Female characters parting with their hair has been a deliberate sign of growing maturity in media for decades, a changed appearance highlighting that women are willing to leave behind everything in service of something greater. Mulan is the most popular example, with the titular character cutting her gorgeous hair to join the army and assist her ignorant father. It's the opposite of Zelda’s situation - instead of pulling herself away from the royal family, Mulan is doing everything she can to preserve it. But the core motivation remains the same: these are two women who realise a sacrifice must be made, even if it means altering their appearance and walking away from a life of security.

Facebook clearly sees the potential for VR versions of classic games, having announced GTA: San Andreas at last week’s Facebook Connect 2021. We should expect to see more PS2-era games on the Quest 2 (or Meta 2, I guess), hopefully a lot more. Games like Shadow of the Colossus , Metal Gear Solid 3, Silent Hill 2, and Beyond Good & Evil are ripe for VR versions, and I’d love to see even older games like GoldenEye and Perfect Dark remade for the Quest too. A robust library of classic games is exactly what VR needs to attract a wider audience, and Resident Evil 4 was absolutely the best place to st

Men are already in positions of power in these scenarios, so women are left to comprehend the opposite gender’s mistakes and find a way forward of their own accord. It’s empowering to an extent, although the fact that women are made to throw away what is seen as conventional beauty purely to grow into something one would define as independent still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. On the flipside, this rejection of traditional femininity is equally as groundbreaking, showcasing that societal norms aren’t something these heroines have to abide by. Other characters are often left shocked and outraged at these changing tides, but that’s the whole point - it’s a statement that’s supposed to inspire.

The removal of design decisions previously viewed as irksome would undermine so much of what Breath of the Wild managed to achieve, and the last thing I want to see is Nintendo steering its formula in a direction that abides by more traditional genre conventions. Assassin’s Creed and similar games of this ilk are arguably more akin to content mill, built to draw you in for hundreds of hours even if much of that time is filled with uninspired busywork. The time you spend with the game is what matters, and Breath of the Wild managed to challenge a system that has become increasingly tired in the eyes of players. Its sequel needs to continue chasing that ambition, and not compromise on its own design ethos.

RE4 isn’t the first game to get a VR remake, but it is the first to really capitalize on the nostalgia potential. Skyrim VR, No Man’s Sky, and LA Noire VR are all modified - and in some ways, compromised - versions of modern games, but RE4VR is entirely modernized and enhanced by VR. This isn’t just an alternate way to play RE4, it’s the best way to play it in 2

Breath of the Wild is so special because every moment feels like a discovery you made on your own terms. A mixture of basic yet impactful abilities like stopping time and lifting metal objects allows you to play with the game’s definition of physics in ways that are still being discovered to this day. You can build a chain of metal weapons and charge them with lightning to activate a distant switch instead of following the traditional solution, showing that the game’s systems are built to be toyed with and taken advantage of in ways that have near limitless potential. Nobody will play Breath of the Wild in the same way, and given the open world genre largely remains defined by chasing down icons and completing repetitive objectives, this is a breath of fresh air that remains unmatched. You could argue "it doesn’t feel like Zelda" because its dungeon design abandons tradition, but the rewarding discoveries of Breath of the Wild are intentionally spread throughout the entirety of Hyrule.

There are a few things that always come up when you talk to someone about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . Colossal weapon damage boost 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.

Her presence in Breath of the Wild 2 doesn’t inspire confidence. In past trailers she explores the underground caverns of Hyrule Castle with Link before coming across the corpse of Ganondorf. It’s cursed or something, so our hero is quickly infected with an ancient curse as Zelda is yeeted into a dark hole of oblivion. I desperately hope she isn’t stuck there for the entire story as a generic damsel in distress, because the first game helped prove that her character is far more than the archetypal mould from which she was born. Nintendo needs to subvert expectations, whether it be through additional playable characters or a narrative that is far from traditional. Pull a Majora’s Mask - we rarely see numbered sequels in the canonical timeline, so it’s time to try something that isn’t afraid to alter the landscape.