanics. For instance, Breath of the Wild 2 seems to give Link a new ability that shoots him into the sky and through solid stone. This seems like a very convenient way to access the sky islands, and it wouldn't be all that strange if Link could include a horse in this effect. Nintendo has teased at least a couple islands big enough to contain roads, so maybe some of them will be horse-friendly, if not all.
As for the ground level, Nintendo could expand on the first game's building mechanics to empower equestrian players. One of Breath of the Wild's most unique side quests is From the Ground Up, in which Link helps Hudson of Bolson Construction create Tarrey Town by gathering resources and employees. In Breath of the Wild 2, Bolson Construction could find new work patching up the holes left behind by the sky islands. Once Link gathers enough resources or invests some Rupees, Bolson Construction might make bridges across gaps or fill holes with new soil, slowly making horses more viable while giving players a good sense of accomplishment.
Any theoretical underground segments would probably be the hardest for Nintendo to make horse-accessible. It could introduce some truly huge caverns that take a long time to explore on foot, giving Link reason to bring a horse underground, but inevitably there'll be certain places where a horse is more of a burden than an asset. Still, even just a few new caverns with room for horses would add some great variety to Breath of the Wild's exploration and give Link something new to experience alongside his trusty steeds.
Breath of the Wild 2's Possible Horseback Innovations
While there are some clear obstacles in the way of horses in Breath of the Wild 2, a little cleverness from Nintendo could go a long way. New mechanics in Breath of the Wild 2 that make horses more versatile in the face of complicated terrain would be more than welcome. Since Nintendo has revealed little about the new Zelda game, the sky is the limit for now; maybe horses themselves will learn lots of new skills that make up for the disadvantageous terrain in the new game. Training horses in a variety of special skills would certainly be a fun new way to engage with them.
Hopefully fans won't have to wait long for a sneak peak into how horses handle in the new game. Nintendo may not discuss Breath of the Wild 2 much in the coming months, since other big games like Splatoon 3 and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are releasing much sooner, but fans could still get a few clues in the near future. Considering how different exploration will be in this game, odds are good that Nintendo will spotlight this side of the BotW2 experience early on. Horses will undoubtedly be a major part of the game again, but they'll have to adapt to the sky islands somehow to remain truly effective. The more ideas Nintendo has in store for them, the better.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in spring 2023 for Nintendo Switch.
