One of the features that fans want the most in Breath of the Wild 2 is a playable Zelda. Considering her prevalence in the cinematic trailer, it does seem that she will be more of a physical presence in this title than in the original Breath of the Wild.
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There are many methods in which Zelda could be playable, such as specific dungeons or gameplay segments. However, one of the ways that fans want her is to have her as a co-op partner, allowing for players to share their adventure within Hyrule with another player.
The Possible Problem
The biggest apparent problem with having a playable Zelda co-op partner come along with players on their adventure in Breath of the Wild 2 is in the hardware limitations of the Nintendo Switch. The original already had many reported problems with frame rates and having another player interact with the world could cause even worse problems to occur.
It is also questionable if the Switch can handle having a constant online partner for a game as vast as the original Breath of the Wild. The issues of how far away players can travel from each other is also a problem with Link and Zelda most likely needing to be together in order for story events to take place.
Other issues arise with the question about if the co-op would be allow local co-op or be exclusively online. It might be inconvenient for the second player if they need to look at the same screen as the first player with absolutely no control over the camera. However, some players might be turned off by the need for another Switch and/or another copy of Breath of the Wild in order to support co-op.
The Possible Solution
Considering Nintendo is the one behind the hardware of the Nintendo Switch, the team behind Breath of the Wild’s sequel is more than likely well versed in the limitation presented to them. The team is also familiar with the problems present in the original Breath of the Wild.
If Breath of the Wild 2 is being developed with co-op in mind, the game would need to be designed around this concept and design around any sorts of hardware limitations. This means the questions of players’ distances from each other and local versus online co-op would need to be answered by the team. However, this also means that it would need to be present from the start and can’t be added on at last minute. A co-op DLC that’s added later would additionally have to be limited to a specific area as well if the rest of the game isn’t created with co-op in mind.
Because of this, it wouldn’t be wrong to still hold out hope for a playable Zelda. However, the likelihood is still low due to how much of a departure it would be from the rest of the series. Development is still underway, including the Breath of the Wild 2 voice recordings, and so it it is likely some time before this can be confirmed.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is in development for the Nintendo Switch.
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