I think it will be quite different. Although the amount of benefits the sidequests got you in terms of reward and story in XCX, no other game comes across it. Every single Affinity Mission gives you something useful. I don't think Zelda U will go this route. I think it might be an expanded SS system, upgrading or swapping out your items. We were told the mechanic was going to change, so we're just waiting for more info. Just as different as XC is from other games, Zelda U is destined to be different as well.
The only thing we can compare it to is that you can go wherever and do whatever you want RIGHT off the bat. This is why XCX stands alone with Zelda U in terms of exploration. Whether Zelda U holds up, we won't know until we have some kind of detail. We do have the world map which proves to be huge, but Zelda U should have more NPC's on the map or more world events than XCX, imo.







