Call it assholish behaviour, but i certainly don't want to see Aonuma again saying it's too early to talk about BotW 2 and here's something else instead.
Two disclaimers before I go on a rant: nobody wants this game revealed and released properly more than the people who have been working on this for ~5 years. I wish the devs (and all devs for that matter) nothing but health and good luck.
Disclaimer two: on one hand the transaction is simple: Nintendo offers a game. If we like the value proposition we buy it. That's it. However, that's not really how this works if you think just a little bit beyond standard company-customer transactions. Which is why I appreciate the times when Nintendo has gone out of it's way to be transparent to customers.
This being said, in my opinion Zelda 2's communication with fans has been borked, and it's reaching the point of memeability.
1).
E3 2019: sort of kind of announcement? Seems very quick after BotW, and looks iterative in nature. Many people think the game is far along because of this teaser - when in reality this was part of a recruitment drive. Not sure how much of this was the fans drawing conclusions and how much could've been avoided by Nintendo.
2).
Early 2020: COVID messes stuff up and all development is impacted.
3).
September 2020: Age of Calamity announcement: Aonuma appears! It's not BotW2 and development is ongoing. Good bit of communication and appreciated.
4).
Early 2021: Skyward Sword HD announced. Aonuma appears! Still no BotW2. Alright, makes sense, COVID and all. We'll wait for E3.
5).
E3 2021: Aonuma appears! Bare minimum trailer. Still very iterative - Bokoblins, Moblins and Taluses
again? Music seemed truncated. No title. Vague release date. Alright, more is coming soon so it's fine.
6). More didn't come. September '21 and February '22 Directs had no Zelda.
7).
Early 2022: Aonuma appears! Delay to Spring 2023. Alright, delays happen. We'll get some juicy info in the June Direct right?
8)
. June 2022: Despite having plenty of first party material for an E3 (Bayo, Xeno, Kirby, Splatoon) there was no first party June Direct. So no Zelda. Not sure if on purpose, but it's another BotW2
ergh? moment.
9).
September 2022... We'll see. Aonuma appears with some good communication around BotW2 finally? Or another half-trailer? Or nothing at all?
One thing's for sure: I'm now in the "only get hyped for Zelda when it's released" camp, because this has been an exercise in frustration :S . COVID has been a factor of course, and Drake as well, in all likelihood. But it also looks like the regular weird-ass Zelda communication that has hung around the series since ~1997: announce too early & delay.