Breath Of The Wild 2 Gameplay Mechanics Explained

Nintendo has developed The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 with complete secrecy. We don’t know much about the game. The company showed a teaser trailer at E3 2021. But apart from that, not much has been released. In December, Nintendo filed patents that hinted at the sequel’s mechanics. The trailer showed briefly showed all of the gameplay mechanics. Now, new videos have come out which explain the new gameplay in striking detail.

YouTube channel “Monster Maze“ has released an in-depth analysis video about the gameplay. The channel has released videos about two patents, Time reversal and phasing through walls. The E3 trailer briefly showcased these mechanics. But, the video explains them in a detailed manner. It also explains how the Zelda gameplay is different from other games having similar things. 

Time manipulation is nothing new. Prince Of Persia has done it before. But, BOTW 2’s time-reversal differs from the rest. In other games, it only works on your character and helps you redo stuff. Whereas in BOTW 2, the time-reversal mechanic works on objects of physics. This means that you can move the object and return it to the starting position using time reversal. But, games like Unity have also done this before. The part where BOTW 2 actually stands out is how the reversing objects collide. According to the patent, the object is given new collision data which differs from the original. So, the reversed item is not certified to move in an original way and has a more realistic movement.

The object doesn’t collide with the same animation and new scenarios take place. The mechanic can also destroy objects like barrels. Time reversal in BOTW 2 is certainly different but it also has limitations. The reversal mechanic only changes position and place. It cannot reverse an outside effect like fire. So, this great innovation by Nintendo has a few restraints.

The next mechanic is Phasing through ceilings. The patent explains it as a simple passing-through movement. Link can jump and phase through ceilings, coming out on the other side. The teaser also showed this gameplay. Link can use this ability to escape from caves and explore new areas. So, this opens a lot of possibilities for the player. There are a few conditions for phasing according to the patent. You need to have the item which provides this ability and you can only phase through a certain height. 

When the player is ready to phase, the camera turns to an upward-facing position. A pillar of light will also be emitted, indicating the phasing process. Another visual revealed by the patent is that sometimes the camera will phase through with Link. So, the video explains this process in great detail.

There is no video about the third mechanic falling from the sky. But, this was shown in the trailer and it will be interesting to see how it looks in the game. Some suggest it may be like Just Cause 4.

Overall, the new features are very exciting and the video explains them brilliantly. There is no release date yet for BOTW 2. But no matter the release date, we are certainly waiting to try out these new mechanics.