Pre-E3 2016
Link / Zelda
The person in the game is Link, but he won't be the hero, and neither will Zelda.
It will be a reincarnation of Groose. You will play as Link up until getting to Zelda, and then he will be put into a coma by an incarnation of Demise that predates Ganondorf (sort of like a beta version). Groose will go around the land, getting the various things he needs to wake them up, but in this version of the game, he has the choice to sacrifice his entire lineage to save them, and be wiped out of the history books, or not save them and defeat Beta Ganondorf himself. This will open up a new timeline for the designers to play with for future games, The Legend of Groose.- Jossed. The player character is indeed Link.
There will be the option to choose Link's gender in this game.
Hence why the Link in the trailer looks more feminine than Links before him/her. Link's original role in the game was to serve as the link between the real and game worlds, and with the game trying to recapture the feel of Zelda 1, a female option would likely be there to accommodate for the rise of female gamers since the NES days.- Jossed at E3 2016. Link is male, and there is no gender select option.
The new Wii U title will feature extensive customization options for Link, like picking their outfit and gender.
As his name implies, Link was originally intended to be the player's representative. That's fallen by the wayside as Link got more and more characterization. Nintendo's trying to revitalize that idea.Much like Pokemon X and Y, the player will now have the option of choosing Link's gender. There will be minor changes in dialogue and story as a result. They'll also be able to pick Link's wardrobe, such as the classic green tunic or the blue-and-yellow ensemble in the trailer.
- Partly Jossed, partly Confirmed. The Wii U titles became Breath of the Wild, which includes no such options for physical customization. However, Link can be equipped with multiple kinds of armor and clothing, which impact social interactions and his reaction to environmental effects.
Link and Zelda have a "Freaky Friday" Flip.
This is why Aonuma said the person in the trailer might not be Link, because it's actually Zelda in Link's body.- Jossed.
Feminine Link hints at character customization that may or may not include gender.
You can already change the name to something other than Link, and this one seems focused on revamping old concepts. Link's Gerudo arm-sleeves could also indicate equipment changing.- The gender and name part is jossed, but the equipment part is confirmed: the game features voice acting that refers to Link by that name, there will be no option to play as a female Link, but there are different clothes he can wear (or not).
- While Link is definitely male, you can wear women's clothes, and have to in order to beat the main story. You can't enter Gerudo Town otherwise.
When Aonuma said the person in the trailer might not be Link, he was being Metaphorically True.
He could have been referring to how we always knew Link as a man, and if this character is a woman, then technically that character isn't the Link we know even if she's also named Link.- Jossed: He was just joking.
Link and Zelda are the same person.
Either they end up sharing a body for plot reasons, or in this cycle, Link and Zelda's souls were both reincarnated within one person. Either way, the protagonist will have access to both Link and Zelda's powers, wielding two aspects of the Triforce instead of one.- Jossed: They are separate characters with separate roles.
This will actually be a Zelda game in that she is the player character.
It is the obvious choice if Link is not the main character and she... he... it looks quite a bit like Zelda.- Jossed: That is Link in the trailer, as confirmed by Aonuma.
This Link has been chased by the robots before.
He handles the situation with familiarity, and who knows if they're really ditching the classic green look so the blue might be a starter outfit like TP and WW. Whether this is plot (they're chasing a MacGuffin or controlled by an evil force) or world building (they just show up and chase people), who knows.- Confirmed. Link was killed by one 100 years ago. However, being familiar with them is never shown in the final game.
- Bonus points if their name is Kurin.note
- Jossed: That is Link in the trailer, as confirmed by Aonuma.
The person in the trailer is Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf.
Aside from the traits of both Link and Zelda mentioned or hinted at above, take a look
◊ at the bracers on the character's wrists. They have the same pattern and color as the bracers
◊ Ganondorf has worn since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Furthermore, the character's hair has a faint reddish tint, just like Ganondorf. And this part may be a stretch, but even though this appears to be very early in the game, the character seems to already be using Fire and Ice Arrows — the latter of which were first found in the Gerudo Training Grounds dungeon (i.e. in the vicinity of Ganondorf's original home turf) in Ocarina of Time. Remember that whoever wants all three pieces of the Triforce must have a balance of Courage, Wisdom, and Power in his or her heart lest the attribute the individual most values give him or her only the respective third of the Triforce while sending the other two off to whoever in Hyrule most exhibits the other attributes. It is possible that at some point before the game or very early in it, the three parts of the Triforce, along with their three respective owners, were reunited in such a way that it caused Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf to fuse together into one person in order to reconcile a troublesome wish with the "balance of attributes" stipulation. This explains the somewhat androgynous nature of the character and the fact that the character has physical resemblances to all three Triforce holders.
This may also tie into the more open world design and nonlinear plot stated to be in this game. As players accumulate Plot Coupons, they must decide which attribute they will hold most dear in their play-styles: Courage, Wisdom, or Power? The path of Courage might entail using a few weak items to brave it through dangerous fields and dungeons; this approach would draw most heavily from the action-heavy, hand-eye coordination-requiring segments of previous Zelda games. The path of Wisdom might entail a focus on solving much harder puzzles and using bartering and subtle persuasion in order to get your way with NPCs in side-quests; this approach would draw most heavily from the puzzle-heavy, Chain of Deals and character-interacting segments of previous Zelda games. The path of Power might entail the use of a large army, powerful weapons, and brute force to fight enemies and the use of strong-arming in order to get your way with NPCs in side-quests; this approach would be the most atypical for a Zelda game.
The path the player follows will determine whether the personality of Link, Zelda, or Ganondorf will be the most dominant in the fused character controlled for most of the game. There may also be even more paths based on mixed approaches or approaches that do not fall into any of these three paths. The game will have Multiple Endings based on this, and there will likely be even more timeline splits as a result.
- Your idea for the path of Power reminds me of Hyrule Warriors, oddly enough.
- Seems to be Jossed. The player character is confirmed to be just Link, and something called "the Calamity Ganon" is sealed within the ruins of Hyrule Castle.
- Jossed.
The character in the trailer IS Link, but he's not a Hylian this time.
Instead, he's of either Sheikah or Gerudo heritage (his outfit might hint at either). If he's a Gerudo, things might get even more interesting as we all know the only other male Gerudo in the series is Ganondorf.- Possible, but the Gerudo arm bands just seem to be part of the shirt he happens to be wearing. He starts out with no clothes, and the player can equip him with anything they want him to wear. In other words, they're not really a sign of his heritage.
- Jossed. He's Hylian.
Link's gender won't be specifically mentioned in game at all.
The game seems to be centered around giving players more freedom, but actually selecting Link's gender would probably be rather superficial to the story and not very meaningful. Perhaps Nintendo might just avoid focusing on gender at all and leave it up to the player to decide whether the androgynous Link in their version is a male or female.- Jossed: he's explicitly referred to as a male.
This Link has been raised by the Gerudo.
There's definitely Gerudo influence in his outfit (a cloak would help him not get sunburned as easily, the wrappings, maybe even the ponytail if you wanna stretch it), not to mention he's good on horseback and obviously partial to archery (he did indeed have a sword on his saddle that he didn't use; unless he couldn't use it on his foe), which brings to mind the minigame from Ocarina of Time where you had to shoot targets on horseback. It'd make a nice departure from Link's typical backstory of being raised by his fellow Hylians, instead opting to be raised by the more ambiguous and unknown Gerudo who have been considered anti-heroic at best thanks to sparse detail on their culture. And this is just hopeful wishing but maybe raised in the same timeframe as Ganondorf, being that oh so precious centennial man and probably leading the group.
- A theory with the "Link being raised by the Gerudo" has been posted on GameFAQs
, but take it with a large grain of salt as most of his posting could be fake. - As stated above, it turns out he can wear any clothes he happens to find. The set shown in the trailer aren't even the first ones he finds, and he wakes up in Sheikah-styled capris.
- Jossed. Gerudo are in the game, but Link has no specific connections to them.
The Princess Zelda of this game will meet Link for the first time.
It looks as though Link is starting out in village that's pretty distant from Hyrule Castle again. This could mean that the two haven't known each other personally yet.- Village part is Jossed. He starts out in what appears to be a stasis chamber in the middle of nowhere.
Linkle will be added into the story.
Concept arts for Hyrule Warriors show a female version of Link named Linkle, fighting with a crossbow. She could appear in this game, and be a playable character with her own weapons, items and skills. She doesn't need to literally be a female version of Link, of course; she could be his childhood friend or his sister.- She appeared in Hyrule Warriors Legends as her own character. Now let's wait and see if she will appear in the main series.
- Jossed.
Link is going to cut off his samurai ponytail.
It will explain why he will get his hat. He'll do something upsetting in his village and cut it off. He wears the hat to hide that he doesn't have it.- Jossed. No haircuts occur in the game beyond purely aesthetic changes in appearance with different headgear.
Link will be older than young Link, but younger than adult Link.
As far as physical appearance goes, this Link seems to be in between the two age groups for which we know him best. While he has some of the childlike facial proportions of his younger self, he's definitely closer to his height as an adult. As such, I'd say that this Link is probably somewhere between the two at around 13 years old.- Confirmed. Aonuma stated that he is "older than a child, but not quite yet a man".
This Link is on the run, and not yet seen as heroic.
Perhaps he's been involved in some shady work, maybe framed, or maybe even Prince of the Hylian throne forced to flee if you really want to fantasize. There's been a lot said on how this game is going to try and change the conventions of the Zelda series, and putting Link at a position where he's not liked from the very start and has to earn respect from everyone would certainly be a change.- Jossed. Link wakes up after being in stasis for a long time.
Link will get the sail cloth from Zelda like in Skyward Sword.
As a gift.- Jossed. The Sailcloth has been replaced by a Paraglider, and is received from the Old Man.
This Link IS the one from Skyward Sword.
Would explain why he has a sailcloth, and is right-handed. It also explains why the world is so open and civilization is still basic; it's just barely starting to be settled. Chances are that the technology seen in the first trailer is from the same civilization as the Ancient Robots.- Jossed; the land is specifically referred to as Hyrule and there is indeed going to be at least one town. This town taken out of the beta version because they contained spoilers for the game's storyline.
- Also, Aonuma has stated that this game takes place after Ocarina of Time.
Link and Zelda will finally share The Big Damn Kiss.
Nintendo can't keep putting it off forever. They'll have to go through with it eventually, let's just hope they do it here, and unlike Zelda II, there is no Kissing Discretion Shot.- Jossed.
There's a reason we haven't seen Link in his traditional tunic yet.
There will be an in-universe reason why he gets his green tunic and the reason they haven't shown it to us is because they're saving it for the first official trailer which will briefly show us why.- They seem to be going for customizable clothing; you find clothes in various chests and can swap out what Link wears. Certain articles of clothing become important in certain areas, such as a quilted shirt preventing Link from taking damage in the cold and snow. However, said quilted shirt paired with the normal pants does look indeed much like the traditional tunic.
- Semi-Jossed. There's no real reason stated in-game, but it seems like its just set so far into the future that the green tunic isn't widely known anymore. There is a tunic specific to this game, though.
Theories for why Link isn't in his green tunic.
Feel free to add your own.- Due to the similar appearances between Link's outfit here and his pajamas from The Wind Waker, it's possible that this is merely the early part of the game before he gets his tunic.
- Ganondorf becomes the ruler of Hyrule again and orders the capture and/or execution of a "boy in green", forcing Link to ditch the tunic in favor of the outfit we see him wearing and go into hiding, possibly to get better gear so should something attack him while he's out (as we saw in the trailer), he'd be ready.
- There's going to be a Character Customization aspect to this game, with several different outfits available. One of the available outfits you get early/mid game will be the classic green hero outfit. Maybe acquiring it will be a plot point along with finding the Master Sword.
- Halfway confirmed. Character Customization is indeed included, outfit-wise, but the traditional tunic has yet to make an actual appearance in trailers or beta gameplay videos.
- This game takes place in the timeline before the green tunic outfit is codified.
- It is now confirmed that the iconic green outfit will be in the game, but apparently just as one of the outfits the player can find scattered around the kingdom. No word on where it may be found, either.
- Its not scattered. You get it by getting all 120 Spirit Orbs. After getting all 120 you're told where to go to get it.
This Link is a clone.
This comes from the fact that he was awoken in a large technological cave called a Resurrection Chamber. This Link is cloned from the past Links.- Jossed.
Link will regain his memories via the dungeons
As stated, you can go straight to Ganon after a bit, but you won't get the full story. Given that the story seems to be based on Link's lost memories, at least the flashbacks, you probably gain them by following the story, aka the dungeons.- Seems to be more or less confirmed. A screenshot of one of the pause menus has around 20 (but possibly more) items called "Retrieved Memory". Their contents or how the player will retrieve them is not yet known, however.
- Semi-Confirmed. You get memories from various locations, most of which you have to seek out on your own. You also get one memory on the way to each dungeon that cannot be missed to reach that dungeon, but not inside the dungeon itself.
Timeline
The game won't take place in the Adult Timeline.
It can't because each game in that timeline is closely related to the other ones, they all feature Toon Link and eventually focus on a whole new land.- The existence of the Koroks makes this slightly unlikely. However, one could probably argue that the Kokiri may have become the Koroks for some reason in more than one timeline.
- Also, Four Swords Adventures reversed this, having taken place in the Child Timeline, which doesn't otherwise use the cartoony style. This could just be an anomaly, but it's something to consider.
- Adding to that, Tri Force Heroes is a direct sequel to the Downfall Timeline's A Link Between Worlds despite the differences in art style.
- Mostly confirmed. In so much as Aonuma has confirmed that, story wise at least, Breath of the Wild has no connection to Wind Waker.
This game takes place after The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
And they'll bring back the trains: not only would it fit well with the magitek already hinted at during the trailer, but this tune begs to be used as an overworld theme in the main series.- Not that it means too much, but the layout of the land is more similar to the Downfall branch of the timeline rather than the Adult branch's New Hyrule. That said, all games with The Legend of Zelda in their titles (which includes Zelda II in Japan) are considered main series, with only Hyrule Warriors, the Tingle games, and Navi Trackers being considered spinoffs.
- Mostly Jossed. There are no trains to be seen, and Aonuma has confirmed that, story wise, the game has no connection to Wind Waker. And Spirit Tracks is very much connected to Wind Waker, being that it takes place in the new land that Tetra and Link from WW found.
This installment will be a semi-direct sequel to Skyward Sword.
Maybe the game takes place only several decades after Skyward Sword, and the Sailcloth is the very same one Link used in it. Looking at the emptiness of the world, it seems to be barely civilized, yet the initial trailer showed what is clearly Hyrule Castle in the distance. It's possible the game will deal with early Hyrule and its early colonization. The Link in this game will probably be different than SS', but his right-handedness is rather suspect...- However, if one looked closely during the E3 2014 trailer, there are people in the fields near Link, wearing clothes that Japanese farmers are known for. That means there is some civilization in this Hyrule, perhaps not too much but so far we've only focused on the non-populated areas and there is more to explore in this game. Also, since this Link looks about the same age as Skyward Sword's Link, it couldn't be the same if such a long time took place. Perhaps the sailcloth is just a repeating item like the hookshot.
- Appears to be Jossed, as of the E3 2016 gameplay exhibition. The land is referred to as Hyrule in decline, the Koroks are present, the Temple of Time is in ruins, and the Sailcloth has been replaced with the Paraglider.
- Jossed for real. Breath of the Wild is confirmed to take place after Ocarina of Time according to this interview.
The game will take place after Skyward Sword, during the Era of Chaos.
Either the game will be a direct sequel with the same characters, taking place perhaps a decade later, or it will come right after Skyward Sword in the timeline. If the former is the case, then part of the game's plot will probably be that the Sky-dwellers will be exploring the land and trying to establish Hyrule. The Era of Chaos is a time described in Hyrule Hystoria that has never been touched on in any of the games, and it comes soon after the events of Skyward Sword, which would explain the similar designs for the robots and bokoblins.- Seems to be Jossed. The land is called Hyrule and has been in ruins for apparently a very long time. Plus, the Temple of Time, which was built on the ruins of the Sealed Temple and which was perfectly fine in Ocarina of Time, is also in ruins.
- Jossed for real. Breath of the Wild is confirmed to take place after Ocarina of Time according to this interview.
The game will be a direct sequel to Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time.
This Link is OoT Link, a few years older. While Ganondorf will be arrested and imprisoned, another threat will arise to Hyrule and Link will go to stop it.- Going off of that, there will be multiple love interests for Link: Zelda, Malon, and Saria (let's just say, for argument's sake, that since Saria was never awakened as a sage in the new timeline, she may have found a way to make herself age just to be with Link; I also didn't put Ruto on the list because she's more of an Abhorrent Admirer). Link will have to choose between one of them, with such mechanics as dates, gifts, and abilities (they can even be NPC companions who can assist in combat, or are playable in co-op mode). The girl you choose doesn't affect the storyline much, though they will be present during the final boss battle, ending with a triumphant The Big Damn Kiss.
- Jossed, though the Hyrule Encyclopedia seems to indicate that Kokiri are just Hylians who stopped aging. If they leave the forest they will age. At least until Saria awakens as a sage in the adult timeline, but that event would be restricted only to that timeline.
Koroks are a permanent symbiotic fusion with fairies.
When the Great Fairies went dormant, in order to survive; the ones who were left outside tied themselves to plants or Kokiri. Eventually they were assimilated like mitochondria. It will be deliberately ambiguous when and in which timeline the game is set.
The game will feature references to every game in the series, and the backstory will mention things like the death of a legendary hero, a great, world-destroying flood, and an attempted overthrow of Hyrule. It will be up to the player to decide what they prefer.- Confirmed. It's debatable, but there are references to every timeline.
The game will have connections to Twilight Princess, if not being a direct sequel
The save bonus announced for the game using the Wolf Link amiibo hints at this. Also does the fact that the Wolf Link amiibo is the only amiibo from the Zelda series confirmed to far to be compatible with the Wii U game.- Aonuma's words since that direct has hinted to some kind of connection, citing that when playing the new Zelda, many players may get the feeling that they want to go back to Twilight Princess HD and play it again. So at the very least this confirms some inspiration being derived from said game when developing the new game.
In the timeline, this game takes place before all the series.
The rest that takes place after comes from the Link that's male, has blonde hair and wears the green tunic.- Add to this: The monks speak of the Goddess Hylia, who was around until Skyward Sword. Later in the timeline Hyrule is formed and stated to have been done so by the three goddesses, Din, Farore and Nayru note !
- Jossed. Breath of the Wild takes place a very long time after all previous games.
Lore
The creature in the trailer is an enemy that you battle in Hyrule Field.
Like the Peahats from Ocarina of Time, come too close and it comes to life.- Confirmed. This is the Guardian, with Hyrule Field being littered with them. They awake if you come too close.
The creature will undergo changes before the game is finished with development.
Like the Gohma from the Twilight Princess trailer before becoming Armogohma in the final version, it's going to undergo some changes before becoming a boss or sub-boss.- Jossed. The final version of the Guardian is more or less identical to the trailer.
This game will be the chronological introduction of Ganon(dorf).
In Skyward Sword we learned about Demise and the curse cast, which is the reason for Ganondorf's repeated reappearance in the series, but we never find out how that curse became attached to Ganondorf in particular; if this game is a sequel (either direct or distant) to Skyward Sword, it could show us the beginning of their feud.- If so, it would have to be a prequel to Ocarina of Time, or retcon an important part of it. That game's climax included the canonical introduction of Ganon's beast form.
- Jossed. Breath of the Wild is confirmed to take place after Ocarina of Time according to this interview, meaning also that OoT remains Ganondorf/Ganon's canon origin story.
There's going to be more focus on world building this time.
Since it looks like Hyrule is going to be a more open world this time around, it'll be a an opportune time to focus on aspects like holidays, myths, historic people, history of some locations, etc.- Semi-confirmed. The world has the bigges focus in the game, and histories are loosely referenced with the various races. Various races also have some deeper lore to them, like certain quirks regarding Gerudo, Sheikah, and Zora. Holidays and histories of specific locations are largely absent, sadly.
The game map will be made to closely resemble the map in some previous game.
As the TP map was an updated version of the OoT map, this game will tie itself to an earlier installment by basing its map on an earlier game.- Possibly. People have already spotted what appears to be a non-aged Eldin Bridge.
- Jossed. Also, that's the Bridge of Hylia. The Bridge of Eldin is also in the game, but it looks completely different from TP.
- Overall, the final game map resembles a modified version of the one in A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds — it has the same square outline, it has Hyrule Castle, Death Mountain, and a desert surrounded by cliffs and reachable through a narrow winding canyon all in the same places, and Zora's Domain is mostly in the same area.
Ganondorf will be hinted but won't appear in person.
It'd be an interesting change.- More or less Jossed. A creature called "the Calamity Ganon" is sealed within Hyrule Castle, and is apparently the final boss. Whether or not he was once Ganondorf, though, is unknown. Agreed that it would be a nice change, though.
- Confirmed. Ganondorf does not appear. Ganon does appear, and is hinted at once being Ganondorf, but the name Ganondorf is never directly stated.
The Happy Mask Salesman WILL return in Zelda U, but it won't be THE Happy Mask Salesman.
It'll be his son, or even a descendant. I am basing it off of this video.- Jossed.
Majora's Mask will be the main villain or a major antagonistic force, and the game will detail its origin.
After all the Majora's Mask teases in recent games (the Mask being in Link's home in ALBW, the numerous Moon appearances in Hyrule Warriors, Majora's Mask DLC in Hyrule Warriors) as well as the recent release of Majora's Mask 3D, it seems like Nintendo is trying to foreshadow a major return of this old villain. Nintendo wants to introduce younger audiences to Majora so that they will recognize it in the newest installment and hype up older fans for the demonic mask's return. The teases could also have just foreshadowed the release of Majora's Mask 3D, but perhaps Nintendo planned the release of MM3D to go along with Zelda Wii U (before the delay), because they will tie together somehow.- Jossed. The mask appears in a DLC quest, but it’s assumed it isn’t canon.
The companion is Epona.
Similar to the King of Red Lions, Epona has been in every scrap of media relating to the game, and with the stressed importance of horseback riding and archery, she could play a more important role than in other iterations.- Jossed. According to the E3 2016 gameplay exhibition, there will be no companions. Epona appears as an amiibo-exclusive horse, though.
The book Link carries.
The November Direct showed something Link didn't have in previous looks at the game, a book. It's been suggested the book will be a sort of stand-in for the Wii U Game Pad. In the game, it may play a big role in the premise. Perhaps Link's companion is in the book, or it's a journal that leads to dungeons.- It's called the Sheikah Slate, and while it is an important part of the game, thus far it appears to have no onboard AI or spirit inside.
- It essentially is the stand-in for the Wii U Game Pad, but Game Pad functionality was cut from the game.
Sheik will appear in this game, separate from Zelda.
It appears as though the sheikah will play a major role in this game, and since they can only get so much mileage out of Impa (their only major sheikah character), Sheik can be brought in. She can be separated from Zelda, so that way Sheik can actually be a sheikah. Smash Bros. has already shown the two separated, so there is some precedence.- If the game takes place before Ocarina of Time, it could actually be a man (confusing even more the fans), a Sheikah hero that a Zelda incarnation would eventually impersonate in OoT like a Legacy Character.
- Jossed.
The Old Man we were introduced to at E3 was the former king of Hyrule.
After all, Aonuma commented that he was "rather mysterious" which might allude to his prevalence in Hyrule. That, and he has the beard to suit the role of a king.- Confirmed. He was the last king of Hyrule just before the fall of the kingdom.
Gameplay
There will be multiplayer co-op.
They said something about playing alone being a now-outdated mechanic that they were forced to use for so long. You might be able to change said character's gender.- Jossed.
The open-endedness will play a part in the game's plot
Since this world is much bigger than previous ones and more focus on discovery and search, perhaps Link isn't the only one who is searching about. It could be that the villain(s) are searching for something and reaching out all over for it. This story, like A Link Between Worlds, is going to subvert a convention in the series.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds subverted Hijacked by Ganon when it turns out Yuga was reviving Ganon to merge with him for his powers rather than being in service to him. Perhaps it will do something else, like Link has a companion who either turns out to be Ganon himself or a servant of his.- Jossed. Ganon appears in the game, and there’s no subversions to be seen.
Epona won't be the only mode of transportation in the game
If the overworld really is going to be as huge and open as it seems, it would make sense to include different means of transportation. Aside from warping, a boat (if the overworld has enough water areas) and a Global Airship, which would fit the Magitek theme this Zelda is going for, would be nice alternatives (While still making it so that Epona doesn't become obsolete, of course).- Confirmed. You tame any horse, not Epona. The Paraglider can also be considered an alternate means of transportation. You can't even get Epona without amiibo. You can also ride other creatures like bears and dear, but can't keep them.You can also use a motorcycle. Not kidding.
The ideas that caused the delay
The ideas that made the game's release longer may be: gameplay differences that require more time to make them work; overworld boss battles; sidequests that involve smaller dungeons with their own weaker versions of dungeon bosses; time-specific quests that must be completed before specific moments like those of Xenoblade Chronicles 1.- It was actually the game's new physics engine that caused the delay, along with the decision in the Spring of 2016 to do a dual release with the Nintendo Switch.
The game will have full-fledged optional dungeons.
Previous Zelda games had optional mini-dungeons, but here I mean full-fledged dungeons, with the same approximate length as storyline dungeons, but puzzles, items, and bosses of their own. Some of them could be well hidden, giving players an incentive to search the overworld for them.- All the dungons are optional, you can head straight for the Final Boss as soon as you reach the overworld.
- There sadly aren't any full-fledged dungeons just lying around. There are some dungeon-like areas, but not full-fledged dungeons. Most of the rewards are shrines, which are used to increase hearts.
- The Divine Beasts are the dungeons, which are required. There is a fifth Divine Beast as of the second DLC pack, which is optional.
There will be a treasure map system.
Not unlike the one in Wind Waker, except on land, and with varying "levels of difficulties" in regard to how much info is given; the less details present on the map, the higher the reward for finding the treasure.- Jossed.
There will be a party of playable characters.
Miyamoto did have this idea for A Link to the Past, after all. It would be a great way to include deeper puzzles, and possibly more items and co-op gameplay. As for the playable characters other than Link, we could get Linkle as a Fragile Speedster, a new character as The Big Guy, and maybe a Gadgeteer Genius.- Jossed, Link's the only playable character.
Other
This game will be titled Unicorn Princess.
It will set out to be the anti-TP featuring the anti-Midna as both companion and transport. Insert MLP reference here. Oh, and for symmetry's sake, Ganon will ride Aquamentus!- Nope, it's called Breath of the Wild.
The game will be called... [place your bet!]
- The Sheikahs' Codex/Tome/Grimoire/Register
- Hylia's Heirs
- The Timeshift Arrow/Longbow
- The New Legend of Zelda (jokingly suggested by GameXplain)
- Jossed: It's Breath of the Wild.
