Now that the game has been out for a few weeks and many people have had the chance to explore its vast content, I thought it would be worth starting a discussion about what we might expect from the story and dungeon DLC that will be coming next winter. I have to say that my expectations are rather high now; it seems to me that Nintendo intends for this DLC to be part of a fresh holiday push for the game and consequently it should be pretty significant. Here's what Aonuma said in the announcement:
So we're not just talking about an extra dungeon thrown on the map, I'm expecting some kind of new gimmick or novelty around which the expansion will be built. Here are a few directions that they've possibly foreshadowed. This discussion will inevitably contain spoilers for those who are sensitive to that kind of thing, but let's avoid discussing the ending shall we?
Idea 1: Oh, shit, we got tiny people!
So we know that Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the director of both The Minish Cap and Breath of the Wild, apparently likes tiny people. He likes them so much that he wanted to get them into Breath of the Wild but it didn't work out for whatever reason. Because these dudes are small it would be very easy to slot their town and dungeon into the existing world without taking up much space. Link can shrink down and see things from a new perspective. It could be really cool.
Maybe they've got their own tiny divine beast which is a life sized donkey or something. And after you clear the dungeon you get to ride it around at full size. I don't know I'm just spitballing here.
Idea 2:Thor 2: The Dark World
It was A Link to the Past that first introduced this concept to gaming, and as far as I know it's never been done with an open world. This might be something worth its own full blown sequel, but if Nintendo is looking for a way to repurpose parts of the existing world as we know it then they could do worse than to introduce a dark world mechanic. Perhaps they can make it all Lovecraftian and shit and call it the Calamity Dimension where everything looks kind of like this
There's lots of possibilities there.
Idea 3: I think you are now ready, ready to play what happened 100 years ago
I gotta admit, I kind of miss the musical instruments. So why not bring back the musical instrument, especially when the passage of time is so thematically relevant to Breath of the Wild? Let's get the fucking Ocarina and go back 100 years to relive the return of Ganon for ourselves. The Temple of Time is just sitting there on the Great Plateau and seems to be begging to be used in a more meaningful way. It can be our gateway between the present and the past.
Again it was Zelda that introduced the time shift mechanic to gaming, and here we have a perfect opportunity to revisit the concept. Breath of the Wild is perhaps the first Zelda sequel we've had that can actually bring back the Ocarina without having to worry about standing in the shadow of OOT.
Idea 4: Aliens
'Nuff said.
So we're not just talking about an extra dungeon thrown on the map, I'm expecting some kind of new gimmick or novelty around which the expansion will be built. Here are a few directions that they've possibly foreshadowed. This discussion will inevitably contain spoilers for those who are sensitive to that kind of thing, but let's avoid discussing the ending shall we?
Idea 1: Oh, shit, we got tiny people!
So we know that Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the director of both The Minish Cap and Breath of the Wild, apparently likes tiny people. He likes them so much that he wanted to get them into Breath of the Wild but it didn't work out for whatever reason. Because these dudes are small it would be very easy to slot their town and dungeon into the existing world without taking up much space. Link can shrink down and see things from a new perspective. It could be really cool.
Maybe they've got their own tiny divine beast which is a life sized donkey or something. And after you clear the dungeon you get to ride it around at full size. I don't know I'm just spitballing here.
Idea 2:
It was A Link to the Past that first introduced this concept to gaming, and as far as I know it's never been done with an open world. This might be something worth its own full blown sequel, but if Nintendo is looking for a way to repurpose parts of the existing world as we know it then they could do worse than to introduce a dark world mechanic. Perhaps they can make it all Lovecraftian and shit and call it the Calamity Dimension where everything looks kind of like this
There's lots of possibilities there.
Idea 3: I think you are now ready, ready to play what happened 100 years ago
I gotta admit, I kind of miss the musical instruments. So why not bring back the musical instrument, especially when the passage of time is so thematically relevant to Breath of the Wild? Let's get the fucking Ocarina and go back 100 years to relive the return of Ganon for ourselves. The Temple of Time is just sitting there on the Great Plateau and seems to be begging to be used in a more meaningful way. It can be our gateway between the present and the past.
Again it was Zelda that introduced the time shift mechanic to gaming, and here we have a perfect opportunity to revisit the concept. Breath of the Wild is perhaps the first Zelda sequel we've had that can actually bring back the Ocarina without having to worry about standing in the shadow of OOT.
Idea 4: Aliens
'Nuff said.
