The latest trailer for shown off during Nintendo's E3 direct and it was arguably one of the most exciting parts of the show. Fans had only seen the original trailer a few years back but now there's finally some gameplay footage to chew on. Link's equipped with new abilities, outfits, and a fresh hairdo. However, some of the new areas shown off in the trailer take place on islands in the sky just like Skyward Sword. The sky world was an interesting yet flawed portion of Skyward Sword that can definitely be improved on in Breath of the Wild 2.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword starts off in the airborne town of Skyloft which is surrounded by loads of other islands players can visit. After the opening sequence is over, players can fly around this sky and visit each of its islands by riding on a bird-like Loftwing. They can also head down to visit the surface below which is where the bulk of the game's story content takes place. Switching back and forth between the sky and the surface is a major component of Skyward Sword for both the campaign and sidequests, but unfortunately, it pulls off this whole concept clumsily.
One of the main issues that plagued Skyward Sword was how little content was actually present above the surface. Many of the sky islands contained nothing more than a single chest, which often needed to be activated somewhere on the surface before it could open anyway. Others were just hubs for various minigames or for some specific sidequest. Traveling from the sky to the surface was limited by specific portals which would then teleport players to the corresponding zone. It made the sky and the surface feel very disconnected from each other which could disrupt immersion for some players. Some of these issues might be touched upon in Skyward Sword HD, but it's far more likely Nintendo will save those changes for Breath of the Wild 2.
How Breath of the Wild 2 Can Fix The Sky World
Classic 3D Zelda titles like Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess divided their overworlds into chunks and connected them with loading zones. Breath of the Wild's big, seamless world feels so free in comparison because these loading zones were eliminated, and a similar change to Skyward Sword's formula could make all the difference in Breath of the Wild 2. If players could perch upon the edge of a sky island and soak in a gorgeous view of the countless islands that surround them, then plunge toward the distant Hyrule beneath their feet, all free of any loading zones, Nintendo will have made an impressive overworld.
The other aforementioned problem with Skyward Sword's sky is its lack of content. This could easily be amended in Breath of the Wild 2, and there's already reason to hope that will be the case. The islands show in the latest teaser trailer look larger than those found in Skyward Sword, and therefore have the potential to hide a greater variety of interesting elements. The developers could have mini-dungeons buried within them, or have enemy gauntlets similar to the quality islands found throughout The Wind Waker. Link's new ability to phase through solid surfaces seems like climbing back up to those islands which would make the two places feel more connected. It seems that Skyward Sword has influenced Breath of the Wild 2 to a fair degree, so it'll be interesting to see if any other elements get shared between the two.
