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[Achelexus]

Add microtransactions and lootboxes.

 

[Osukaa]

- For the art direction, it should go for a more refined cel-shaded look, similar to Ni No Kuni, as far as the character models go, mimicking Capcom's Link To The Past artwork
- The world map shouldn't have to be as big. Many areas in BotW, like the snowy and desert regions, felt empty to me. A little bit smaller size would work. And no need for wall climbing. Leave that for Uncharted
- Get rid of the broken weapons concept and having to steal the enemies' weapons. I like knowing my equipment won't break every few seconds
- More character development for Link and Zelda! It's always the same story. He felt robotic in BotW, like he was fighting without a purpose, mindlessly saving the world without looking like he cares that much. Have to see more expression. Make Link finally have a voice.
- I'd like to see more expansive Hyrule Town and Castle areas
- Bring back underwater swimming of course
- One Epona is good enough

You saved me from typing all this that you listed. I agree with everything here except maybe the art direction as I would love a more serious tone and detailed world but honestly i'm cool for whatever style they choose. Another thing I hope they fix is his body ratio.. it may seem weird to others but what sorta bugged me was that Links legs seemed really short compared to his body. For some reason it just seemed off to me and felt like he was a bit of a dwarf lol. Anyone else notice it or am i going crazy...

 

[JORMBO]

I'd be happy if they kept the same formula and added some real dungeons and enemy variety.

 

[jadedm17]

As a non-Zelda fan (apart from some NES time years ago) who recently best and loved Breathe of the Wild.... More, just more.

I love the foundation, so more enemy variety and side quests worth doing (Witcher 3 set the bar so high here) would be great. The world was also great but felt a little needlessly big; I would have halved it personally.

Honestly though between Mario, Splatoon and Zelda I have complete faith and will buy whatever they make next day one.

Exit: I didn't hate weapon durability either, I enjoyed the tense moments and forced use to change style. We all tend to find a method and stick to it so I actually enjoy implementation of mechanics like this - I think it was handled well. (Mostly.)

 

[Chairman Tickles]

1) Keep the open world, physics, gameplay, survival mechanics, bite sized puzzle shrines, visual style.

2) Add more shrine visual variety, add some big, themed puzzle areas (dungeons).

3) Make durability less of an issue, keep it, but allow us to repair our weapons before they break.

4) Make the inventory better and easier to manage. This would help the cooking system (keep that too).

5) More enemy variety.

6) More side quests.

7) BIGGER WORLD! SHIPS AND SAILING TO OTHER LANDS!

8) Better voice acting.

9) More wildlife and animals to hunt.

10) More towns with side activities and minigames.

 

[NyogoZ]

You saved me from typing all this that you listed. I agree with everything here except maybe the art direction as I would love a more serious tone and detailed world but honestly i'm cool for whatever style they choose. Another thing I hope they fix is his body ratio.. it may seem weird to others but what sorta bugged me was that Links legs seemed really short compared to his body. For some reason it just seemed off to me and felt like he was a bit of a dwarf lol. Anyone else notice it or am i going crazy...

Yeah, I was also thinking about a realistic look as another possibility, something like a more detailed Twilight Princess look. You're right about Link's legs. I noticed it too. He's a midget in BotW.

If the world is a bit smaller, it would give the team the opportunity to create music for every unique location, like before, without it sounding too repetitive, which would've been the case in BotW if they added their usual kind of music. I liked it when Zelda's older music had a big presence while exploring. Orchestrated music and the use of real instruments, like harps, is the next logical step for Zelda.

 

[Osukaa]

Yeah ok I'm not crazy with the short legs lol. Yes I miss the music and story I can't say I miss it cause it's always been the same lol I wish they just stopped with the whole Ganon as the only villian behind everything. I'd love a new main villian that has nothing to do with Ganon but still have them keep Ganon in the game. I just can't take him serious as a villian cause he is sorta like so overplayed that I'm at the point of thinking "Ohh Ganny you crazy scamp you gonna take over the world almost again etc and then get banished again but its ok cause you're just gonna come right back and do it again lol" but for whatever reason the world doesn't prepare for when he comes back cause Link will handle it sooner or later.
I mean I get it yes that is what the whole triforce is about the 3 pieces always being bound but man I've been replaying the story for over about 20 years lol. I love the Zelda series don't get me wrong but just once I'd like it to feel like a whole new experience with throwbacks to the older games. I dunno maybe I'm asking for the impossible lol.

 

[Joe T.]

The first thing I want from the next Zelda is a strong, linear story layered on top of another large, open world similar to BotW's, where progress can move at the player's pace with lots of side quests, but with themed dungeons and special tools/weapons as rewards providing the key to accessing the next dungeon. Shrines need to go, they become a real burden on repeat playthroughs. Enemy variety and AI both need to improve with enemy difficulty scaling up around areas/dungeons meant to be tackled later in the game. I could go either way on weapon durability, but I'd like to see them survive more than a few enemy encounters. Mini games like fishing are a must, maybe used as an RPG-esque, level as you go, tool to acquire food and other resources. Bosses definitely need to return in epic style, playing off each dungeon's theme. Music needs to return in a more prominent way, too, fading in and out depending on the situation, but playing a much more active role than it did in BotW.

I liked BotW's art style, but Link can't be a silent hero yet again. A strong back and forth between him and Zelda would make for a more interesting dynamic, especially if both were playable at different points in the story, possibly opening up new areas of the world that Link didn't have access to. There's a lot of creative ways they can go about using the same open world engine while presenting a fresh experience.

 

[ehead]

I have to agree with most here and say that BotW is already a great game, and it will be hard to top it. I'm not sure if my opinions will make the game actually better for everyone else, but these are some of the stuff I'd like to see on top of BotW formula.

Improved battle mechanics and enemy encounters
Wind Waker and Twilight Princess provided variation in your attacks. They could add more like a counter (thanks, Return of Samus), and a sliding move (thanks, Horizon). These are entirely optional but would make for fresh enemy encounters. Relevant to this would be having better boss battles. I can't help but think Skyward Sword had more variety with its bosses than this game.

The return of standard equipment
1. Hookshot - Can make climbing much easier/faster given the right surface or you can upgrade it so it can stick to different surfaces
2. Musical instrument of some sort - Can be used to control weather/day cycle, unlock some stuff, etc.
3. Some device or item that lets you see the environment in a different light - Minish cap made you small, Bracelet in LBW made you stick to the wall and travel the Dark World, etc.

Less micro-dungeons, more big dungeons
I know that completing all shrine quests is entirely optional, and it's a nice change of pace to discover these areas every now and then. However, after completing all the mini-shrines in my normal difficulty run, I was thinking they might have gone overboard with the quantity. The 4 beast dungeons are great but those are it, only 4 dungeons. I think that's the lowest number of big dungeons in a Zelda game.

Other stuff which might be controversial:
Actual water levels - I really liked exploring Lake Hylia's floor in previous games, just diving, equipping the iron boots, etc.
A companion - I'm currently finishing Steamworld Dig 2, and I realized that having a companion is not really that bad as long as it's implemented properly - same like Fen. Since we're talking about a game after BotW, I think the return of a companion will be good.

 

[Koala Driving a Ferrari]

For my ideal sequel, I'd want a smaller open world with more "enclosed" open areas like the Great Plateau that require that area's tasks to be completed before being able to move on (gaining abilities or equipment to access the next "Great Plateau"). It'd also allow for a better developed and focused story and better characterisation. I won't be buying another Zelda title if the story component is non-existant like it was in BotW; that was my biggest disappointment with it. I'd want the artstyle to be similar as that was a personal highlight of BotW.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

I stopped playing because of the weapons breaking. No need for that shit

 

[toker818]

A way better story and add more life to the world more towns etc.

 

[Shifty]

• Zero repetition of content. The first time I saw one of those big cube maze things it was breathtaking and induced a strong sense of curiosity. The second time pushed my perception from "so much to do in this world" to "they made the world too big had to start copy-pasting, there must be at least two more of these". Total immersion breaker.
• More tangible reward structure. Exploration is a reward in and of itself for the first few hours, but eventually you reach the point of seeing a cool thing off in the distance only to remember that it's probably just a nice-looking wrapper for yet another spirit orb puzzle and lose interest. Taking a cue from the older entries in the series and introducing significant rewards for that stuff (new abilities, new equipment, etc.) instead of 1/3 of a heart/stamina container would give the game's wanderlust a lot more longevity.
• Non-homogenized dungeons. Each one should feel notably different from an aesthetic and layout design standpoint, and not be restricted to the same set of 4 powers that you start the game with.
• Throw farming/crafting in the bin. There is a time and place for that and Zelda is not it.
• Quit it with the '900 macguffins to collect' quest model. It makes the endgame an absolute grind for those with a completionist mindset, and this holds true for Mario Odyssey as well.
• Actual music.

I'm somewhat torn on the breakable weapons. On the one hand, having to scrabble around for a new weapon when yours breaks mid-combat adds an interesting dynamic to the gameplay, but on the other it cheapens the hell out of every weapon because they're all single-use items. It's kinda hard to get excited about that cool lightning rod you just picked up if you're already lugging three of them around in your pocket. The negatives probably outweigh the positives there.

 

[Jsheldon]

The design of Breath of the wild should be used as a blueprint for the next game. Keep the focus on the open world and exploration but with some changes even if it means making the world somewhat smaller:

- Keep the shrines but have a few (4-5) legit classic Zelda style dungeons.
One thing I missed from Botw was big dungeons. The Divine beasts in BotW felt more like big shrines than actual dungeons and they all felt pretty similar in terms of visual design. I'd love to see the return of bigger and more complex dungeons as these big milestones in the story while keeping the shrines as fun sidecontent and rewards for exploration.

- Make all weapons work like the Mastersword in Botw (minor spoilers):
There's 2 things I disliked about BotW. Weapon durability and rain.
I get the idea behind weapon durability, forcing you to use various items instead of sticking to the 1-2 you like, but I found it annoying and, more importantly, I think it made exploration less rewarding. Finding a remote place in the map and getting a cool weapon just doesn't feel as rewarding when you know that the cool sword you find will be gone after 2 or at most 3 encounters.
I think all weapons should work like the master sword (loses energy as you use it and eventually had a cooldown time as it recovers). Finding duplicates could be used as a way to level up weapons or something like that

- Better sidequests
In many ways I think BotW has one of the best open worlds in gaming. But one aspect is notoriously bad: the sidequests
I hope that in the next game they take inspiration of something like the Witcher 3 and try to evolve sidequest past "X character need Y of Z item"

I really liked the above post! Just would like to add more enemy variety plus fishing . Overall really enjoyed botw but it was really a drag at times...

 

[radewagon]

As someone who thinks BOTW is not particularly good, I'd like to see lots of stuff change in a sequel.

1. The cookie-cutter dungeons need to go.
2. If they're going to keep the rain, it needs to be more strategic. Only exclusively done in specific areas where they want you to not be able to climb (which was already sort of used in BOTW).
3. No breakable weapons. They made finding weapons in chest a let down. Finding a flaming sword with high damage should never be a let down.
4. A good story would be nice.
5. Let Link talk already. Silent protagonists severely limit story options. If they don't want to ruin the mystique, they could have him talk in a made up language (like Shadow of the Colossus).
6. No more cel shading.
7. No more anime/manga link. They've perfected it. Try something new. Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild all have, essentially, the same link.
8. Do something completely different. Seriously, just break away from the established series conventions and have fun with it. I know that's what they kind of did with BOTW and I'd like to see them do it again instead of just releasing BOTW 1.5.

 

[Badlucktroll]

I could see them adding a great journey into Lorule, and a character like Ravio!