Nintendo’sThe Legend of Zeldais an anthology series. Each game shares many of the same themes, characters, items, and more, but Nintendo avoids dealing with direct continuity by letting eachLink be at a different point in theZeldatimeline. In the few cases where a Link does carry over, such asMajora’s MaskorPhantom Hourglass, he often winds up in a new land through mysterious circumstances by which he loses his previous items. However,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2may not have this luxury.
Whereas inMajora’s Maskthe Hero of Time falls through a magic portal into Termina, and inPhantom Hourglassthe Hero of Winds is knocked overboard while investigating a Ghost Ship,Breath of the Wild 2is setting up an adventure in which Link and Zelda investigate the mysteries of Hyrule together after the first game. The originalE3 2019 trailer even shows Link wielding the Master Swordas they find a magic-bound figure underground, suggesting what was originally a side quest is now canon.
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How the plot forBreath of the Wild’s sequel will develop is still unclear, and Link could very well lose all of his items and skills early on due to some unforseen circumstance. However, there are merits worth considering for both adhering to continuity and to wiping Link’s record clean for the new game.
The Benefits of Link Keeping His Progress
Probably the biggest benefit to retaining all of Link’s gains from the originalBreath of the Wildis it makes that journey more worthwhile in retrospect. While much ofBreath of the Wildis optional, giving players the choice to run straight from theGreat Plateautoward Hyrule Castle, taking major story beats and side quests as “canon” presents a Link who has grown a lot. He has presumably travelled to the homes of each major race in Hyrule, gained their trust by stopping the corrupted Divine Beasts, and used their support alongside the Master Sword to slay Ganon.
The semi-prequelHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, a hack-and-slash game created byDynasty Warriorsdeveloper Koei Tecmo, also posits this series of events is likely canon. Players gradually discoverAge of Calamityis an alternate take on the history ofBreath of the Wild’s Hyrule, one in which time travel shenanigans allowSidon, Riju, Teba, and Yunobo to save their predecessors: Mipha, Urbosa, Revali, and Daruk respectively. Dialogue implies they’ve come fromBreath of the Wild’s canonical universe, wherein Link saved their peoples.
Another major thing that should be considered canon if Link does retain his progress is thememories gathered across Hyrule. Link has amnesia following his 100-year rest in the Shrine of Resurrection, partially explaining his wiped abilities at the beginning ofBreath of the Wild. Thus, it would be trite to see Nintendo pull out another plot device to somehow revert his growth.
This isn’t to say all of Link’s abilities have to carry over to the sequel. With theE3 2021 trailerdepicting a larger focus on airborne travel across floating islands, as well as brand-new powers like phasing through walls, Link will need to acclimate to new challenges. It may even make sense not to carry over abilities like the Champion’s Blessings given their spirits depart from the mortal world after Calamity Ganon is slain. However, making him start at zero could be a step too far.
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The Benefits of Link Starting Over
All that being said, there is still a strong argument to be made for giving Link a full reset going intoBreath of the Wild 2. One obvious point is that despite the game being a sequel, there’s no guarantee every person will have played the original. Even then,Breath of the Wildaffords players such a wide range of experiencesthat it’s impossible to say whether each variant of Link will have completed the adventure as “canon” might dictate.
The two trailers released forBreath of the Wild 2thus far offer conflicting visual indicators for how much progress will carry over. In the 2019 trailer, Link has the Master Sword and dresses in the same blue tunic that represents this take on Hyrule. In the 2021 trailer, more focus is put on Link travelling through new floating environments in a unique garb, which implies a fresh start. Still, some new abilities like reversing time on a rolling spikeball appear to build offLink’s established Runesrather than stand on their own.
Breath of the Wild’s narrative aside, another big reason to consider wiping Link’s slate clean is that it would keep gameplay fresh. If Link retains everything going into the sequel, he might be overpowered from the start - even if Nintendo scales his health back down and offers new challenges to overcome. This issue compounds because so many people did playBreath of the Wild, meaning they’re accustomed to the abilities he gained.Video games are built on the idea of progressing, and it may not be satisfying for the protagonist to be partway through his arc.
Nintendo seems to have recognized the potential for its open-world Hyrule to become monotonous, as demonstrated by in-game challenges like Eventide Island.Breath of the Wild’s free nature means players could discover the island right away, but clearly its intent was for people to arrive after becoming more powerful, that way there’s an impact when theShrine challengetakes everything back to basics and forces players to survive as they did on the Great Plateau.
Perhaps the experienceBreath of the Wild 2should emulate isMetroid Prime. In the originalPrime, Samus Aran begins with all of her abilities before they’re stripped away. This gives players a visceral idea of how strong they can become once they reclaim their abilities. With a strong narrative justification,Breath of the Wild 2can have its cake and eat it too; let players see how far Link has progressed and then wipe his progress to necessitate a new journey. Regardless, he should probably not lose his memories and relationships a second time.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2releases in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
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