One thing that this affects is the crafting that Breath of the Wild uses. While not entirely new, as upgrades and materials have been present in Legend of Zelda before the approach used in Breath of the Wild is deeper. Crafting is intended to be something that can directly affect gameplay and if invested in becomes an invaluable asset as players travel through Hyrule. Focused on elixirs and food items crafting provides different benefits to Link in Breath of the Wild and like the enemies that should return in Breath of the Wild 2, crafting is something that the sequel should expand upon as well.
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Crafting in Breath of the Wild 2
A great way for Breath of the Wild to do this is to take inspiration from the mechanics used in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Much like with Breath of the Wild, crafting in The Witcher 3 can be optional but still provides an invaluable resource for players. While this mostly relates to the usefulness of items like elixirs, and oils it also applies to armor and weapons. This is something that The Witcher 3 also has over Breath of the Wild. Instead of being limited to consumables, players in The Witcher video games can build their gear, scouring the world for recipes to specific armor and weapons as they play.
Crafting that can get as deep as The Witcher 3’s might be a lot to ask of Breath of the Wild 2, but it’s still something that should be considered for the game. Crafting in the first Breath of the Wild, while useful, could feel shallow when compared to other franchises. Weapons needed to be scavenged throughout the world rather than players making them, which could make Breath of the Wild feel limited.
Instead, by giving players the option to craft more than food and elixirs, finding recipes could be used to flesh out Breath of the Wild 2’s map and encourage players to explore in the same capacity that collecting all the Korok seeds and completing shrines does. In turn, this could develop the original’s approach of nonlinear gameplay even further.
It would be a major change, but in the sequel to a game that was a rather new approach for the Legend of Zelda franchise, it could be a good one. Breath of the Wild 2 will likely build on a lot of the foundation that Breath of the Wild provided, and could even reprise past features, like music mechanics in the Legend of Zelda series. Expanding it even more by implementing a crafting mechanic that’s richer and rewards players for the time they put into the game only feels like a natural evolution for Breath of the Wild 2.
The implementation of deeper crafting also has more pros than cons. While not something likely to be added if not already implemented, given how far along development is, crafting could still be a key part of developing Breath of the Wild 2 in post-release updates. It could allow players to apply the knowledge they’ve already gathered and let them discover even more of what the world in Breath of the Wild 2 might have to offer, helping to build on the endgame experience as well.
The unnamed Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel is currently in development for Nintendo Switch.
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