The first Nintendo Direct of 2021 came and went without a release date announcement for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, which was first revealed to be in development during the 2019 E3 Expo. The company only confirmed that it would have news to share about the sequel for its seminal open-world by the end of 2021. That came as a big letdown for gamers expecting a new teaser trailer or concrete launch details. This lack of Breath of the Wild 2 information has turned the game into Nintendo’s Half-Life 3.
Both franchises couldn’t be farther apart from an aesthetics and design standpoint, but Nintendo’s opaque development process has left fans of the franchise in the dark. Gamers have resorted to relying on unconfirmed Breath of the Wild 2 rumors and alleged leaks that have proven to be untrustworthy for the most part. Little is known about where the title could pick up and how its gameplay will be compared to Breath of the Wild‘s 2017 release. This air of mystery around BOTW 2‘s status has made it have more uncommon with Valve Software’s unreleased Half-Life 3 than might be immediately obvious.
While Breath of the Wild is an open-world fantasy series that anchored the Nintendo Switch launch, and the Half-Life series has been a mainstay PC franchise for two decades now, here’s what these seemingly incompatible games have in common.
BOTW 2 and Half-Life 3: No Release Date In Sight
Their respective developers have announced both titles, but neither of them has a release date in sight. Of course, Breath of the Wild 2‘s release date situation is nowhere near as bad as Half-Life 3. Valve first announced the follow-up to Half-Life 2: Episode 2 in 2007 (via Eurogamer). It has routinely delayed it and dodged questions about it until its perpetual setbacks became a viral joke. Some fans don’t even believe Half-Life 3 will never arrive, at least how it was originally intended to be released. The launch of the VR game Half-Life: Alyx heavily teased that Half-Life 3 would also be a VR release.
On the other hand, Breath of the Wild 2 was announced in 2019 after the original’s 2017 launch. Nintendo hasn’t explained why it’s been so secretive about progress with the sequel, but a portion of its setbacks are likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the game industry. Developers worldwide had to adjust their workflows to fully remote collaboration, which resulted in various delays across the board. Still, Nintendo has promised an update before 2021 ends, which is more than Half-Life fans expect this year.
BOTW 2 and Half-Life 3: Voiceless Protagonists
Breath of the Wild 2 and Half-Life 3 have also both have voiceless protagonists, two features that neither developer will hopefully change in the future. Breath of the Wild‘s Link has never said a word in the Legend of Zelda series’ 35-years of existence, barring his yelps and grunts. Half-Life‘s Dr. Gordon Freeman has stayed completely silent since the 1998 debut of the franchise, even when he suffers fatal injuries in-game.
The Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto (via Gamezone) has revealed that the company made this stylistic choice to let players reflect their own personality onto Link for a more immersive role-playing experience. On the other hand, Valve hasn’t explained its reasons for leaving Gordon Freeman silent, but fans have speculated the company made a similar choice to Nintendo. So even though The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 will take place in a fantasy universe where deadly minotaurs roam the land, and Half-Life 3 has face-eating aliens, both franchises have more in common than meets the eye.
