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Breath of the Wild redefined what a Zelda game could be. The green tunic was shed, the characters could speak and the world was vast. It won over fans instantly and it even broke the record for the best-selling Zelda game of all time. Now we are only weeks away from Breath of the Wild’s sequel: Tears of the Kingdom. This sequel has been highly anticipated ever since Nintendo gave us a brief glimpse at E3 2019. Every time new information is dropped about Tears of the Kingdom, the fans go wild with theories, art, frame-by-frame breakdowns, and just sharing their excitement.
So why is it, although I am anxiously waiting to play Tears of the Kingdom, I am more excited for whatever Zelda game is going to come out next? Well, I will break down my main reasons…
A new Hyrule, or perhaps even a new world.
This is one you have probably already heard about from someone online. While there are a ton of fans eager to play Tears of the Kingdom, there are also those who are not too thrilled to revisit the same Hyrule they did in Breath of the Wild. Don’t get me wrong, Hyrule looked absolutely amazing in that game, but most fans have already explored every single corner of that land for the past 5 years. Although Breath of the Wild’s sequel promises new additions to this Hyrule, as well as updated versions of the enemies, it still seems to be at least 70% the same.
I am ready to venture through a completely new version of Hyrule, just like we have experienced with previous games and past versions of Link and Zelda. Or maybe we could hope for something even more interesting than that. Past games, such as Skyward Sword and Majora's Mask have given us locations beyond Hyrule. Could we expect to see a completely new land in the next Zelda title?
The Gerudo.
Tears of the Kingdom has shown us that they are bringing back one of the most famous Zelda characters, Ganondorf (or at least it is very likely him). The Gerudo warlock is the main villain in several Zelda games, but he has been notably absent from the series for almost ten years (and even longer since he was in a mainline Zelda title). His appearance in this next story has fans wondering what will happen to him. I do wonder about that as well, but I am also very interested in what will happen to the Gerudo moving forward. I have a strong feeling that this will be the end of Ganondorf. I think the makers of Zelda are giving Ganondorf one last hurrah before introducing a new villain. That also means if he dies, then we may see more male Gerudo in future games (given that only one male Gerudo can be alive at one time/every 100 years).
Males coming back to the Gerudo race could be challenging for the Gerudo people. They may have a hard time accepting the males, given their history with Ganondorf that has spanned thousands of years. Will the Zelda team decide to make the next male another villain, or will they be an ally; perhaps even a new companion to follow Link in his next adventure?
The timeline.
There are theories that we will be able to time travel in Tears of the Kingdom. There are also those that believe the Zelda team created Breath of the Wild so far away from the rest of the timeline because they no longer wanted to focus on that time split. That is understandable, as it was not their initial intention to have a timeline, but what would this mean for future Zelda stories? Will they ever go back and add games within those 3 timelines, or will they only move forward in time from here? Will time travel ever be a part of Zelda again? If so, then should we expect a new split in the timeline? Time travel has played a huge role in this series in the past; it is hard to say whether they will keep it within their future stories or abandon it all together.
Gameplay.
The last main point I would like to focus on is how future Zelda games will be played. Zelda entered the realm of open-world gaming when Breath of the Wild was released. Of course, Tears of the Kingdom will follow in Breath of the Wild’s steps, being its sequel game, but that begs the question: what’s next? Controversy arose with the lack of proper dungeons and losing other components that came from the past Zelda titles, which were all linear in gameplay style. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are testing the waters for how to make Zelda content moving forward. So, after the praise and controversy, what elements from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will still be present in the future games? What will they choose to bring back from old games? Is this open-world with fewer dungeons the new Zelda standard? Or will these first two Nintendo Switch titles just be a test and we should expect something new down the line?
I am excited for Tears of the Kingdom. I love the new abilities, terrain, monsters, and story we have seen so far, but it only makes me more curious for what comes next. Do you agree, or is your mind set on all there is to come in Tears of the Kingdom?