The Hero of Time’s latest venture got inspiration from cowboys. Yes, the Breath of the Wild sequel reportedly takes inspiration from Red Dead Redemption 2. This revelation comes from an interview with Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma.
In an interview with IGN, Aonuma was asked what games the younger team members working on the Breath of the Wild sequel were playing and, more specifically, what inspired them. Aonuma responded, “[Something] I did hear that a lot of people were playing was Red Dead Redemption 2.” The open-world title lends itself well to the new style Breath of the Wild introduced to the Zelda franchise, and it’s certainly not the first open-world title to do so. In fact, while working on Breath of the Wild, Aonuma revealed that the director, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, was playing Skyrim.
Breath of the Wild was a stunning reinvention of the Zelda franchise. The massive open-world and beautiful pastel color palette wove together a Zelda experience unlike any that had come before it. Judging by the trailer for the Breath of the Wild sequel, the new game will follow suit… and kick things up a notch, too.
The trailer takes a notably darker tone than most Zelda games. The soundtrack is reverse-voiced, a cloud of darkness kills a rat, a mummified corpse snaps back to life, and the whole affair takes place deep in a cave. The only game with a similar tone was Majora’s Mask, though Aonuma confirmed that the two games aren’t necessarily linked (hah) despite the dark atmosphere of both.
Since the game is still in production, it will probably be quite some time before we hear more juicy details about the Breath of the Wild sequel. Until then, we can always re-watch the trailer and try to figure out what’s in store for us in the next epic Zelda adventure. If you missed it, check out the trailer below!
