Daily Debate: How Would Tears of the Kingdom Have Been Structured Had it Remained a Breath of the Wild Expansion?
Posted on March 05 2024 by Kristen G. Rosario
With March just around the corner, we will not only be celebrating the seven-year anniversary of the Nintendo Switch, but of Breath of the Wild as well. The Zelda title that introduced us to the world of the Calamity, the game helped redefine and even restructure how we see future titles in the franchise. Its eventual follow-up six years later, Tears of the Kingdom, helped improve upon the foundation that Breath of the Wild built.
For those unaware, one of 2023’s hottest games was initially thought up as just DLC when development finished on Breath of the Wild back in 2017. In an interview with Zelda Series Producer Eiji Aonuma back at E3 2019, Kotaku asked about his team’s decision to make a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild instead of more DLC for the game and this was Aonuma’s response:
When we released the DLC for Breath of the Wild, we realized that this is a great way to add more elements to the same world. But when it comes down to technical things, DLC is pretty much data—you’re adding data to a preexisting title. And so when we wanted to add bigger changes, DLC is not enough, and that’s why we thought maybe a sequel would be a good fit.
—Eiji Aonuma
Aonuma a bit later in the interview would basically say that what began as new ideas for Breath of the Wild led to a domino effect that eventually became the early concept of Tears of the Kingdom. What occurred to me was that while we did have to wait over six years for Tears of the Kingdom to finally release, we got something that topped Breath of the Wild‘s achievements. As the credits rolled on my vanquishing Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom, a question had occurred to me about said interview: what if Aonuma or even the Nintendo higher-ups decided to go forward with the DLC idea instead of a direct sequel?
I think an approach Nintendo could’ve used is what developer Monolith Soft successfully accomplished with their Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC known as the Torna: The Golden Country expansion. This batch of downloadable content added over 25 hours of additional content, plus it served as a full-blown prequel to the main game’s story all for just $29.99 USD. Breath of the Wild could have done something similar and called it the “Tears of the Kingdom Expansion Pass,” which would feature three unique parts of story-focused content similar to that of the Torna: The Golden Country DLC. The expansion could focus on giving each map layer its own part of the narrative, with each part introducing new additions to the gameplay, such as the Zonai abilities and weapons.
The entire story for Tears of the Kingdom would be evened out as well, giving you more than enough reason to explore what each map has to offer. Take Part One of the expansion, as it could be called “The Sky” and be focused on Link stuck above Hyrule, trying to unravel the mysteries of the Zonai as well as how to get back to the land of Hyrule. Part Two would be named “The Land,” all about exploring Hyrule once again, and seeing what Ganondorf’s Gloom has done to the world (this could also be a way to introduce a use for the Master Cycle Zero). The finale would of course be “The Depths,” as Link travels down below into the darkness-filled unknown trying to not only discover the remaining temples, but also to locate Ganondorf’s whereabouts deep below the castle.
I do want to make it clear that this idea is just that, an idea, a “What If?” scenario, as it were. I think Tears of the Kingdom is a standout Zelda title that deserves all the recognition it’s earned. Converting Tears from a supposed expansion to a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild was a wise move on Team Zelda‘s part that benefited them in the long run. However, to be honest though, I still can’t agree on that $69.99 USD price tag.
How would Tears of the Kingdom have been structured had it remained a Breath of the Wild expansion? Would you map out this DLC differently than I have? Let us know in the comments below!
Kristen G. Rosario is an Editor who joined Zelda Dungeon back in September of 2015. His current goal is to become a full-time video game journalist, hoping to eventually gain a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism. While he pursues that dream, he not only takes care of his adorable dachshund Angel, but also helps run a YouTube channel with his brother. The Zelda series is a quest he hasn’t fully completed yet, but hopes to get there one day.
