New Breath of the Wild 2 footage released at E3

The still-unnamed direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was first announced during Nintendo’s E3 presentation back in 2019. Since then, the devs have maintained near-complete radio silence, barring a brief mention during a Zelda-centric presentation a few months ago. But, rather fittingly, it seems Nintendo just wanted to wait for another E3 proper to give us some deets, because new Breath of the Wild 2 footage was released at their E3 presentation this year.

New Breath of the Wild 2 Footage Released

While we don’t have details yet on things like the story of the game, it looks like some manner of evil, likely Ganon-sourced mojo, has taken root under Hyrule Castle, lifting it into the sky, and potentially kidnapping Zelda. To save Zelda and combat… whatever it is that’s going down here, Link will need to embark on an adventure surprisingly reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. While paragliding was a big part of the first Breath of the Wild, now Link will be full-on skydiving onto and from enormous floating islands and constructs. Whether this is the return of the Skyloft we know, who could say, but it’d be a pretty cool callback.

While still armed with his sword, shield, and usual bevy of weaponry, Link also appears to be “armed” with some manner of ancient mechanical arm brace. The brace appears to utilize similar esoteric technology to the Sheikah Slate; not only can it freeze and launch objects like the Stasis rune, it can also shoot massive breaths of flames, let Link slip upwards through platforms like a drop of water, and even rewind time! 

As for when we can expect this ambitious new game, Nintendo hasn’t given us a concrete date just yet, but the new trailer did say to expect it some time in 2022. In the meantime, the HD port of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword hits the Switch in July, so if this all does end up being a Skyloft call back, it’d be a good time to bone up on your lore.