Whenever a new franchise financially impresses its publishers and its new audience alike, a sequel becomes expected, and The Legend of Zelda series is no different. From Call of Duty to Borderlands to Resident Evil to Mario, sequels have become extremely prevalent in the world of gaming, which is often exciting for fans of any successful series. The Legend of Zelda has a plethora of games under its belt by now, and many fans are particularly excited about the sequel to the explosively popular Breath of the Wild. It's exciting to see Link's journey continue considering that Zelda games usually star a new hero in a different age of Hyrule, but BOTW 2 is far from the only time Nintendo has released a direct sequel to a previous Zelda title.

Unlike most stories, The Legend of Zelda takes place over hundreds of years and stars different incarnations of Link, Zelda, and Ganon throughout the games. It's more of a story of generational conflict than anything else, which makes it a very satisfying experience to connect all of the games together using the lengthy string of lore Zelda is known for. While it does create some confusion when connecting the games in Zelda's timeline, it also allows players to freely jump into the games in any order they want without fear of not knowing enough information to enjoy the individual story within each title.

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While most Zelda games follow this format, not every entry in the series stars a new Link and Zelda. In fact, there's a fair amount of games that specifically continue the events of previous entries in the series in the same way Breath of the Wild 2 is doing. For example, fans of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker would know that Phantom Hourglass takes place just after it and it stars Link and Tetra. Tetra is abducted by the Ghost Ship while she's on a quest to find a new continent with Link, who then rescues her in classic Zelda fashion. Fortunately, for those looking to play through each The Legend of Zelda adventure, there are lots of other examples just like this.

The Happy Mask Salesman from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, talking to Link and glowering creepily.

One of the most well-known instances of a direct Zelda sequel is Majora's Mask, which follows the events of Ocarina of Time. It stars Link in the child timeline after he leaves Princess Zelda and Hyrule behind on his search for Navi, but he finds himself saving Termina from cosmic destruction instead. Another well- known Zelda sequel is Zelda 2: The Adventure Of Link which follows on from the events of the first Legend of Zelda game. Link is looking for the Triforce of Courage so he can awaken an older Zelda who's been cursed to sleep for generations.

Link also goes from defeating Ganon and saving Hyrule to being trapped in the Wind Fish's dream, as A Link to The Past's hero stars in a plethora of Zelda games, including Link's Awakening, Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons. Finally, he escapes and saves Holodrum and Labrynna from doom and stops a sloppily resurrected Ganon to end his lengthy quest.

Oddly enough, the Link from A Link Between Worlds finds himself in Triforce Heros while disguising himself so he won't appear as the hero of Hyrule. He winds up saving the fashion-obsessed Hytopia just as he did Hyrule and Lorule before it. Each of these installments helps add to the lore of their respective Link, so it's exciting to imagine what The Legend of Zelda's latest hero will endure when Breath of the Wild 2 launches on the Nintendo Switch.

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