Speculation: Is Breath of the Wild a Twilight Princess Sequel?

We speculate on a couple of interesting ties between the two games!

By Marc Deschamps. Posted 06/17/2016 12:00 2 Comments     ShareThis

This week, Nintendo debuted a ton of new information regarding The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Wii U and NX. Fans were immediately floored by the game’s gorgeous visual presentation and massive new open world. While the day’s focus seemed to be on new elements added to the game, there were also a handful of things that seemed familiar. After watching this week’s Treehouse presentation, I’m starting to believe that Breath of the Wild might be a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

When The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker released on GameCube, most fans were blissfully unaware of the game’s ties to Ocarina of Time. Many had assumed the title would stand alone, just as the N64 title mostly had before it. Nintendo had, however, dropped a large hint that the two games were intertwined, and most players seemed to completely miss it: the company re-released Ocarina of Time on GameCube, available exclusively to fans who pre-ordered Wind Waker. Sometimes, history has a funny way of repeating itself. What game did Nintendo re-release to tide Zelda fans over until Breath of the Wild? The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD.

There are other small hints, as well. Shortly after Twilight Princess HD’s March release, fans discovered a picture of Breath of the Wild in the game. Given what we’ve seen of Hyrule’s condition in BOTW, any timeline continuity would likely have to take place after Twilight Princess, so this is probably just a fun Easter egg, but it’s yet another tie between the two games. The HD remake was also accompanied by a Wolf Link Amiibo, which allows Wolf Link to appear as a partner character in Breath of the Wild. This could simply be a fun addition to the game, or it could be the spirit of an older Link guiding the new hero, just as the swordsman in Twilight Princess was heavily hinted at being the hero from Ocarina of Time.

That’s not all. In what appears to be the opening of Breath of the Wild, Link awakens in a strangely alien place, surrounded by technology. Machines aren’t completely unheard of in the Zelda franchise, but they typically appear much older, and archaic. The technology in BOTW appears far more advanced, and somewhat reminiscent of what we’ve seen from the Twili race. Could the denizens of the Twilight Realm play a role in the new game?

The ties between Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild are minor at this point, but there are enough of them to give pause. We likely won’t know more until next March, but it will be interesting to see if the two games will have a direct connection between them. For now, it’s simply fun to speculate.

2 Responses to “Speculation: Is Breath of the Wild a Twilight Princess Sequel?”

  • 745 points
    OG75 says...

    Fan speculation is fun. Marc’s write-up is an example of why that is.

    I admit that while I’ve been playing Zelda since day one (in North America, that is), I don’t claim to have cared for, or studied that “official” timeline that Nintendo released in Hyrule Historia a few years back.

    However I would absolutely love if this game were set in the distant future after Wind Waker. It would be thrilling to climb to the highest peaks in Breath of the Wind only to realize that the “mountain tops” turn out to contain ancient ruins that are actually remnants of islands from Wind Waker. How great would it be to climb a mountain and discover the ruins of Windfall Island at the summit?

    Whatever happens, I’m absolutely thrilled by this game and I’m about to go into a self-imposed “black out” regarding all media and hype surrounding it. I was blown away when watching “The Force Awakens” in December and I believe part of it was because I kept away from ever even seeing a screenshot from a trailer. While I didn’t have the discipline to do the same for Zelda, I’m going to begin ignoring all hype here pretty soon. All the while knowing it’s going to blow me away come 2017. Can’t wait!!

  • 745 points
    OG75 says...

    Oops. Looks like I got too into my own hope/theory above and called it “Breath of the Wind”. Consider this comment my attempt at an edit :)

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