By UsmaniaNovember 5, 2018
Breath of the Wild is widely regarded as a modern-day gaming wonder, and rightly so. From the spectacular open-world to the unorthodox gaming formula, the popularity of the game has risen from strength to strength. However, every game has things which could have been tweaked in order to make it even better, and Breath of the Wild is certainly no exception. However, instead of listing generic improvements such as better gameplay, better story, etc. this article will name 5 interesting things which could have made Breath of the Wild Zelda’s undisputed number one title.
Return of the Kokiri
I’m probably in the minority by saying that I find the Koroks annoying. But other than that, they didn’t really serve a purpose to the story at all. Sure, chasing Korok seeds enables you to explore the open world, but you already get that exploration through finding shrines, probably more so. This makes the Koroks redundant in the game. Personally, I always found the Kokiri much more interesting, and Breath of the Wild should have capitalized on their very long absence from the franchise and reintroduced them here. However, given that the Kokiri are a lot more human-like than the Koroks, they would have much more potential in the game. Given that the Master Sword is in the Korok Forest, the Kokiri could have been a race who act as guardians of the Master Sword. So when Link enters the Lost Woods, instead of just finding his way to the Korok Forest, we could have had Kokiri seeing Link as an intruder and attacking him as he tries to get to the Sword. Then when he gets to the Korok (Kokiri) Forest, he would have an army of Kokiri standing in front of the Master Sword ready to defend it, until suddenly, the Great Deku Tree calls them off as he recognizes Link as the Hero who needs to wield the sword. Speaking of the Master Sword, this leads to my next point.
A Trial to Earn the Sword
I have always felt that by Link needing to show his worthiness to wield the sword, the game missed a huge opportunity. We are all familiar with the first DLC pack and the Trial of the Sword. I feel that the first part of the trial should have been implemented in the main game as a means of gaining the sword itself. The other two parts were fine as DLC add-ons, but all-in-all, getting through the Kokiri and having to face a full-fledged trial to gain the Master Sword would have enhanced the game greatly.
Possessed Champions as Main Bosses
There is universal disapproval of the Blight Ganons being the final bosses of the Divine Beasts. Almost everyone regards them as far too similar and rather easy to beat. Given how the story went, the game producers, and I know my bias may come back here again, could have taken a leaf out of one of the main bosses from Twilight Princess. At the end of the Goron Mines dungeon, Link fights Fyrus, a strongman Goron who has been possessed by the Twilight. The Twilight amplifies the strengths of the Goron, making him stronger, quicker and brings to light the darkness in his heart. In similar fashion, when Link gets to the end of each Divine Beast, he should be faced with a malice-possessed version of each Champion. So essentially, Link would have to defeat a possessed Zora, Goron, Gerudo and Rito. And each boss would have come with its own challenges according to the Champion ability. So with Blight Mipha, you would have to defeat her within a certain amount of time given her healing power, with Blight Daruk, you would have to strike precisely within a certain window when his barrier is down. Blight Urbosa would require a lot of combat skill and speed given the lethal effect of Urbosa’s Fury. Blight Revali would be using Revali’s Gale to fly around and send tornados, however, he would be a lot more challenging than Windblight Ganon given that shooting arrows at him would be a lot tougher. The second half of the battle could have been very interesting and unique for each boss. Each Champion’s personal relationship with Link would come to the fore and reflect in the battle. For example, Mipha’s love for Link would manifest and she would be resisting attempts to attack Link, instead focusing on self-defense, hence her healing would be a lot quicker, making you have to work faster to defeat her. In contrast, Revali’s apathy towards Link would come out, and Blight Revali would go on a rampage, dealing attack after attack at Link, severely testing his defensive skills like perfect guard and dodge. After defeating each boss, the malice would disappear, freeing each Champion and revealing that they are still alive. That alone makes the incentive to defeat the boss a lot higher, knowing that you are actually saving the life of each Champion and seeing them returning to their people, rather than just freeing their spirit.
After freeing all four Divine Beasts. We size up to take down Calamity Ganon and head to Hyrule Castle, which in my opinion should have been a linear dungeon. We go there, safe with the knowledge that we have freed 4 Champions. But we all know that Link is the 5th Champion, and it makes logical sense that maybe, there’s a Blight version of Link somewhere. However, how would this be possible, given Link is the main character? Well, you can probably guess where I’m going with this…
Return of Dark Link
Given his popularity amongst fans, I find it staggering that there hasn’t been an in-game battle with Dark Link since Ocarina of Time. Like the Kokiri, given such a long absence, Breath of the Wild was a perfect opportunity to bring back Dark Link. Firstly, as mentioned before, Hyrule Castle should have been linear and like a proper, traditional dungeon, something which also includes a mini-boss. Given that Calamity Ganon already used his malice to take over the Champion’s bodies, Ganon could have used his malice to make an evil version of the chosen Hero himself, Dark Link. Here, Dark Link would have all of the abilities that Link has at that point, e.g. if Link has 15 hearts and 4 Champion abilities, so would Dark Link, along with the Sheikah Slate abilities. Had the producers included this, it could well have been one of the most memorable mini-boss fights of any Zelda title.
Human Incarnation of Calamity Ganon (Ganondorf)
I had no problem with the main Calamity Ganon Battle and would stay as normal here. However, instead of turning into Dark Beast Ganon straight after, the opposite should have happened, and Ganon should have taken his human incarnation. He should have then been given voice acting. It would have been awesome to have a Ganon with a badass voice (James Earl Jones-esque), taunting Link and Zelda about what he has done to the world and explaining his motivations. Then we could have commenced with the fight of a lifetime, on top of Hyrule Castle, looking over the whole Hyrule overworld. Ganondorf’s fighting style should have been similar to a Lynel, charging at you and attacking with a huge sword, acting as an ultimate test of Link’s combat skills. At the end of the fight, we could have had a last badass line from Ganondorf before turning into Dark Beast Ganon.
I truly believe that had these things been included in the game, we would have had the ultimate Zelda title without doubt. Agree? Give your comments below!
