Nintendo has kept many details under wraps about the upcoming sequel to its award-winning game,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Since the release of theBreath of the Wild 2trailer at last year’s E3, however, fans have noticed some similarities hinted between Link’s next big outing and one of the most beloved games in theZeldafranchise,Majora’s Mask.
While the grim visage of the Happy Mask Salesman is nowhere to be seen, the trailer has a more sinister tone than mostZeldagames, with Link and Zelda exploring the depths of Hyrule Castle when they discover what appears to be the corpse of Ganondorf, before his reanimated head suddenly turns and his eyes light up.Breath of the Wild 2is shaping up to resembleMajora’s Maskin at least one key way – it is likely going to be darker.
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The Link Between BOTW and Majora’s Mask
The originalBreath of the Wilddid not shy away from its own moments of light horror. From exploring the spooky Lost Woods to the frankly terrifying horse god Malanya that any player attempting to revive a dead mount has the pleasure of visiting, the series has never been above dipping its toes in the macabre and skittishly surreal, and those aren’t even in thetop 5 creepiest moments in the Zelda franchise.
WithMajora’s Maskdirectly following the events ofOcarina of Time– a rarity in thetimeline of theLegend of Zeldagames –Breath of the Wild 2wouldn’t be the first time Nintendo has taken Link down a darker path with a direct sequel. InMajora’s Mask, many of the people players can meet in Termina are versions of people they can find inOcarina of Time’s Hyrule, with Termina acting as a twisted mirror-image of the prior game’s setting.
Breath of the Wild 2is confirmed to be using the same game world as the first game, but it is likely significantchanges to theBreath of the Wildmapwill be made in order to make the game feel like a true sequel, meaning the Hyrule we explore in the sequel will likely have many eerie difference as players see the longer term consequences of Link’s actions in the first game.
How Hyrule does Horror
The true horror ofMajora’s Mask, however, did not come solely from the places players could visit, but the conceit of the game itself – Termina is trapped in a time loop three days before its destruction, with the game playing out one of the more cerebral and terrifying implications of a world where incredibly powerful artifacts like the ocarina exist.
There are already indications in thetrailer forBreath of the Wild 2that the new game will also explore Link’s strange relationship with time in some sense, with the music in the teaser trailer clearly being audio played backwards, perhaps indicating that whatever forces are at play to bring Ganon back to life are doing so using a similar kind of magic.
In any case, the teaser makes it likely that, likeMajora’s MasktoOcarina of Time, the sequel toBreath of the Wildwill play out some of the darker implications of the Hyrule. Hyrule as presented to us in the originalBreath of the Wildis one that, like Termina, seems to be under the constant cyclical threat of apocalyptic annihilation, albeit on a far larger timescale.
Indeed, with Zelda herself seemingly featuring more heavily in the upcoming game, with some fans hopingZelda may even be a playable character, it is possible thatBreath of the Wild 2will explore the strange cyclical dynamic that Link, Zelda, and Ganon find themselves in throughout the series, the lack of lasting peace that any version of Link is able to bring to the land, and the relentless impermanence of Ganon’s defeats.
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Ganondorf’s Return
The horror in the trailer is focused on what appears to be the mummifiedcorpse of Ganondorfjudging by its general appearance and the Gerudo symbol on its necklace. Ganondorf does not appear in his Gerudo form at all duringBreath of the Wild, and by focusing on his corpse Nintendo gives the impression that, like Skull Kid, Ganondorf may have become a vessel for forces far beyond his control.
The real agent in the teaser appears to be the red and black twisting tendrils of Malice itself, which are already moving through the castle long before the reanimation of the corpse. It is possible that we will see some exploration of the tragic side of Ganondorf, at this point quite possibly a corpse literally animated by malice, rather than in control of it. It would certainly be a far cry from the bestialCalamity Ganon.
The potential parallels don’t end there either. Hyrule Castle seems at the verge of taking off at the end of the teaser, which would hugely change themap for the nextBreath of the Wildgame and hints at the potential for a looming villainous presence in the sky over Hyrule resembling the role of the moon over Termina inMajora’s Mask, though without the iconic face.
For now, this remains speculation, but franchise producer Eiji Aonuma confirmed in aninterview aboutBreath of the Wild 2that the sequel was likely to be “a little darker” thanMajora’s Mask. WithMajora’s Maskconsidered by many to be the darkest entry to theZeldafranchise, this could meanZeldafans have a lot in store of them.
While Aonuma also claims that the sequel may not even be inspired by Majora’s Mask, the fact that the development team members are fans of the games makes it seems highly unlikely that some influence will not seep in, especially whenMajora’s Maskis the main reference when considering the unique way thatthe best games in theLegend of Zeldafranchise have told dark stories in the past.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2is in development for the Nintendo Switch.
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