Rumors are what fuel a fan community’s conversations when they’re short on real information. Unfortunately, in this day and age, lots of projects are getting delayed, so fans have to hold onto rumors more tightly than ever. Rumors can be anything from exciting to disappointing to bewildering, but they are always prompt conversation. The problem with rumors is that they’re not reliable. As soon as information gets out through official rumors, odds are theories and claimed leaks are dashed to the wind, such is the case ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2.It’s been fertile ground for rumors, but now, those rumors stand in new light because ofHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
In a vacuum,Age of Calamitylikely would’ve been nothing short of an exciting announcement. It still is – it does a lot for theBreath of the Wildpart of theZeldatimeline, bound to flesh out that era and tell players more about beloved characters. The problem is that a lot ofAge of Calamity’s content has uncanny relationships with a lot of the biggest rumors aboutBreath of the Wild 2.If those theories were actually aboutAge of Calamity,it throws a lot of expectations forBotW 2out the window.
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BotW2 Rumors: Cast Into Doubt
For a while, a lot of theZeldacommunity really thought that 2020 would be a big year for the franchise. After all, it was last year that Nintendo unveiledBreath of the Wild 2to thunderous excitement. It seemed unthinkable that it would be more than a year before something more would come out about the game, but for a long time, perhaps the biggestZeldaannouncement after the trailer was aMario Maker 2update. Just when fans thought something might come out about the game,Age of Calamitygot revealed alongside an explicit announcementthatBotW2news is a long way away. It’s a stark contrast to everyone’s expectations.
In fact, the newly revealed hack-and-slash game eats up more rumors than just 2020 beingBotW2’s year. It features a playable Zelda and even contains something adjacent to time travel, since it takes players a hundred years into the past toexperience Calamity Ganon’s attack, and both of which were huge rumors predatingBotW 2. So much that players thought was about the sequel toBreath of the Wildseems like it was actually about the prequel. If those rumors about the sequel proved unreliable, then it sows some doubt. Features like a playable Zelda and time travel might not appear in the sequel sinceAge of Calamitysort of covers these areas, so it’s jarring and perhaps disappointing for fans who thought they were putting a lot together about the sequel.
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BoTW 2: Rumors That Remain
Still, there’s some things thatAge of Calamitycan’t completely take away fromBreath of the Wild 2.For example, it’s likely that the sequel will involve Ganon or Ganondorf returning stronger than ever. The trailer hints at it very aggressively, and even if he’s featuring heavily in bothAge of Calamityand the firstBotW,there’s nothing stopping him from remaining the villain. If anything, it would be surprising if he didn’t play a major role. There’s also theories about the Triforce that remain viable – it’s probably not going to come up inAge of Calamity.Instead, there’s still the possibility that it’ll beimportant toBreath of the Wild 2.
There’s no way to look atAge of Calamitywithout knowing it heavily weakens rumors that madeZeldafans very optimistic. In contrast, this could still be a big year forZeldaifAge of Calamitymeets or exceeds expectations. If the game is good, then it can make for the loss of big rumors by being a really valuable setup for the upcoming game. With a little luck and sleuthing, fans might be able to find clues about the sequel as they learn more about the newHyrule Warriorsgame. It might have broken down a few rumors, but maybe it’ll make more in their stead.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamityreleases for Switch on July 31, 2025.
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