I'd like a return to the linear specific item to beat dungeon formula. That clearly won't happen, so I'll wish for a BotW type with the item/dungeon thing added back in. Shrines lacked personality and BotW lacked a feeling of magic. Bring both back and it could be a [10] for me.

You’re ruining Keanu by associating him with a sequel to some bollocks.

'Proper' dungeons would be a step back. I really hope they don't go down that route. Keep pushing forward.

Other than that, I hope this would be one of the quirky/weird Zeldas. Like the equivalent of Majora's to Ocarina.

See you in 2 years.

I think they could do the open world but with dungeons thing. Breath of the Wild was good but I do wish the ancient dungeon things lasted a bit longer and were more involved.

I like that this is a sequel though because it means they can expand and improve on what they did with the first. There's quite a few little things that need fixing like the inventory management and so on.

Due to the speed of development my money is on some sort of majoras mask

I should probably play this first one, now I actually own it...

Honestly I expect a remixed world due to some cataclysmic event. Same basic geography but maybe some excavated/exposed labyrinths or complex temples on par with the best of Skyward Sword. Maybe like the Divine BEasts only much longer, and gatekeeping story progression rather than world access.

The shrines in BOTW were (story wise) placed there as a trial for the hero to overcome. They were overcome canonically, so what else is there to discover must by necessity be new. I reckon its going to have a more organic feel to it than the shrines did, unless they go with some alternate reality mechanic.

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

I think they could do the open world but with dungeons thing. Breath of the Wild was good but I do wish the ancient dungeon things lasted a bit longer and were more involved.

I like that this is a sequel though because it means they can expand and improve on what they did with the first. There's quite a few little things that need fixing like the inventory management and so on.

This.

at night

I didn’t realize people actually liked the dungeons in anything

equinox_code wrote:

I didn’t realize people actually liked the dungeons in anything

I was going to recommend Ancient Cistern from Skyward Sword.

acemuzzy wrote:

... says the German fetish club expert

Now I'm definitely recommending Ancient Cistern from Skyward Sword.

Things I'd like to see:

1. A wider toolset - BotW gave you everything you needed at the beginning and I think that was a fantastic choice. But I'd also like more optional items that you can find in the world (like hookshots etc.) that can be used to solve puzzles in more ways. One of my favourite things about BotW was how you could get inventive and "break" puzzles, and I think a couple more items could help that. This is the Metroid fan in me speaking. A Link Between Worlds did this really well - utilising certain tools for certain dungeons, but giving you a lot of options outside of that. Similarly, Majora's Mask had some wonderful things you could do with certain masks. 

2. Loot changes - this is kinda tied to the above. The chest rewards for attacking camps / completing shrines were boring as fuck after the first few times. They were mainly similar armour and weapons to what you already had. There were some unique items, like gear to make you climb faster, and i'd like more of that - more weapons and armour that have unique properties that can let you change your playstyle and build. Because, frankly, getting yet another big flaming sword and having to go through and drop a weapon I had already picked up wasn't the most exciting.

3. Longer Shrines - this one is personal preference, obviously. Nintendo seem to have a design philosophy where they try things once or twice and then ditch it, so everything is "fresh" and "inventive". But, for me, it often feels underwhelming and disposable. Mario Odyssey (the worst 3D mario) did this a lot, and I hated it. So did BotW. I  know quite a few dungeons had a second room but they were always optional, and the rewards, as mentioned above, were pretty duff. I'd like Shrines with multiple rooms, with escalating rewards, that introduce a concept and really test you on it. BotW's best shrine was the Blue Flame one - where you had to carry a blue flame through the area, using different methods to get is across obstacles. More of that, please.

4. No more motion controls (outside of gyroscopic aiming) - Gyroscopic aiming is good. I liked it on Vita, I like it on Switch, it's a great way to optionally add aiming accuracy on a handheld console. But the motion controlled puzzles in BotW were almost all completely shit. Ditch them.

5. An improved combat system - the combat in BotW was decent, but it's been pretty comprehensively shown that the dodge / flurry attack timing is utterly borked. It makes perfecting a dodge or attack feel unsatisfying since often you don't get rewarded for it (and actually sometimes get punished), but if you dodge way too early you succeed. I know they want the game to be accessible, but it doesn't need to be like this - they could have 2 windows for dodges - one early with a shorter reward, and a "perfect" dodge reward with a longer window and increased damage. 

6. Less outdoor climbing and more traversal options - climbing in BotW is great, but those mountain textures aren't great, lets be honest. Furthermore, scoping out an area from above isn't really that worthwhile, outside of locating shrines, because the game struggled to draw enemies more than a few metres away, so when you sailed down you'd often pop into danger unknowingly. By comparison, more smaller interiors could force you to use climbing and traversal in inventive ways. Similarly, early in the game you can use a tree to create a bridge, but there's not that many opportunities to be that inventive later in the game. You can play around and get inventive, sure, but the actual overworld is a little more barren that i'd like and lacks caves / interiors which could have made it more interesting to explore.

7. Better voice acting - it sucked. 

8. General QoL changes - things like inventory management, changing weapons etc. were more fiddly than I would have liked. I think they can do better here. 

There's a lot of ways in which I think BotW can be improved, but it's still a really impressive game. I'm actually super happy they'll do a direct sequel and I think it was a game calling out for fine tuning and improvement on top of a really solid foundation. Excited.

hylian_elf wrote:

If Elden Ring is actually gonna be open world, it might actually have a chance of being close to challenging BotW. Trust FromSoft to make it good.

I expect it'll be more combat / build oriented and less about puzzle solving, plus different traversal mechanics. But yeah...I think it could deffo scratch that itch.

A smaller, more tightly packed world would be good to see. The size of the map (and all those mountains to scope out routes into the distance) in BotW is one of its best features, but I don't see a need to repeat the same trick.

I remember people saying Nintendo had been hiring more level designers recently so perhaps that goes hand in hand with BotW having a different focus. I agree Vela that shrines will likely not be a heavy focus because of what they meant to the narrative of BotW, a game I still need to actually uh, finish.