Breath of the Wild 2 will take place in the same Hyrule.

[Shiken]

Hiku said:

PAOerfulone said:

A Link Between Worlds certainly didn't feel like a $40 DLC Pack, and that game uses the exact same map, almost 1:1, note for note, as A Link to the Past. But it was still a fantastic game that did enough to stand out on its own with kinks and things like the wall-merging and item renting mechanics which opened up all kinds of new possibilities for puzzle-solving, exploration, dungeon design, speed-running, and nonlinear gameplay that weren't possible in A Link to the Past. 

They pulled it off before, they can most certainly do it again.

curl-6 said:

I didn't play ALBW. I just can't see how a game can possibly feel like a full-fledged new entry in the series with a recycled map. I can't imagine any amount of new mechanics or story not making it feel cheap and half-arsed.

While I don't disagree that this can be done well (I'll get into that further down), I don't think A Link Between World is an example of that.
And since @curl-6 hasn't played it, I feel I should point out some of the reasons for why the situations are so different.

3.) The story takes place after a very long time has passed, so there are plenty of significant geographical differences that have come about in the 100's (?) of years that have passed.

2.) ALTTP released in 1991, 22 years prior to ALBW. So seeing that Hyrule again after so long was highly nostalgic for a lot of people.

3.) It is also a world depicted through decades of console hardware advancements, going from 2D to 3D.
BOTW2 uses essentially the exact same game engine.

If ALBW was released on SNES a few years after ALTP, and the story took place in the same Hyrule soon after the original ended, the things I mentioned above would not have been a factor, and the reception of the game would have been different.

As for BOTW2, I don't know how much they plan on reusing the same, or similar terrain from the first game, but they could introduce a lot of new areas where you'll spend more time than re-treading old ground. For example, the majority of the game may take place underground, in brand new locations.

Very good points regarding A Link Between Worlds.  This is certainly a different situation when compared to BotW2.

As for what they can do differently, it is hard to say.  One thing I can think of is that whatever evil gets released from, what I believe to be the corpse of Ganondorf, puts Hyrule in an apocalyptic state.  This would alter the entire atmosphere and terrain in one go, and allow the Zelda team to use the original landscape as a base.  If they go this route, I do not see how anyone could complain as it would be an entirely different experience all together.  They did say this game will be very dark afterall.

Also they could pair that with what many, including yourself, have pointed out about the unexplored unground networks that could be utilized.  In the first game, the shrines and towers were risen from beneath the surface.  Furthermore there are various ruins that exist underground as well.  Who knows what else is down there.  I think that this theory is spot on, and at the VERY LEAST will have something to do with traditional dungeons making a return.

Another thing worth pointing out is how it looks like the land is rising from under Hyrule Castle, presumably from where Link and Zelda are in the trailer.  Whatever it is happens to be massive, much larger than a shrine or a tower.  There is a strong possibility that similar events could take place in other regions as well, which would alter the land of Hyrule entirely.

I am so excited to learn more about this as time goes on, as I am very curious about how it will be handled.  I highly doubt that Nintendo would just reuse the same map without significant changes to warrant a new game, and we have no reason to doubt them.  I am honestly suprised at how many people are jumping to worst case scenario with nothing to back it up to be honest.