although The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 it seems that many of the fundamental parts of the original game have been retained, but it already promises to change in many ways. For example, the latest trailer for the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild hints at major changes to the enemies Link may face and how he fights them; fans can spot several new monsters, as well as a horned Bokoblin variant. The game reused botW‘s map of Hyrule, but most notably there will be several heavenly islands that Link can now explore, opening up fantastic new horizons for fans.
These sky islands are exciting because of their possible connections to skyward sword, but they also have major implications for the rest of the game. The appearance of the sky islands could mean that Hyrule’s ground level changes significantly, which could impact other mechanics. Horse riding in eg Breath of the Wild 2 may be a slightly different experience than before, due to a combination of new inconveniences related to the sky islands. Unless Nintendo innovates some ways to send horses into the air, Link’s steeds may be a little less useful in the new game.
How Breath of the Wild 2 can affect horses
Breath of the Wild 2 will likely encourage players to spend a lot of time in the air; Nintendo wouldn’t add these islands if they weren’t crucial to the game’s plot. However, it is clear that Link is not well equipped to take horses to the sky with him. Even if he did, horses may not be practical to use on the heavenly islands, as the islands may be too small to require a horse or even have room to ride safely. Even if horses can get to the islands, Link still needs ways to move horses between individual islands.
The new islands can also significantly affect Hyrule’s surface level. While it is possible that some of the sky islands were hidden in Hyrule’s atmosphere all along, Hyrule Castle in the most recent Breath of the Wild 2 trailer suggests the islands are made of terrain from the ground up. Depending on how much and what territory is lifted to heaven botW2, the ground can be much more difficult to navigate on horseback, whether the holes in the ground are dangerous or just too steep for a horse.
Beyond the heavenly islands it is possible that Breath of the Wild 2 features a significant amount of underground content. Link and Zelda introduced fans to the game by digging into a mysterious cavern in Ganondorf’s tomb, and a trailer shows Link battling a monster underground. Hyrule’s landmarks floating away in chunks may have uncovered a variety of new underground locations for Link to explore, but these caverns will almost certainly be too narrow to explore on horseback. All in all, the sky islands seem to create a lot of new exploration opportunities, but none of them seem very horse-friendly.
How Nintendo Could Help Horses in BotW2
Horses can still be useful as long as Nintendo gets creative in creating new horse mechanics. For example, Breath of the Wild 2 seems to give Link a new ability that shoots him into the air and through solid rock. This seems like a very handy way to access the heavenly islands, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if Link could include a horse in this effect. Nintendo has teased at least a few islands big enough to hold roads, so maybe some of them will be horse-friendly, if not all of them.
As for the ground level, Nintendo could extend the building mechanics of the first game to make riders stronger. One of the Breath of the WildThe most unique side missions are From the Ground Up, in which Link Hudson of Bolson Construction helps create Tarrey Town by collecting resources and workers. In Breath of the Wild 2, Bolson Construction could find new work to plug the gaps left by the sky islands. Once Link has gathered enough resources or invested some rupees, Bolson Construction can build bridges over gaps or fill gaps with new soil, slowly making horses more viable and giving players a good sense of accomplishment.
All the theoretical underground segments would probably be the hardest for Nintendo to make accessible to horses. It could introduce some really huge caverns that take a lot of time to explore on foot, giving Link reason to bring a horse underground, but inevitably there will be certain places where a horse is more of a nuisance than an asset. Still, even a few new caves with space for horses would add a lot of variety to Breath of the Wild‘s exploration and give Link something new to experience alongside his trusty steeds.
Possible horseback innovations from Breath of the Wild 2
Although there are some obvious obstacles that stand in the way of horses Breath of the Wild 2, a little cleverness from Nintendo could go a long way. New mechanics in Breath of the Wild 2 making horses more versatile in complicated terrain would be more than welcome. Since Nintendo has revealed little about the new Zelda game, the sky is the limit for now; perhaps horses themselves will learn many new skills that will make up for the unfavorable terrain in the new game. Training horses in various special skills would definitely be a fun new way to interact with them.
Hopefully fans won’t have to wait long for a taste of how horses interact in the new game. Nintendo should not discuss Breath of the Wild 2 a lot in the coming months as other big games like Splatoon 3 and Pokemon Scarlet and purple are coming out much sooner, but fans may get a few more clues in the near future. Considering how different the exploration will be in this game, there’s a good chance Nintendo will shine a spotlight on this side of the game BotW2 experienced early. Horses will no doubt be an important part of the game again, but they will have to adapt to the sky islands somehow to remain truly effective. The more ideas Nintendo has in store for them, the better.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 will be released for Nintendo Switch in Spring 2023.
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