The trailer had me so hyped for this game from the moment I saw it. As a sequel, I'm really hoping to see a lot of the finer details carried over, and the world developed a little more, so that both BOTW and BOTW2 can be accurately placed on the timeline but more than that, to deepen the immersion into this new Hyrule and strengthen the connection of it to the rest of the franchise. We've already seen things like the Forgotten Temple relating to SS, Lurelin Village relating to Outset Island and so on. I'd like to see more subtle links (hehe) to past games (since all previous games are in the past relative to BOTW) and lore that gives us more info as to how this version of Hyrule came to be.
As for what actually is in the trailer and theories... Well it's clear that this is a mummified Ganon, and that blue hand is what was attempting to suck the Malice out of him, as previously mentioned. However it's been speculated that Ganon will, in some form, become an ally to our heroes this time around, which would be extremely interesting and an idea that I'm a huge fan of. Not only this, but it seems Zelda is going to take a more active role in this game, which could lead to her becoming a playable character (not confirmed). Co-op is also a largely speculated idea, what with most scenes in the trailer that feature the heroes including the two of them together. Again, this is also an exciting idea and I wouldn't be adverse to seeing this come to fruition.
What I'm mostly after in this game however, is a return to the more story-based type Zelda games. We've had the open world chock-full of details and hidden secrets (god bless whoever design the Lord of the Mountain) in BOTW, and repeating that would feel stale. That's not to say I'm against a large open world with freedom of movement, but it shouldn't reuse the world we have already explored to the fullest (I mean, I'm currently sitting at close to 100 shrines, idk how many koroks and over 60% of the world map explored and that's with sparce playing). It needs to be fresh, and I don't doubt that Aonuma will deliver on that front. I've not been disappointed with a single Zelda title to date, and while some are more lack-luster than others, not every game can blow your head off like OoT, WW and BOTW. All in all I'm super pumped to see how this game develops and in the mean time I'm going to keep working towards my 100% Master Mode completion.
End note: I have a plan (I also noticed someone on reddit had the same idea) for BOTW when the sequel is released. Before starting BOTW2, there are a few things to do to really feel like a continuation of the story.
- Visit all the villages in Hyrule to fully understand where the people are at, and what state each area is in.
- Travel to your favourite areas, should the landscape change in anyway.
- Collect all champions weapons and display them at your house.
- Leave your current horse at the stable at your house.
- Go and defeat the Calamity Ganon.
That way, when starting BOTW2 it should feel like a direct continuation of the story from the exact moment you stopped playing the first game.
