Breath of the Wild 2: Release date, trailer, story and latest news – Tom’s Guide

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is one of the most hotly anticipated games on Nintendo Switch even though we know barely anything about it. However, thanks to an intriguing teaser trailer, we can suss out a few details about the sequel to the best video game of the last decade. 
We know that Breath of the Wilds iterations of Link and Zelda are back, we know that the story will pick up where the first game left off, and perhaps most importantly, we know that the game is definitely in development for the Nintendo Switch.
By watching the teaser trailer and applying a bit of common sense, we can make a few educated guesses about Breath of the Wild 2s general release window and potential story beats. For anything beyond that, though, well have to wait and see what Nintendo shares and Nintendo keeps its own schedule, as its fans can attest.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
First things first: “Breath of the Wild 2” isnt actually the next Zelda games name, but its a useful placeholder. Nintendo hasnt slapped a number on a Zelda sequel since the experimental Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on NES, and its unlikely to restart that trend now. As such, when Breath of the Wild 2 comes out, it probably wont actually be called Breath of the Wild 2. 
Nintendo hasnt discussed a release date for Breath of the Wild 2, but we do have two pieces of information that may help us glean a general window. The first is the cadence of Zelda titles over the years; the second is the average lifespan of a Nintendo console.
Not counting re-releases and remakes (even though some of them are quite substantial), Nintendo releases a new Zelda on consoles (not handhelds) every 3.5 years, on average. The wait time is sometimes as little as one year and sometimes as much as six years, but its rare for four years to go by without a new installment. Lets say, then, that the early window for Breath of the Wild 2 would be sometime between October 2020 and March 2021. This seems unlikely, given how little of the game weve seen so far, but Nintendo could also just be waiting for a big reveal within the next few months perhaps something to take the wind out of the PS5 and Xbox Series Xs sails in holiday 2020.
The other important hint is that the trailer showed off Breath of the Wild 2 for Nintendo Switch. That means the game will come out sometime before the end of the Switchs lifespan even if its also a launch title for Nintendos next console, as happened with Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild. Nintendo home consoles come out every 5.5 years, on average, meaning the current Switch could stick around until October 2022, or even March 2023.
As NintendoLife reports, voice work on Breath of the Wild 2 appears to be well underway, suggesting that development on the new game is moving along.
To give a somewhat broad answer, then, Breath of the Wild will probably come out between October 2020 and March 2023. A narrower window puts it between March 2021 and October 2022. The absolute midpoint of the window is December 2021. If I were a betting man, Id say “holiday 2021,” but I also wouldnt put that much money on it.
Breath of the Wild 2 trailer
All of the solid information we have about Breath of the Wild 2 comes from a trailer that Nintendo released during E3 2019. Here it is, in case you havent seen it:
Breath of the Wild 2 story
(Image credit: Nintendo)
While Nintendo hasnt provided any additional context for the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer, we do know a few important things from it. First, this will be a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, starring the same iterations of Link and Zelda. This is a relative rarity for Zelda games, which tend to reimagine Link, Zelda and Ganon for each new major installment. Its not totally unheard-of, though; Zelda II and Majoras Mask did the same thing.
We also know that Link and Zelda will investigate some kind of strange spirit energy, which can apparently reanimate the dead. A placid shot of Hyrule with an ominous rumbling suggests that this spirit energy may corrupt the bright lands of Hyrule and turn them into a dark mirror of themselves. Traversing light and dark worlds is old hat for the Zelda franchise, in everything from A Link to the Past to Twilight Princess.
The setup, then, would seem to be that Link and Zelda set off on a new journey after Breath of the Wild, as they promised to do in the epilogue. They make a strange discovery, and this evil power threatens all of Hyrule. The only question is whether Zelda will be an active player for the bulk of the story, as in Wind Waker, or whether shell need rescuing right away, as in the first Breath of the Wild.
While Nintendo has been tight-lipped about Breath of the Wild 2 in general, expect to see some updates within the next few months, as its now been more than a year since we first learned about the title.

Click here to view the original article.