What if the sequel to Breath of the Wild includes an advanced kinstone quest?
by Shane Kelley
We all know the vast landscapes in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the countless side quests the game offers. One of the quests is finding the Koroks to obtain their seeds to upgrade your slots, and, as you may know, the total count to track down is 900, which is a substantial amount for anyone to achieve. So, what quest like the Korok hunt will be the equivalent task in the sequel?
Thinking about the content in Breath of the Wild also had me thinking about what was potentially cut from the game. After looking into this a bit more, a few ideas crossed my mind. I thought about what you could seek, such as Blessed Butterflies from Skyward Sword or perhaps Skulltulas from Ocarina of Time. In the end, though, I think another item could work extremely well in a vast landscape and promote story, exploration, and overall fun.
An item from my favorite top-down Zelda game, The Minish Cap, gives us a unique item called a kinstone. Kinstones come in a variety of colors (green, red, blue, and gold) and range from common to very rare. A kinstone also has a unique shape that is one half to a whole circle. The player seeks out the other half of the kinstone to make a complete circle through the process of kinstone fusion. Finding the other half of a kinstone and putting two pieces together will have various effects, such as revealing hidden treasure chests or locations. The rarest, gold, are related to story development and would be a nice incorporation in a new Zelda game.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, published by Dark Horse Comics, gives us insight on everything in this game. This publication shows all sorts of concepts that are in the game or that were not used in the final creation. Besides this book, we also have interviews with the creators on concepts, ideas, etc., that did not make it into the final product. Here is where the Minish (or Picori) come into play.
What if in the sequel to Breath of the Wild we see quests for kinstones? Imagine finding a rare gold half piece with a unique design that will require you to venture out into the wild and explore vast areas to find the second half? Once found, it unlocks a unique weapon, a helpful outfit, compelling storyline, or big payoff in Rupees. Various colors and pattern combinations would give you different rewards, and you could then use the kinstones to upgrade your item slots. Even if you have around 250 whole kinstones (500 individual pieces), this would be an incredible amount of items to seek out and fuse together. Maybe finding a certain amount of these kinstones could unlock a door to a secret dungeon or maybe connect to some future downloadable content (DLC). That DLC could have you shrinking down and visiting the Minish for an amazing bonus quest. I know if Nintendo incorporated this idea, we could expect something as exciting or as unique as “golden poo.” I just hope we get something fun in the end that really motivates us to seek and find the items presented.
What are your thoughts on the Picori and kinstones? Have you played The Minish Cap? What hopes do you have for the sequel to Breath of the Wild? I personally cannot wait for what is to come with the new entry in the series.
Now we wait.
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Cover Image Source: Zeldadungeon.net
Image 1: FNAC