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on November 14, 2025
<br>There are a few things that always come up when you talk to someone about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . Weapon degradation is one of the defining discourses around the game, with fans either despising the fact your equipment bursts into nothing after a handful of strikes or adoring how it forces you to think outside the box and constantly adapt your strategy to a changing inventory.<br><br> <br>Leon is once again part of the mainstream as far as video game characters are concerned, with his appearance in _ Resident Evil 2 _ doing wonders for his personality– even giving him some semblance of an arc. Following Leon into the events of _ Resident Evil 4 _ now that the Raccoon City Outbreak is over does make a degree of sense. But so does following Claire into _ CV<br><br> <br>The last 2D Zelda was released in 2004 - The Minish Cap . It was followed by Twilight Princess , Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword , A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, and Breath of the Wild. Now, we have a sequel to the latter on the way. 2D Zelda seems to have died out, but that’s because 2D as a whole has seemingly been tossed to the wayside. Even now, remakes of 2D games opt to 3Dize them (if that isn’t a term, it is now). When I say that Nintendo should release another 2D game, I’m not talking about a remaster or remake or even the style of the 2D games but in 3D a la Link’s Awakening for the Switch. I’m talking flat, 2-dimensional sprites - the whole kaboo<br> <br>I can’t play the Spyro trilogy for the first time again, nor can I approach it with the same innocence and sense of wonder that I did when I was ten years old. I still love the series, but games have changed a lot since Spyro first came out. There have been 20 years of evolution and innovation since Spyro the Dragon was made, and I’ve seen how games have been refined and enhanced since then. I’ve changed a lot too. I’m a critic now, and I pick games apart and analyze them for a living. I can revisit Spyro from a new perspective, but now I experience it as an echo of the original - a snapshot of my childh<br><br> <br>As a VR enthusiast, it’s hard to understand why the Oculus Quest 2 still hasn’t hit critical mass. It’s not a matter of cost: the Quest 2 is half the price of the PS5 and Xbox Series X and less than a third of a 30-series GPU, and unlike all of those, is widely available. It’s not due to a lack of content either. There are hundreds of games on the Oculus store, and at least a dozen I would consider must-plays. There are even more if you have a decent computer to link to, like Half-Life: Alyx , <a href="https://Adventuregameland.com/posts/echoes-in-the-stardust-cal-kestis-renewed-odyssey">Star Wars Jedi Survivor New Journey Plus</a> Wars Squadrons, and my personal favorite, Insomniac’s Stormland. I don’t think it's an accessibility issue either - at least not for the vast majority of potential VR players. Resolution and high refresh rates have virtually eliminated the disorientation of early VR, and even if you’re especially squeamish, every game has plenty of settings built in that help eliminate any discomfort. If you ask me, the Quest 2 ought to be as ubiquitous as the equally-priced Nintendo Switch, but as of this past July, the Quest 2 has only sold four million units to the Switch’s<br><br> <br>It does something that a remake or remaster can never do. No matter how much Mass Effect Legendary Edition or Spyro Reignited may look like how we remember them, they’ll never be able to capture the experience of playing games as a kid. Revisiting classics through remasters and remakes definitely induces nostalgia, and they have the power to trigger all manner of memories and feelings from the past, but a fresh coat of paint just isn’t enough to truly bring me back. Resident Evil 4 VR, despite it being a completely different format, has moved me in ways a normal remake never could. This game makes me regress, and from talking to other people and watching streamers play it, it seems to be doing the same thing to everyone that grew up with Leon’s Spanish advent<br><br> <br>Breath of the Wild followed the evolution of RPGs across the industry - open-world, 3D, and filled with side objectives and little tidbits to do besides the main story. The difference was that it revolutionized open-world games, as evidenced by the titles it has since inspired like Genshin Impact, Immortals Fenyx Rising, and Horizon Forbidden West, but Nintendo’s been there and done that… twice now. Whatever comes after Breath of the Wild 2 will determine Zelda’s future trajectory in a rather significant way. For current generations, BOTW is what put the series on the map. I had friends that played the DS and Game Boy ones at school but it was never a part of my childhood. What really drew my eye to the series was BOTW. Granted, I’m 21 so in my age group, I’m no doubt an anomaly. I imagine that for those much younger, however, Zelda is known as that open-world jaunt on the Swi<br><br> <br>There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but Zelda has always been a wonderfully diverse series. Not to the extent of Mario which has crossed all manner of genres in its years, but it is diverse all the same. It has shaped the RPG genre numerous times since the ‘80s, inspiring the likes of Dark Souls, Secret of Mana, Shadow of the Colossus, and now, the aforementioned Genshin Impact. You can see how much the RPG genre varies with Zelda’s inspirations alone and that’s telling. After Breath of the Wild 2, it needs to do something different again. Going back to the classics might not scream new. In fact, it sounds like a step back, aye? Well, that’s the thing. The triple-A space seems to be scared of its own history, desperate to move past it and become more cinematic, more graphically domineering. It’s all about tech and visual prowess. But art style is just as import<br>