In 2017 we were graced with some real bangers on the gaming front.  When I looked back through the releases of that year and issued my Game of The Year verdicts, I gave one of the top slots to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild.  It was a truly extraordinary game that had me hooked from start to finish.  Fast forward to this past E3 where it was announced that a sequel to said game was in development, and my mind immediately starting swirling with the possibilities a sequel could bring to the table.

To preface, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild isn’t a flawless game in my eyes, but it was still really damn good.  I know there are things inherent to this new style of Zelda that probably wont be changed, but this list serves as both a realistic wish list, and some more general tweaks that would make this upcoming sequel the perfect Zelda for me.

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LET ME PLAY AS ZELDA

I don’t think there’s been a main entry in The Legend of Zelda franchise that’s allowed you to play as the titular character herself, but it’s about time we rectified that.  I’ve never been the biggest fan of the franchise over the years, but I’m pretty sure that Zelda herself does cool magic spells and stuff.  When you put that in the context of the very systems driven world that is The Breath of The Wild, the possibilities for open world shenanigans goes up exponentially.

Imagine Zelda lighting up some bokoblin tree house with some fire spells and watching that thing just crumble into ash.  Or if she summons some lighting bolt at a lynel who made the mistake of standing in a puddle.  Once again, I don’t know that Zelda actually does that stuff, but I like to imagine that she totally can.

Also, the game is fucking called The Legend of Zelda, how about we let her have at the very least, one of them.

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SOME SORT OF MULTIPLAYER ANGLE

We need to be careful when we ask for traditionally single player games to branch out into the multiplayer realm.  We saw what happened with Fallout 76 and I’d prefer that didn’t happen here.  But, I would love the ability to play as both Link and Zelda cooperating my way through the world with a friend.

But there’s a fine line on that request.  What I don’t want is a game that just has an AI companion with you at all times that a friend can inhabit.  I don’t want a situation where I have to switch between characters to complete a mainline dungeon or shrine either.  I’d like the ability to wander around the world with a buddy, tackling the challenges available in the single player game, but also pepper in some cooperative specific dungeons and shrines.

The version I want is way more work obviously.  Essentially I’m asking for two games in one that I can enjoy depending on my current situation.  But hey, it’s a wish list, so I’m gonna go hog-wild on some of these.

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NO MORE WEAPON DURABILITY

If there was one aspect of Breath of The Wild that I abhorred, it was the fact that everything had a shelf life.  I get it, sticks break, clubs splinter, bows can snap and so on and so forth, but in a world of magic and wonder such as this, why do I have to deal with weaponry that shatters hilariously quickly?

Why does the “royal” weaponry crumble into dust after a few uses?  Why is my champion’s shield capable of deflecting a few hits before I’m thoroughly fucked?  This is a magic world where I can find a sword that shoots fucking laser beams, but I still have to be constrained by some shit-ass survival mechanics like weapon durability?  Did you not see the thing I did where I summoned a tornado beneath me to launch myself into the air?  That’s cool, but me using a sword too many times is out of the question?

At least make the Master Sword live up to the name.  Don’t make it something that has to charge up to be used, let me just use the damn thing.  I know it may not be a sticking point for a lot of people, but when you’re fighting a particularly difficult creature (lynel) and you’re already dealing with dodging every attack it throws at you, I don’t want to have to also consider my weapons evaporating mid fight.  But that’s just me.

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MORE OPPORTUNITIES

A lot of people criticized Breath of The Wild for not having traditional dungeons, which is something I can agree with to an extent.  But what I’d take over those in a heartbeat, is just a better open world, filled with more interesting opportunities.

For instance, the best parts of Breath of The Wild for me was the joy of exploring.  Sometimes you’d find a little korok puzzle, maybe a shrine and more than likely, something that wanted to kill you.  What I want is almost in the vein of what Red Dead Redemption 2 did, and pepper in some interesting random events, as opposed to the obvious traveler would was actually a gang member in disguise.  That one happened all the time, and wouldn’t you guess, it got really old, really quick.

I want more puzzles, more places to explore, more mystery and indirect storytelling.  I want a world that feels lived in and alive with its own secrets to uncover.  I really liked what Breath of The Wild brought to the table, but for a sequel, I need more.

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BETTER BATTLES

You fought maybe 5 real bosses throughout the entirety of Breath of The Wild, which was fine, but with the exception of the last one, they were all fairly uninteresting.  On top of that, there were only a handful of enemy types the were reused over and over.  I want more variety in the things I have to fight, maybe some more stuff in the mid range difficulty of enemies.  They had different color scales for enemies that would indicate their level of challenge, but that doesn’t scratch the itch for me.  More interesting enemies to fight is what I decree, preferably less things like lynels.

In that same vein, I think the general combat could be better.  When you went head to head with an enemy, you might find yourself in some really thrilling and exciting battles, but if there’s more than one threat near you, you basically need to run away until they stop following you.  I’d like to feel a little more competent when fighting, and little less like a pinata holding a sword.

It’s a tight rope to walk for sure, but ideally I want something that strikes a balance between feeling formidable, and also having challenging enemies.  I have no idea how you’d go about making that a reality, but during my entire play through of Breath of The Wild, I never felt strong, just lucky.  Maybe that’s what they’re going for in the sequel, but I just feel like after the events of the first game, Link has got to be a wee bit more imposing and capable.

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ITEMS

Breath of The Wild introduced a lot of new mechanics and abilities that I had a lot of fun with, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have minded a hookshot or a boomerang that didn’t break in it.

The Zelda franchise was pretty good at creating memorable and useful items, but I feel like in Breath of The Wild they axed a bunch of that stuff in favor of these all-purpose abilities you had.  Which to be clear, I enjoyed slowing time and creating ice pillars and stuff, it just felt like a lot of possibilities were left on the table.

I know how challenging it would be to retain the nearly directionless open world Breath of The Wild had, while also providing you with a path to unlocking these helpful items, but it’s possible.

I ultimately want more tools I can use to mess around in the open world while also maybe breaking a few puzzles on my way.  To me, there’s no better feeling in a game then when you see a puzzle before you and figure out a way to circumvent the whole thing.  I feel like I just outsmarted the game or something.

But that’s what I want, more items and tools in my kit to use as creatively as possible.

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That’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m sure there are things that I’m forgetting, but these are my kind of gut-check thoughts about what a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild could be.  These are mostly things that I know will never come to pass, but some of them are genuine hopes, like playing as Zelda herself.  And if that one is true, I get to see some of the worst takes on the internet about how “Nintendo is caving to SJW mentalities” or some stupid shit like that, so that’ll be fun.