Tears of the Kingdom vs. Breath of the Wild - WHICH GAME IS BETTER?

Six years ago, if somebody told you after the launch of Breath of the Wild that the next Zelda game the developer makes will surpass it in almost every way possible, most would find that hard to believe. Making a direct sequel to one of the greatest games of all time is difficult enough as it is, but to make one that unquestionably improves upon an unabashed, genre-defining masterpiece? That's close to impossible. And yet, Tears of the Kingdom does it in a way that seems almost effortless.
No, we're not anywhere close to as gobsmacked by its newness or its novelty as we were with Breath of the Wild when it came out in 2017, but in nearly every other way, incredibly enough, Zelda's newest outing touches heights even its predecessor couldn't (and yes, I am going to ruin that pun by saying "pun intended").

[@quetzalarts5418]

TOTK is better. But that first time you played BOTW can't be beaten.

[@sethh2861]

Yeah it can and it did lol

[@voltron77]

No totk beat it.

[@TheChcam]

These games are for paitent gammers tbh elden ring did it better for me. But i beat all 3 and got the plat trophie for elden ring

[@matthauswalter9533]

​@@voltron77im pretty Sure you never played Botw

[@voltron77]

@@matthauswalter9533 I have over 250 hours in this game and yet the first time I played totk exceeded the first time I played botw.

[@user-vx8pr8oj1v]

BOTW will always be the OG. So many memories from that game… I came into TOTK having an idea about what the game is going to be. But BOTW I knew nothing and it was amazing learning everything for the first time. SOOOO MANY MEMORIES. But TOTK is an awesome way to bring me back to the realm.

[@voltron77]

No totk has better memories.

[@_itsmunah]

Oot is the og

[@GoiXue-os3ck]

​@Voltron77 what do you mean dawg memories the game is new 💀

[@voltron77]

@@GoiXue-os3ck ?

[@Duggybud]

@@voltron77 wtf it’s a new game lmao

[@alec187]

The most bizarre thing is I played nearly 400 hrs of BOTW, yet TOTK does not feel as familiar as I thought it would be. Looking back, I realize that much of my familiarity in BOTW has to do with the frequent routes that I would take. TOTK is the same but because so much has been added and changed, I find myself frequenting different routes than the ones I took in BOTW. Areas in the world that previously felt very homely like the great plateau now feels so inhospitable. On the other hand, hyrule field, which used to be crawling with guardians, now feels like the safest area in the game. IMO TOTK added and changed enough to reinforce that sense of wonder and discovery.

[@wifi961]

Have you noticed they inverted Breath of the Wild? The starting areas there are hard lol and the harder areas are now easy.

[@alec187]

@@wifi961 my point exactly, it’s almost analogous to rearranging your furniture. The architecture doesn’t change yet it evokes a different feeling.

[@thefallen1383]

I player over 400 of botw and totk feels so different, it's like it's not even the same world. There are major changes to be fair, but still.

[@AnomiliBeats1]

Big fan of BOTW, I only played around 300 hours. To the replies, Major changes? Sure, but much of it is recycled. Death Mountain, Hyrule field, Zora domain, the 4 dragons, the shrines, it’s basically BOTW 2. But I mean I’ll take it, the graphics in TOTK alone are off the charts. It’s, its,.. it’s such a gorgeous game.

[@theskywalker8416]

the graphic, mechanic (especially Ultrahand and Fuse) ,zonai devices,... allow the creativity to limitless and make the game great. The problem with TOTK is they allow us to fly around with skyview tower or simply tele to some shrines on the sky and glide down to where ever we want which sound great , but make us ignore the road we "supposed to take" to go there. Example, in botw, zora domain is raining all time, you can't climb, you can't glide, you have to walk your way up there which allow you to experience your own journey. Now you just ignore all that and just glide down straight to the town

[@Pau31076]

The feeling you get playing botw for the first time just can not be topped by totk. Botw was discovering a new world while totk was like let's go to that village and see how it changed

[@manwithballsonarm6775]

Go actually play the game. Breath of the wild was discovering another korok seed or shrine. With very rarely finding anything of interest. If this game is anything like that then I'm not even gonna play

[@Darthmobian]

You didn't actually play the game. @@manwithballsonarm6775

[@insertmetalusernamehere]

I was a little too obsessed with botw lol I’m a 40 year old man with a map of hyrule framed in my room next to a giant tapestry of a lynel lol I can honestly say botw was the greatest game I have ever played. I plan on another play through after I 100 totk. Almost there.

[@Ozz131]

imo, the game is great and unique in all areas. it is special, but it gtes repetitive. its like the game shouldve been cut in half, because i loved the first half, but the second half, i knew what to expect, and i lost the wonder of exploring. it took too long to reach the climax or something to break the repetitiveness. @@manwithballsonarm6775

[@bobby9458]

@@manwithballsonarm6775stopped totk at 50 hrs so bad if I wanna build I’ll play Minecraft, Master mode on botw is better

[@MollyHuffle]

Personally, I loved the overall story more in BOTW. I connected with the champions and enjoyed the divine beasts. However, ToTK takes the cake on the mechanics and the world feels more full now too (surface level).

[@manwithballsonarm6775]

What story?

[@themorbidkid187]

@@manwithballsonarm6775 🤣 my exact thought when i read that comment.

[@Masters-hq1lz]

​@@manwithballsonarm6775the memory's you can find in Hyrule

[@Potanyan-to4gq]

Yeah I don't get it when people say that botw doesn't have a story. Like the story was so well liked that when age of calamity was announced everyone was super hyped for it.

[@The_Ostrich]

Objectively TotK is better of course, but it all feels like we've done and seen it before. The memories I have of playing BotW are better than the time I'm having playing TotK right now because everything was new. Most people subconciously feel that way, which is why the game has a slightly lower score on Metacritic than BotW.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Any game that is an iteration of a groundbreaking game is that way. I.e. Mass Effect 3, Bioshock 2, and Halo Reach. Those are all the absolute pinnacles of their respective series', but they don't get that recognition.

[@jacksimmons537]

You can’t rate games based off of nostalgia though. If you had never played BOTW before (which I’m sure there are people getting into TOTK that haven’t), TOTK would be giving you the exact same feeling. Games should be rated on their own merit, not any other external factors.

[@ryangonzales7563]

I feel the exact opposite, botw did not give me the LOZ magic vibes but this game totally is, I can’t put this game down it’s just so good. I’m planning on beating the main campaign over the weekend cause it is consuming my life lll

[@KidNamedFinger45]

@@jarlwhiterun7478personally I think mass effect 2 is the pinnacle of the mass effect series just for that final mission alone. Probably the best mission I’ve ever played in a video game, but gameplay wise mass effect 3 was better for sure

[@grogu411]

@@masterwitchersir oh yeah it’s not true because it’s not true for you. Makes sense.

[@justinrisen1929]

I am loving TotK but i have to admit after about 30 hours in im just not loving it like i love/loved BotW. BotW is and will likely always be the greatest game ive ever played. I put over 300 hours into it trying my hardest to get and complete absolutely everything because i was so enthralled by it. Been a Zelda fan and player since the original. BotW will be remembered forever. I personally dont think TotK will though its objectively a better game there is a point where a game no matter how good it is can be overly bloated and i feel like Tears is just that.. So much to do... to the point of too much and too much of the same over and over again. I may also be in the minority with my opinion of the fuse mechanic..... Dont care for it because it makes zero sense most of the time and looks ridiculous as well most of the time. Because of it the weapon durability issue (which really wasnt an issue for me in BotW) now has become a huge issue for me as they break so much quicker and everything in game other than in depths is already decayed making them break significantly quicker unless you use the ability that is being forced upon you. The whole crafting thing in general while fun as hell kind of breaks the feel of it being a Zelda game imho. Breath did just enough tech stuff as to not erase the sword and scorcery core of Zelda... this nearly oversteps that and i dont care for it. However after that long tirade i will still stand by and say i love the game and the story is pretty epic especially having Big G back proper this time.

[@JMDSPhotography]

Couldn't agree more on this dude

[@ragingsavage9059]

Idk I might be in the minority, but as much as I love tears of the Kingdom and of course is a great game. I went back to play Breath Of the Wild and I still enjoy it because of it’s lonely and dread atmosphere. Idk how to explain it. I will concede that TOTK improves on a lot of the mechanics but breath of the wild I still find it fun to play with. And well also because I can have wolf link 🐺 as a companion 😅.

[@vasco35]

Same

[@sandroschtolpe6803]

You're right on that, BotW has the better atmosphere.

[@lesunshineworshiper11]

Agreed, BOTW has the better atmosphere & story

[@shadowboy2818]

i went back to botw as well and tbh i kinda agree...mostly because of the survival aspect of the game...and its dlc with the master sword capitalizes on that, while totk is just creative mode for me...

[@Rockerfella360]

A lot of people commenting that TOTK doesn't have the same sense of discovery as BOTW because you already know the world, which is true... for the surface world at least. I still got a massive new sense of discovery in TOTK from the new Sky Islands, the HUGE depths, the countless caves and underground systems, the temples and also the altered parts of hyrule. Sure the other parts of hyrule didn't give the same sense of exploration as they did in BOTW but they just felt nostalgic and like coming home until I went off again to discover the tons of new places and explore them in completely new ways.

[@mushroomcrepes4780]

I wish there was more Sky islands and less Depths

[@HungryWarden]

And the Depths and Sky Islands are both very sparse. More than half the Sky Shrines are blatantly copy-pasted filler to pad the Shrine count.

[@silverblade357]

Not really. The Depths was just an inverted map with all the old amiibo stuff scattered around. You never really got any clear answers on where this whole other world came from or why it was buried. The Sky Islands were purposeless in terms of lore once you got off the tutorial islands. Like, they are just there to provide puzzles and don't appear to have any real practical purpose.

[@echos9396]

Tears of the Kingdom is definitely the better game in terms of the mechanics and overall world design. Breath of the Wild may have had the better impact sure but Tears of the Kingdom takes everything Breath of the Wild did and took it to unbelievable heights and depths (pun intended).

[@ompatel5570]

This game has incredible sales and is def a lock for game of the year.

[@TheAlibabatree]

Thats what everyone said about Twilight Princess ins 2006.

[@theslimegamer5451]

But they also replaced the wolf link amibo with some meat? Nah 1/infinite

[@Thelankiestwopster]

Cap lol no it does not

[@deejay7339]

To me it feels like this is what breath of the wild should've been.

[@pedrochevez2090]

I picked up Tears on release day. So far, having only played Tears for a collective amount of hours (about 10 to 15 maybe) due to life and family, it gives me the same adventurous feeling as Breath did. The difference is that this time everything is much more refined and densely packed, not to mention the sky, ground and chasm maps to explore. I have yet to watch any videos as people are bombarding the comment sections with spoilers. But as far as i can tell from my own experience i am surprised that the developers managed to give us something entirely new yet also entirely familiar. I am preemptively concluding this game is better than Breath. Looking back, Breath is so empty in comparison! The story in Tears is way more fleshed out as well. I still love Breath because of the impact it gave to gaming and on a personal level. Tears has only elevated what i thought i loved and showed me what it was fully capable of doing. It is near objectively the better game all around.

[@sion7651]

TOTK, for me, has the same level of awe botw had. just in a different way. it feels like a second season. coming home after you have been gone for years. still the same but also changed. i never experienced that with a game!

[@randychristensen1028]

It’s like when you move away from your town for many years but then come back and see that familiarity but at the same time, many things have changed since you were last there. It’s nostalgic but new at the same time

[@davidberger8420]

@@randychristensen1028

[@AnomiliBeats1]

Hmm, I never looked at it that way. 🤔

[@voltron77]

Like Naruto shippuden after Naruto.

[@silverblade357]

I just wish the story had been more fleshed out. Repeating the memories mechanic did not work out well and each of the ancient sages telling the exact same unskippable story was way worse in execution. Also, retconning the established history from BOTW was just bad.

[@kingkrysen]

If Im being honest BOTW wowed me a lot more than TOTK

[@jeremybottoms7619]

Probably just because you played it first and nostalgia I feel like of you play totk first you will end up not like botw as much

[@s3eriousbl9ck26]

​@@jeremybottoms7619not if you master the game. Then you'll be wishing they left bombs and didn't make combat as clunky and slow. There's more content in TotK but it's tedious, repetitive, and doesn't have much of a pay off. BoTW is more effortlessly entertaining than TotK.

[@crossover5606]

@@jeremybottoms7619 Like 99% of the people that played TotK played Botw first, so what's the point of making this a point? Nintendo knew this fact too, so they shouldn't be surprised when people criticize them for reusing the same world map. Like I'm sure there's some people out there that played TotK first, but that's like as rare as the planets aligning. It's not worth even discussing.

[@NooralainMirza]

@@s3eriousbl9ck26agree 100%

[@Blinkers2007GameDev]

I bougth botw recently and it's the first zelda game I have ever played: it did NOT disappoint me. Wow

[@pramath1605]

Breath of the Wild's impact and sense of discovery remains unmatched but Tears of the Kingdom is a significantly better game (somehow).

[@brookie478]

Just beat the game today, it took me 100 hours. I definitely missed a lot of shit which I’ll probably get back to but I loved this game. I didn’t think I’d love it more than Breath of the Wild but I ended up at that. After some time i’ll probably just go back and restart both games for nostalgia.

[@abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzsus]

I've had this overarching feeling that I couldn't explain for a while, and now I understand what it is. The world of Breath of the Wild simply isn't made for Tears of the Kingdom's core gameplay, and it shows. The ability to drop from the sky to any location kills off the magic of exploration that was so impressive in the first game.

[@k1ngkaos252]

I think that's somewhat the point. Breath of the wild, being the prequel, is mostly all about finding out who you are what you're doing and discovering the world. Tears of the kingdom, being the sequel, assumes that you've explored the world already through breath of the wild, so they let you fly down to whatever to give you a sense of this is familiar I know exactly where to go, while also jampacking the game full of new gameplay features, bosses, and stuff to do

[@Baardnick]

I think the main problem is that the world in totk is now stacked with caves and all sorts of different "Points of interest". in breath of the wild you have the core gameplay with looking out, oh lets go there. and then u go there, and see where u wanna go next or climb a tower and mark it to go explore. in totk traversal is trivialised, u can just make an airship and fly over there. botw had landmarks, oh whats over there and how do I get there?

[@Nasong104]

​@@BaardnickIf you put it that way then totk is nothing more than a botw DLC and that's not the case

[@SaberRexZealot]

@@k1ngkaos252 BotW wasn’t a prequel, it was the original, which TotK was a sequel to. Sorry but the word ‘prequel’ just gets misused so much. It’s just a sequel whose story predates the original. Calling BotW a prequel just doesn’t make any sense in that context; what is it predating?

[@k1ngkaos252]

@@SaberRexZealot whole Lotta yap

[@AnomiliBeats1]

WRONG ANSWER BUD. I’m 2 weeks in TOTK although a great game. BOTW is the FAR superior game. Bigger does not mean better. BOTW was fresh and new, the exploration was meaningful and the level design was far superior. I remember visiting villages and literally walking around exploring. Those location towers in BOTW were way better with each being a puzzle before getting the maps. TOTK reused many locations from BOTW. I remember the first time I visited the Zora Kingdom in BOTW it was magical. The depths in TOTK are pretty cool that was fun and gliding around in a wing pretending to be Diedara was also cool. I just feel it’s waaayyyy too much, half way through the game you can manipulate it to get almost anywhere. Oh, and the Dragons? In BOTW it was an adventure to find a dragon and Actually fight it! To get a dragon stone. In TOTK you literally walk on top of the dragon collecting stones. TOTK is Great BUT BOTW Is 😽GOAT!

[@jeremybottoms7619]

I like love both game but after playing totk I never wanna go back botw kinds bores me I feel like you would most like feel the same if you played totk first

[@rickcoe]

Na Botw wasn’t that good . Was alright at first then got boring . This game is far superior

[@HungryWarden]

@@rickcoeBro how can you say this. Tears of the Kingdom is cluttered with redundant combat, mechanics that barely fit into the game, non-immersive gameplay, etc.

[@Alians0108]

​@@HungryWardenAnd so is BoTW

[@HungryWarden]

@@Alians0108 at least Breath of the Wild’s world was designed around its abilities and vice versa.

[@JustinGarfield1]

Ahhhhhh. I like Totk. But I am not so sure why I feel BOTW is my fav. It is by feelings alone not just logic. Totk is better to me brainy wise, with all the packed stuff. I got to figure this out. I am an artist and love nature. Maybe that's why? I can't understand. Help me out here 🤔 🤔 Edited: I got it!!! BOTW is like the small cheap apartment you had as a backhouse infront of the ocean. Your friend loaned you it but, although you didn't have the money, they thought you would enjoy it. You only had money for food and some coffee for your coffee machine from a local store you enjoyed quietly. TOTK, is like having a lot of money and living in a very nice and large condo in the uppy side of new york. Instead of the ocean there is a peetes coffee downstairs. Lots of eye candy with sort of hot ladies, however those wealthy ladies that come in are always rushing to their businesses to attend.

[@TheAlibabatree]

Interesting analogies, but I definitely agree

[@scubasteve2189]

It’s because MORE isn’t always better. BOTW was big, and sparse, and there was a lot of room to enjoy nature and scenery. TOTK is stuffed to the gills but a lot of the “content” doesn’t even make sense, and it’s more tedious than exploratory. Don’t get me started on how useless and drab the depths are, yet they are the size of the whole map? 🤦🏻‍♂️ Controls are WAY worse than BOTW, runes are worse, and abilities are so bad they should have just cut them from the game.

[@astigstudio]

BOTW is straight up better ... Tears of Kingdom is more refined and all. No doubt about that. But looking back, I now appreciate how incredible BOTW minimalist storytelling is. There are ruins everywhere. What I see is a remnant of what where once a great kingdom .. Yet as you visit villages, life is thriving. People have move on from the calamity 100 years ago. Everywhere in Hyrule, there is a reminder of tragedy, yet the world is beautiful and full of life. As you finish each Divine beast you get the sense of 'freeing' the spirit of champions after being trapped in the Divine beast for 100 years. More than just progressing the story, it more about bringing closure to them. The story of BOTW synergizes with the overall theme. Its minimalist for a reason. I remember thinking, I'll make sure tragedy will never happen on this land again On the other hand, TOTK is superior in terms of game mechanics .. but for some reason, I don't feel like saving this Hyrule. The story has no impact. The sidequest feels repetitive (Help zonai researcher etc). Compare that to BOTW, on one stable 3 people are arguing about giant skeletons, on another stable one kid wants to see weapons BOTW feels like a home I have to protect While TOTK feels like a job I have to do

[@vasco35]

Thank you

[@ummidk757]

Ive beat both games and im gonna say that tears of the kingdom is 100 percent the better game however nothing will ever beat the feeling of stepping out of the shrine of resurrection and seeing the great platou and the rest of hyrule and nothing can beat the memories of playing botw also if your deciding which one to play first play botw first if you play totk first your gonna go into botw with higher expectations that you should have

[@xervantezxvi5022]

I played and finish both game I like both it’s hard to decide I do love Botw I love the guardians chasing u and I also love the Calamity Ganon I think it’s better than Ganondorf cause Ganondorf looks pretty easy to me and Calamity Ganon looks more like a BIG BOSS u fight than King Ganon

[@MrSkullMerchant]

@@xervantezxvi5022 are calamity ganon and ganondorf one in the same? Sorry im new to the series lol

[@champcee7]

What if my first Zelda game is TOTK? Never played BOTW… just got TOTK hope it’s good.

[@Luizanimado]

I think Breath of the Wild is better, the mechanics are polish and well used, the powers that you get is more effective and easy to use. Tears of the kingdom has some cool mechanics, but I feel like it makes the game slower, you have to stop your progress sometimes just to buid something, also the sages are freaking annoying to use, and they don't feel like much, riju and he goron does essentially what bombs does, and Sidon is freaking useless. I still had a lot of fun with TOTK, and ir definitely improves in a feel aspects of Breath of the wild, but come on, Revoli's gale, urbosas fury, the bombs, the stacis and the other mechanics was a lot more well done and fun.

[@TheKensei777]

i find it hard to believe you played it if you say something like that. totk abilities destroyyyy botw's.

[@Luizanimado]

@@TheKensei777 I don't think so. The sages power are terrible, it's by far the worse mechanic of the game, they also are very usuless, like, riju and yonobu just explode some stuff, they do exactly what bombs do, there is nothing special about that, the champions powers not only was more useful, but they were a lot easier to use. The bosses in BOTW actually attack you, in TOTK, they just stand there waiting for you to attack them, the memories were this really cool mechanics in BOTW, where you had to actually explore the map to find it, on TOTK they are essentially mark points on the map, which is pretty dumb, the koroks were this little fun challenge puzzles to keep you distracted on BOTW, on TOTK the are so tedious, you have to stop you progress, to buid something became a Uber for koroks, it's so stupit. There is also not anything fun or memorable to find on the TOTK map, on BOTW you had a few missions, like the dragon stuck on the mountain, or the terrey town, on TOTK I have more than 100 hours and everything I found was a bunch of NPCs asking for favors, there is nothing actually fun to do on the map outside the main missions. Anyway, almost everything on TOTK is a worse version of BOTW to be honest.

[@crossover5606]

@@TheKensei777 "Omg, someone played a game and had a different opinion from me? Omg da horror, they're clearly lying!" You know ,just cause someone claimed something is better doesn't mean they didn't play/experience the latter. Some people just have different opinions from you. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're no older than 12, cause if you were that's pretty sad that at your age you still haven't grasped the concept of subjective opinions yet, but yeah, get a grip...

[@revelation2-9]

@@Luizanimado Great points. I'm in the same opinion: Breath of the Wild was much better. Tears gets some things done right but it mostly fumbles the end result.

[@GKMedoh]

TotK's abilities are worse than BotW's. They're great, but I wouldn't trade Stasis for Recall for example. The Sheikah slate should've been there, there is absolutely no explanation to why it magically disappeared in favor of the new iPhone of Purah which is arguably worse (I mean, the only "new" thing is 200 more stamps which is good but doesn't balance it out). Remote Bombs are infinitely better than Flower Bombs, they could've kept both and make Flower do more damage. The only ability on which I could say that the TotK one is better is Ultrahand and Magnesis. While I still prefer Magnesis, I can't deny that Ultrahand is better, the fact that it can pick up objects that aren't metallic alone makes it way more useful. Whereas Stasis is useful almost everywhere to give you a speed boost, help you in combat or even in Korok puzzles (the apple one is the first that comes to my mind), Recall is very very situational if you don't combine it with Ultrahand/Ascend and, even if the idea is awesome, pales in comparison. Now I'll have a hot take but in my opinion, Fuse is trash. The weapons look like an absolute mess, it removed many cool weapons from BotW and Fire/Ice/Shock/Bomb arrows (I know there's fruits but I feel like they're less accessible than elemental arrows and I will not even talk about Bomb Flowers). If it was optional and just useful if you wanted to obliterate enemies it would be OK, but the fact that it's mandatory just make me dislike it. It gave a little more use to shields but they break so easily when fused that if you don't have 5 Hylian Shields it's not even reliable. The Sage powers are the worst part for me, except Tulin they're all useless and when they could have a use, the sage is 20 feet away from you. Any Champion ability is better than all of them combined. Revali's Gale was truly one of the most useful tool in BotW alongside Urbosa's Fury. Mipha's Grace is an absolute blessing and Daruk's Shield, while being a little less useful than the other three, is still incredible. Now about the travel, for me, TotK was extremely boring. You just seek for the tower and don't ever use roads afterwards. BotW was emptier but didn't really need to have more things. I loved to travel on horse in Firone, climb the Hebra Peaks, or just walk on the Great Plateau. I didn't feel that in TotK but maybe it's just me? I could write many more things about why I prefer BotW to TotK but the latter still had better things. Lookout Landing is my favorite place of TotK and the diversity of the enemies was really great (I absolutely love the tree enemies). I think my favorite thing about TotK is how the map feels more full, just by adding the geoglyphs on the map, having three different levels, and more stamps. Since English isn't my first language, if you could tell me if there's any mistakes in my comment would really help me.

[@ReboyGTR]

*Breath of the Wild's stated goal was to invoke the same sense of adventure that the original 8-bit Zelda and Shigeru Miyamoto's own adventures as a child playing around in the forest.* *Tears of the Kingdom's goal was to take the problems people had with Breath of the Wild and fix them.* *Tears of the Kingdom is the better game but for that pure sense of adventure Breath of the Wild is better.*

[@affa5908]

as a PS5 owner... I made the plunge a few months ago and got a switch.. always wanted to try what was touted as one of the best games ever made along with some others. I decided to get BOTW first before TOTK.... absolutely glad I did... 10/10 game.. took me a bit to get into it.. to understand what the game was trying to say (especially being used to beastly games on ps5 on a 65inch in 4K lol) got lost in the game kinda. just kept exploring.. jumped off a high mountain into the ocean and came across Eventide Island... loll I was glad... though early in the game, the difficulty and set up of the challenge in itself TAUGHT me about the game.. each time I failed, I observed and noticed things.... the kicker for me was when the Hinox was chasing me on the beach.... it stepped on some burning wood by accident, and literally reacted to it.. started hopping around... all awhile trying to catch more things to eat, find gear etc. realized that the game was PURE "game" wrapped in some kinda SIM like structure. and I loved it.. the temperature system, cooking system, even the degradable weapons are great to me.. adds another level of strategy and hoarding lmao cant wait to play TOTK. As BOTW is one of my favs in years... Im enjoying this more than GOW Ragnarok lmao

[@Anonymous-sw3eh]

I never dived deep into a Zelda game until Totk, so I don’t have the mind blowing experience of playing botw for the first time in 2017 and Totk was the game that blew me away. Either game is mind boggling for first timers like myself and I’m so happy that I chose to jump straight into Totk instead of starting with botw.

[@Ghost-ul8eu]

Tears Of The Kingdom to me is just an objectively better game in every way.Some of the sense of wonder of exploring Hyrule for the first time is partly gone and I will miss that from BOTW.Not only does this game improves on BOTW shortcomings,but it adds so much new stuff that I will never touch Breath Of The Wild ever again.

[@voltron77]

This sense of discovery is replaced by an even better feeling for me, this feeling that you have when you remember everything from botw and now you want to know how it changed!

[@HungryWarden]

Bad opinion.

[@DreamingHearts]

I know a lot of people won't agree with me, but I prefer BoTw. I say this because I didn't feel too interested in ToTk mostly since I was already familiar with the map. The memories with Zelda were awesome, bringing back the Yiga was also great, and I loved The Depths, but the whole building mechanic wasn't interesting, especially since we could pretty much cheat our way through places just by building. I think that took away the excitement for me. I played the entire game through, and it's still a good game, but not for me.

[@TayRich93]

I love both botw got a action adventure vibe while totk has a very cinematic adventure type it has a nostalgic vibe to it

[@zedzed2625]

No.1 lockdown game ever - BoTW

[@Saleh_Alahmad2013]

No Mario oddesy

[@BibBubDude]

Ngl I feel so overwhelmed when I play TOTK. I enjoyed BOTW so much more. It was like a breath of fresh air to the Zelda franchise. But as I play TOTK I find myself dreading doing towers and shrines. It was fine doing it the first couple times in BOTW because it was such a new concept but now doing it in TOTK it just feels like a chore. And honestly I’m just not enjoying TOTK as much as I enjoyed BOTW. I couldn’t put my switch down when BOTW came out for like an entire week. Now with TOTK I haven’t touched it in a couple days.

[@HungryWarden]

Nearly half the Shrines feel like filler. It’s basically “Tutorials: The Game”.

[@ssmufc9941]

I’ve not played either yet, so should I jump straight in at TOTK? Experience the novelty and the polish all at once? Or story-wise do I NEED to play BOTW first?

[@3a43mka]

If you haven't started either of them yet, I suggest to watch a story recap of BOTW on youtube and jump to TOTK. In this way you will be familiar with BOTW plot but you will experience TOTK similarly to how BOTW-first players did with BOTW, gameplay-wise. Idk, just my opinion, it's your choice :)

[@BeauInGrace]

​@@3a43mkaI've only started playing BOTW for a few hours. Can the saved game data from BOTW (when you finish the game) be loaded to TOTK so that you get all your game progress to be carried on to TOTK game?

[@3a43mka]

@@BeauInGrace no, TOTK is entirely new game with new abilities and mechanics, and also this is due to story (will not clarify because it's a story spoiler). You can however import all your horses from BOTW into TOTK, but that's it

[@bigbillywillysgrandadventu7737]

​@@3a43mka kek, a StORy REcAP of a Zelder game.

[@3a43mka]

@@bigbillywillysgrandadventu7737 you know, stories ain't that bad in zelda games, yes, people don't play them just because of the story, but still it's alright

[@powercoder]

After playing and finishing TOTK, I main come back BOTW! The sense of nostalgia and mystery of BOTW cannot be beaten!

[@sethh2861]

As someone who wasn't a big fan of BotW, i gotta say that TotK is pretty damn good Its the game that everyone made BotW out to be. I hated the direction that BotW was taking the series. It didn't even feel like a Zelda game. But now I see it as a "necessary evil" so as to create a foundation for what would be this game. And unlike BotW, this somehow feels much more Zelda-ee than did the first game. Which is weird because its nothing like any other Zelda game, other than of course BotW. Its basically a fully realized and actually fun version of BotW. With the latter game feeling dead, empty, boring, and half baked. And the shrines felt like chores, yet the shrines on this game are actually fun PLUS you get more traditional dungeons/Temples (the divine beasts were a great idea on theory, but in practice it came out feeling extremely half baked). Now I actually don't mind the direction the series is going, whereas I hated the same direction whenever it was coming from BotW. I always said that BotW wasn't a bad game in itself; it's just a bad _Zelda_ game, is all. Super over rated, too. I think most people are starting to see the flaws in it where they didn't before. This new game has basically rendered BotW unplayable and completely obsolete (which is really saying something considering how highly touted that game was). Being that they have the same surface map, now all people will be able to do is _wish_ they could do TotK activities while playing that same map in BotW; therefore Breath of the Wild will always feel lacking to most people from here on out, I would imagine. Anyways, Nintendo really (and literally) have outdone themselves. This game makes even OoT feel flat, which is really saying something. Definitely one of the best [if not THE definitive best] game in the series, and so far its one of the greatest video games of all time. It far exceeded my expectations, as I wasn't even going to buy this game because I figured it would just be another massive yet boring game like BotW. Thankfully my brother bought it from the eShop and allowed me to play thru his account on my Switch Lite. Now if Nintendo would just start making old skool, quality linear 2D and 3D games supplementarily and alongside these massive open world games, I would be extremely happy. They could spend 7 or 8, years making a massive game, while releasing smaller, linear 3D and 2D games in between, considering those will now be a breeze to make in comparison (although thats a lot of idea generation, and it would be quite an undertaking coming up with fresh, new ideas; but I believe they can do it). That way old school and new school Zelda fans alike can be completely satisfied in every way. If they were to do that I would be totally happy, because I could still enjoy new traditional Zelda titles all while also getting extremely high quality open world Zelda games all at the same time. My vote would be to start off with a true, direct 3D sequel to Wind waker as their first stab at a linear style "supplementary" Zelda games

[@ihatebilly4675]

I read half of that and already knew your opinion was ass

[@voltron77]

Yeah I had the same feeling, but now totk gave me a great story and way better dungeons!

[@sethh2861]

@@voltron77 this game is 🔥

[@jeremybottoms7619]

​@Seth H I really injoyed botw but I do agree after playing this game what even is the point in going back to botw this is the same map but done 10 times better and is starting to make me realize that botw may not be as good as I though it was I always spent more hours o. This game than botw I have 75hours on tears of the kingdom and i have 50 of botw after I beat botw I was done with they game but some how convince myself it was a masterpiece but after beating totk I just want to keep playing I don't want it to end I wanna complete all the shrines

[@TheRelen222]

I couldn't have said it better myself. You captured my thoughts on botw. Botw felt big, but empty, and dare I say, boring. Not just now, but I was saying the same thing in 2017, much to the admonishment of my fellow Zelda fans. I don't want to take away anyone's love of that game, but totk has much more story, defined characters, better tools, a more engaging world, everything really. I feel like remakes like Link's awakening could feel that 2D (ish) itch btw. I'd love to see Minish Cap and the Oracle games remade as well.

[@mackinblack]

TotK is objectively the better game.

[@rexomnipotentus387]

Just stop with the word "objectively". It's not objectively better, it's subjective. I enjoyed Breath of the Wild more. It think the simplicity of Breath of the Wild is objectively better than Tears of the Kingdom. Just kidding, is subjectively better for me. I still enjoy Tears of the Kingdom a lot by the way, but the game feels tedious at times. I really don't like the building mechanics. People talk about creativity, but it usually comes down to making a hot air ballon, putting some fans on a plane of sticking wheels to a platform.

[@scaryhours2220]

Lol there's nothing objective about it. TOTK is a fantastic game a masterpiece imo but a larger map and different mechanics does not instantly make it better. This is very subjective and is based on ur preference. Some people want to just get on a boat and sail they don't want to actually build the boat first, so that person would prefer BOTW. And many many other examples that can lead people to prefer one over the other. Both incredible, but bigger does not automatically mean better.

[@scaryhours2220]

​@@rexomnipotentus387 👏👏👏 Well Said. I feel the EXACT same way 😎

[@michaelrobosa146]

​@@rexomnipotentus387the building mechanic was optional tho. you can beat the game without utilizing the building mechanic

[@rexomnipotentus387]

@@michaelrobosa146 One way or another you will have to build stuff, even if you only do the main quests. I'm not playing games just to do main quests though. A lot of shrines require you to build of fuse stuff. Side quests and side content like helping that guy with the sign require you to use ultra hand. Navigating the skies often involves building stuff. I don't mind the idea of building stuff, but it just feels very clunky in this game and it's super slow and takes up a lot of time. Also the stuff that I'm building feels kind of simple and underwhelming. I just think driving around on a plank is kind of lame. The building mechanic also feels kind of tagged on and it doesn't really fit into the world. The world doesn't feel designed for it. A great example are those Koroks that you need to reunite with his friend. They just feel randomly placed. The building mechanics don't seem to really add a lot to this game. Sure, if you want to goof around and created crazy contraptions, you might have the time of your live. And the physics are really really good. Nintendo has done an excellent job in that regard. However, if you would remove the building mechanics and just put in vehicles instead, I don't think the game would be way less fun because of it. Even though I'm not really enjoying the building mechanics a lot, I'm still enjoy playing this game. I have a lot of fun with it actually.

[@doctorpringles12]

Having finished the games, while not 100%-ing TOTK, I'd say by general completion, TOTK is just AS good as BOTW and maybe slightly better... but I think I liked both games enough over the other for different reasons. In terms of story, I liked the sense of discovery of the world and the characters that inhabit it, and the mystery of the tragedy that plagued the world over a hundred years that you'll work to rediscover and resolve in BOTW. But in TOTK, character development was given a bit more emphasis thanks to the groundwork laid by BOTW setting up the characters and world that you'll be familiarized with, and seeing changes from backhand knowledge from previous experience. So for me, world-building and discovery is kind of better in BOTW, but character and world development is a stronger highlight in TOTK. (I think among my only gripes with TOTK is how the mention of the past champions and Calamity Ganon and their relevance from BOTW was nearly absent in TOTK, which I get the feeling is intentional as devs know the players already know it while not burdening newcomers into needing to get into BOTW).

[@mikkelthepikkel8241]

Yea I feel that way too especially the last part. Like your telling me that this thing that effected the world for 100 year causing thousands of deaths and destroying the kingdom of Hyrule is only mentioned on a few stone slab's. Some parts ain't adding up

[@doctorpringles12]

@@mikkelthepikkel8241 yeah, to me BOTW’s tragedy felt a bit more pronounced than TOTK, and it’s a shame that it was not as much of a strong highlight in the story where it apparently details a conflict way before that, and then it didn’t do a better job piecing and connecting the two conflicts together.

[@flamebreaker7318]

​@@mikkelthepikkel8241 well its taught in school go to the hateno school and ask to sit in on a lesson they then teach about the calamity 100 years ago they talk about the champions and you get mentioned at the end for saving hyrule

[@AltairEgo1]

​@@flamebreaker7318Learning about the Calamity in ToK is sort of like learning about history in school. You get the highlights. Whereas playing BOTW is like doing a deep dive into the Calamity's history.

[@bluehairedboy2010-iw4es]

@@flamebreaker7318 I stopped playing before I could do that

[@Al-ok1lj]

Botw for me. Although I enjoyed totk and still trying to 100% it, the connection with the Champions and Zelda is beyond comparison. We don’t even know who the masked ancestors were. The depths in totk were too much of a wasted space and the sky islands were too little. Zonai gacha machines seems a bit corny imo. And the executive producer said that we won’t even get a dlc.

[@revelation2-9]

Tears of the Kingdom felt underwhelming compared to Breath of the Wild after completing the former. Sky Islands were sparse and mostly devoid of anything interesting, the Depths were too big and only the boss rematches were the highlight, only the Wind and Lightning temples felt cohesive and well put together, Zonai construction loses its charm rather quickly, the Champions were all significantly worse than their BotW counterparts(Sidon is great though), Champion abilities were all a downgrade, shrines didn't introduce any puzzles that were an improvement over their BotW counterparts, and the story was mediocre at best(New Zelda myth and timeline direction does NOT look good). Ganondorf was honestly the highlight of the entire game and the final boss fight was definitely a big improvement over Calamity. Tutorial area and first several hours were excellent but the game didn't have that same sense of wonder and exploration. This game felt like it was originally DLC but they decided to just call it a sequel game instead. Not a bad game by any means, but BotW was absolutely the better game on its release and at the current time(playing BotW again and I can't put it down).

[@jacobbenson3856]

Im pissed they used so many "hand me downs", in terms of armor. I wanted the hunt for new exciting items. Usually the chests are full of useful survival tools. Which is vital. But I just wanted a little more elden ring. Hunting down the same thing twice is just seems uncharacteristic for this time of team.

[@BeersYourFriend]

It's too close to call. Sometimes a bigger game can hurt a sequel. Haven't beat ToTK yet, but man it's massive. Great video guys! Cheers!🍻

[@gilmoresgamingent4634]

Both games are a Masterpiece🔥

[@adamsme1314]

did you play the old zelda like a link to the past with like a spell that was kinda cool

[@supremeleaderfrancisco9062]

because the first one is a masterpiece and they just did the same thing again

[@__G___]

TotK is a good sequel, not better that BotW though.

[@ompatel5570]

why?

[@Matanumi]

Botw has better abilities and the isolation is nicer

[@Antnj81]

Botw is the better game!! Said no one ever.

[@HungryWarden]

Said me.

[@SheilaCourtney]

I was so looking forward to this sequel. I am so disappointed. As an older player (i remember the amiga) I really enjoyed the freedom of BOTW. This hasn't been replicated in TOTK. If I hadn't enjoyed BOTW so much I wouldn't have gone anywhere near this with a topaz fused stick. Disappointed....it is just so difficult.

[@supremeleaderfrancisco9062]

wym? this game has to much freedom lol

[@joet6434]

TOTK is great fun & the new mechanics enhance the experience but part of me wishes Nintendo had waited until their next system before releasing it to avail of what i hope is better hardware. The framedips & the lack of any real graphical improvement over BOTW is a bummer, it doesn't stop the game being a blast to play. I hope when the next system from. Nintendo releases that they can implement improvements to make the game look & run smoother. I am still blown away the game manages to run as well as it does on the outdated switch hardware. TOTK is a great game but reused assets & a few blemishes with performance & graphics detract a little for me personally. BOTW made more of an impact as it was the first time they tried the open world formula & they managed to nail it & innovate in many ways, TOTK is building upon the bones of that, adding meat, giving us more to do in the land of Hyrule.

[@adammikhaiel283]

Couldn’t agree more. Nintendo should have just made a BOTW update with a revamp of physics & map to tie us over a few more years till Nintendo comes out with their next gen console.

[@natanhaelalvarado6137]

@@adammikhaiel283 even though we should not focus on economics, these are necessary sometimes, because the games we love depend on these to be continuously released, so from what I’m reading you guys are suggesting that TOTK should not be released in a console which is close to 130 million install base players and instead being released on a new console with ZERO install base? That’s crazy, these games need to sell a lot, this game sold 10 million in 3 days and I’m very happy about it because now Zelda is in the AAA Olympus. Just don’t play the game and wait for the next ten version which I guarantee you is coming 100%

[@adammikhaiel283]

@@natanhaelalvarado6137 I already beat TOTK & completed almost 3 quarters of the shrines. It’s a solid game & a step forward from BOTW. But the reality of the fact is the games limited to using the same engine & processing power as its predecessor which was released in 2017. Thats 6 years old. Fast forward another 6 years & this game, although being released in 2023 will essentially have the same performance as a 12 year old game. I would agree with your points in regards to bringing up economics, however Zelda isn’t an independent title. Nintendo makes tons of money from other titles. My only fear is that this will get the GTA 5 treatment & be re released on nintendos next system & we’ll be starving for a new unique game for several years.

[@flamebreaker7318]

I just don't get when gamers switched from good game matter more than good graphics now everyone just bitches for good graphics

[@flamebreaker7318]

​@@adammikhaiel283 bruv fuck graphics it could be fucking 8 bit and I'd still love it get off your high horse it's an amazing game with graphics that work making it look even prettier is just wasted time that could be spent developing new gameplay and abilities and dlc and even then why the fuck do you expect that from nintendo they've never had the top of the line shit they are the family gaming console they aren't amazing tech so they can be affordable.

[@JuanSinMiedo441]

More difficult enemies, changes on a similar map, sky islands and caves don't make the better game for me as of now. More isn't necessarily better. And the Lego thing is nice but breaks the fantasy atmosphere 🤷 I just love the simplicity of BOTW

[@TheAlibabatree]

Yup.

[@justinrisen1929]

Thank god someone else shares my feelings on the abilities destroying the immersion of fantasy and sword amd sorcery. This is Zelda not a sci fi setting. Fun but yeah id rather it not be there or it be done differently.

[@scubasteve2189]

Yep. And you forgot the booooooring depths. 🤮

[@petertan6157]

TOTK gave me alot of tasks but BOTW gave me alot of goose bumps.

[@crossover5606]

Exactly. More stuff to do =/= automatic better game.

[@apersonontheinternet8354]

BOTW is BY FAR the better game. TOTK is great don’t get me wrong but it cannot beat BOTW and it’s not even close

[@scubasteve2189]

Once the newness wears off, I think people are going to start seeing all the empty, tedious elements of TOTK and the narrative is going to shift. The depths are flat and boring, sky islands are so small it’s not much if a factor, and the entire game is just written in reverse to match the format of BOTW. BOTW has its issues, sure, but it’s a perfectly curated game, with better controls, better abilities, better art design, etc.

[@manfredfeigt8928]

Better controls? I didn't notice a difference

[@s3eriousbl9ck26]

​@@manfredfeigt8928there's definitely a difference. TotK is clunky and slow. The Sage abilities suck compared to the Champions abilities and there's way more menuing

[@manfredfeigt8928]

@@s3eriousbl9ck26 it doesn't really matter for me, I can still enjoy the game, but I get what you mean

[@crossover5606]

@@s3eriousbl9ck26 Agreed. The way they handled the sages was not very good. Are they trying to turn this into a JRPG with multi-party characters? I just want a selection wheel where I choose what sage I want to use, not a whole ensemble with me.

[@supremeleaderfrancisco9062]

100%

[@DogRobot101]

In Totk the loneliness is still there lol. The deaths and sky islands are extremely lonely and isolated and eerie

[@HungryWarden]

No, they’re just lacking in content.

[@McGomezAddams]

Quite possibly the greatest video game ever conceived

[@Zemeckis_]

Indeed. I'm 33y.o and have been a gamer since i was a kid. This game, imo, is the greatest game I've ever played.

[@lexeleister4618]

​@@Zemeckis_ same

[@voltron77]

@@Zemeckis_ Elden ring

[@voltron77]

@Aaron Roberto Bruh this is the most cap I’ve seen in a comment since the guy who said demon slayer was mid.

[@Zemeckis_]

@Aaron Roberto lots of amazing games this year, i would agree with that. But not even top 100? Either you haven't played the game or u just hatin.

[@kevinvandorst]

BOTW still the better game, 100%.

[@maxxking9490]

As someone who prefers less tech in fantasy, I preferred BOTW. The feeling of loneliness as I explored the world, and saw the divine beasts on the horizon, can't be beaten. I'm never interested in building things or crafting (I didn't like new animal crossing either I'm lame, I know). I prefer the old link design, and having the wolf amiibo follow me hehe. With that said, I'm still enjoying TOTK! But, I prefer the aesthetic and features of BOTW just out of personal taste. It feels more natural. Also fusion makes weapons so strong but it looks ridiculous running around with a rock stuck on your sword.

[@Shawnnotsean95]

BOTW colors are way better than TOTK.

[@THEJefftheKiller]

Check your tv color or picture mode

[@victorporten6554]

Honestly enjoyed BotW more. TotK was super disappointing to me. Totk is better gameplay wise mostly. Just really didn’t enjoy the shrines in TotK. The sky and depths were sort of disappointing to me and not worth the 6 year wait. Kass and his song also just gave BotW a almost magical vibe, whereas TotK just feels like a grandiose expansion. The building stuff also isn’t my cup of tea. My main issue is I know Nintendo can do better than this, it’s been 6 years.

[@Duggybud]

Botw story>Totk story Botw gameplay

[@catguy4996]

And at the end of the day, you're playing a game for game-play. So TOTK wins in that regard

[@The-Vitruvian-Man]

At this point, I've liked BOTW more. I expected TOTK to have more enemy diversity than it does, more enemy density, it doesn't seem to have as many interesting things around the map that catch the eye, still chasing around shrines and what hardly classify as dungeons, and it doesn't have the wow factor that BOTW had

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Trolol

[@turtleboi1547]

Totk has great enemy diversity what more could you want💀

[@yandenditt]

Trolololol

[@davidberger8420]

What are you talking about. The world is so much denser with much more to do like caves to explore, much better side quests, much better enemy and boss variety, better ability's, more items, the depths, the sky etc. Its BOTW on steroids.

[@stefanlynch3210]

Tell me the people replying to you haven't played the game. Enemy variety? Sure if you consider the running into the same 3 moster types as botw but with a chance of a different monster here and there variety than sure. But most the time it's still bokoblins, moblins, and lizalfols. Gibdos are only in gerudo until you do the "dungeon" than its back to the same 3 mobs. Omg horiblins and like likes, mostly in caves and even then it still bokos for the most part. What other mobs am I forgetting? Can't say floor masters as those are technically a mini boss. Speaking of mini bosses, you got 3 additional ones, floormasters and what they spawn, frox and gleeok. So much variety....

[@wistfulgraph]

The difference of TOTK and BOTW have a similar feel to the LOTR with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. The Fellowship of the Ring establishes the world and creates a lot of scenery that fills the viewer with awe and wonder. With Fellowship, we are shown the world through the eyes of an adventure. We see vast landscapes and mountain peaks. Even though it was epic, a lot of it felt personal too. It certainly wasn't as grand as The Return of the King, which took the world that Fellowship established and expanded upon it with nonstop action and fights. Although The Fellowship of the Ring was grand, it definitely wasn't as epic as The Return of the King. By the events of The Return of the King, there wasn't any reason to include more adventure and thus the movie focused on other aspects. Personally, I do prefer Fellowship with its vast scope whilst being able to create an adventurous atmosphere-- something that was absent in ROTK. However, I can totally understand people resting on the opposite side of the spectrum who prefer the epic battles with the final conclusion. I get a similar vibe with the TOTK and BOTW comparisons. BOTW feels more personal and gives a sense of adventure whilst having a lot of lore-building. The world-building is impeccable in the film, and the atmosphere fits incredibly well. However, TOTK took what BOTW had and then expanded, with even more action and epicness. Everything feels compact in TOTK (much like in Return of the King) rather than BOTW (much like the Fellowship of the Ring) which takes a more patient approach. Due to this, although I think BOTW is personally the better game [I haven't finished TOTK yet as I'm on the final temple and I still need to defeat the Demon King], I can certainly understand why many people would consider TOTK better. Actually, TOTK is already extremely close to surpassing BOTW in my opinion. Although I do think BOTW is the better game, it's not by much.

[@onlydarkwillremain]

This

[@pramath1605]

While I don't agree with *everything* you said, this is a great, well thought out, and well explained analogy!

[@H-TownGamer]

I dont really like the new Zelda games but TOK was better in overall aspects but BOTW was more fresh and therfore gave a new experince for the player so I think TOK should have a lower score. Its better but it does nothing radical or very different its more of a expanded BOTW with some added features

[@BayernNr.1]

Botw is Better, because Totk is too much

[@hanginthere008]

Playing Botw again ...love it so much

[@blitzball4lyfe823]

A true gem and classic ❤️

[@Urlastnerve]

Tears makes BOTW feel like a 50+ hour prologue.

[@NotBorno]

lol ikr. it feels like a huge tutorial section xD

[@ONE_For_100]

😂😂

[@HungryWarden]

Tears makes me miss Breath of the Wild.

[@Urlastnerve]

@@HungryWarden why? Tears did everything Botw did, but better.

[@HungryWarden]

@@Urlastnerve No, it really didn’t. Tears is a cluttered world with tedious side quests, abilities that don’t fit into the world, and because of this, it doesn’t feel immersive. The story in Tears of the Kingdom feels more like a Mario game than a Zelda game.

[@Yokai_Yuri]

BoTW was kinda bland. It had good exploration, visuals and story, but the world felt empty and limited so some extent. TOTK fixes that and to counter the world being empty, they added something reaally valuable, which is creativity to tackle problems of any kind. This game excels in this

[@HungryWarden]

Then they cluttered it with the same Bokoblin enemy literally everywhere. You can’t walk 5 steps without finding an enemy camp.

[@dcta51]

TOTK feels a lot more overwhelming than BOTW to me. Breath of the wild spaced everything out perfectly and let you "breathe" in the environment. TOTK feels almost suffocating in comparison. Almost like Elden Ring. I was just a bit disappointed that that feeling of loneliness and discovery isn't there anymore but it makes sense since it's a sequel in the same world.

[@summerycast7936]

Really? Well, there is always something close by, but when I'm trucking around I don't feel overwhelmed. And when I see a piece of ruin falling down, or see an entrance to the depths, I can change focus whenever I want.

[@dcta51]

@@summerycast7936 I sorta have ADHD so seeing all the possible routes to explore fucks with me a bit 😅. I just have to remember to make map points and that I can go back whenever I want.

[@summerycast7936]

@@dcta51 I recommend riding a horse and try sticking to the main roads until you reach your destination. It is pretty relaxing. The horse even enters a sort of semi-auto state on main roads!

[@natanhaelalvarado6137]

Precisely that was a criticism that many people had with the game, for me It wasn’t spaced out perfectly, it was the complete opposite: excessive desolate areas without any significant things to do, many gamers abandoned the game for this reason. Tears of the kingdom fixed that, and with all due respect I think you’re wrong: there’s plenty of areas where you can feel relaxed and not overwhelmed, besides if you stick to roads there’s little enemies.

[@dcta51]

@@natanhaelalvarado6137 that's the thing though, you're not going to stick to roads, the game encourages you to fly around everywhere and see everything as far as you can see. If BOTW was "breadcrumb exploration". TOTK is breadcrumbs just thrown everywhere. Technically totk is better, I'm just saying that feeling of being magically guided from one place to another is kinda gone. Discovering something doesn't feel as special anymore. But as I mentioned. Its a sequel taking place in the same world as a game that's been out for six years, so it makes sense.

[@jamesbailey221]

I like both. I initially thought totk was my favorite. but when enough time went by to replay one or the other, I was more to interested in botw. I think the simplicity is really nice. But totk has a difference overall vibe that's more complex so its a bit to taste not better or worse

[@apersonontheinternet8354]

TOTK I think has a better story, but the replayability is much worse, and the building feels gimmicky vs more typical powers in botw

[@matthewgruen7652]

TOTK is a better game BOTW is a better experience

[@manwithballsonarm6775]

So does tears have actual quests in it that arent just shrines and fetch quests? And is there a main quest line where your actually going on a journey and not getting to the next giant walking puzzle?

[@supremeleaderfrancisco9062]

its the same game without the charm replaced with gmod building and lackluster new areas some improvements

[@guillermoantonanzas9400]

I would say totk is a better game, but honestly I like botw more, the story and atmosphere re better imo. Also I like better that you could get anywhere climbing, now getting to/between the islands is fun the first 50-80h, but after that I don't find it very fun to be oblied to make vehicles and be 5 minutes gaining height It may also be that botw was/is mu favourite Game of all time

[@rubenlamb545]

Yeah but, where are the normal weapons?? I dont really like the fused weapons

[@Erix2k]

This is why i dont like TOTK. This confuse me and took some time every Weapon to fusion.

[@xervantezxvi5022]

I played Zelda BOTW almost 600 hours and now I’m playing Tears of the Kingdom 100 hours over so I think Zelda Breath of the Wild is the best

[@benvids]

To recapture the sense of discovery when playing BotW, there would need to be a brand new map and the player would need to have limited traversal. TotK is a great game but it’s a very different experience.

[@mattsultimategamingandrevi8249]

I love them both equally I can’t choose between the two

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Choose 1. Get off the fence.

[@coreygreene9498]

@@jarlwhiterun7478 😂

[@pedrochevez2090]

​@@jarlwhiterun7478 My choice is Tears. I left a comment in the main comment section for what i think of it so far (having only played little of it).

[@natanhaelalvarado6137]

while I have great memories of BOTW, in all honesty, after I played 140 hours of tears of the kingdom and I haven’t finished it yet, I feel like I can’t go back to play BOTW ever again without feeling bored, TOTK is a way better game, more refined, more fun, the shrines are 100% better, the temples, the world feels more packed, the koroks are not a chore anymore, sky and chasm maps have been added, wayyyy more variety in enemies, the physics, EVERYTHING IS BETTER, so I chose tears of the kingdom easily.

[@xervantezxvi5022]

Same here I really miss this guardians chasing me on the ground and I love how TotK add more new enemies and fuse anything and ur in the sky

[@wyatt_thewarcarter9554]

I feel like I'm the only person who believes that botw is superior to totk in every way

[@kingkrysen]

Nope same

[@revelation2-9]

You're not alone, BotW was definitely the superior game.

[@etherealgem1682]

Its also important to note that a lot of these reviews don't take into account that TOTK is only good because it inherited 80% of itself from BOTW. TOTK isn't a new game, its BOTW with changes and more development time/polish. That kinda makes it unfair to compare the two, since even if you think TOTK is better, BOTW walked so TOTK could run.

[@drawdiuqs-he7ff]

BOTW walked so TOTK could fly

[@qiwjjdj288]

Pokemon blue or pokemon red?

[@TheWeeabooKid]

Iike botws story and shiekah slate more then the ultrahand and the zonai lore.

[@CandarianGaming]

To me tears of the kingdom is the 2nd half of BOTW. I like tears better but I will always replay BOTW first before playing tears of the kingdom. Both masterpieces

[@Lotusauce]

Botw set the bar. I agree completely but I think this should’ve just been dlc

[@CandarianGaming]

@@Lotusauce I mean in an alternate reality where having a completely redesigned map and all new content more than the base game for only $20 would be nice lol

[@Lotusauce]

@@CandarianGaming 20$? Nah man the expansions I know cost 40-50$

[@CandarianGaming]

@@Lotusauce Fair enough. In Australia I paid $20 less for Totk than BOTW though

[@jeremybottoms7619]

​@Last Lotus there's wat to much extra content here to just be dlc

[@stormymangham5518]

I haven't played a Nintendo title in 20 years. I took a chance, got a Switch OLED and TOTK. I have no idea how I missed BOTW, I am a fairly hardcore console gamer but have strictly played Play-station since high school. I played TOTK non-stop for three days and ordered BOTW just to see what I missed and complete the experience. I have many thousands of hours gaming. TOTK is easily in the top 3 best games I have ever played. I am officially a Nintendo fanboy, thanks TOTK!

[@ahsanace21]

Same boat. Picked up Mario Kart to play with the 5 year old too

[@jeremybottoms7619]

Botw is really fun if you play it first but if you play totk first than try to play botw you most likely gonna feel bored and just wish you was playing totk instead

[@flamebreaker7318]

​@@jeremybottoms7619 nah bruv played through totk at about 200 hours I beat the story went back to botw after and had a blast completed the starting are went straight to ganon fought 3 blights then died to lightning blight then I killed multiple guardians and went to the tech lab in akkla to get the ancient armor then starting at death mountain going to Zoras domain and then the rito and then the gerudo then before going to kill ganon I did the champions ballad dlc and the trials of the sword dlc then went and kicked ganons ass. Don't listen to idiots ohh totk is soooo good it makes botw look like a tech demo. No it fucking doesn't botw is still amazing.

[@jeremybottoms7619]

@flamebreaker7318 I said most likely that least how I feel I played botw really injoyed it played it for 50 hours beat the story and was satisfied but in totk after beating the story I wanted for and am still continuing play I boughtbthe totk amibo and pre-ordered the strategy guide and am currently at 120hours

[@feralaca123]

BOTW is a boring game. The new one is much better.

[@Thecurseofsanity]

I think a lot of people predicted the next Zelda following Botw would be amazing. After the novelty of the physics/chemistry engine in botw and the approach to player progression and story wore off, Botw would sometimes feel like I was just hopping shrine to shrine whilst picking up a few koroks, but the potential for something more was baked into the game. When you compare the quality of the game engine to the quality of the rest of the game (botw) it's very clear that almsot all development time and resources went into the engine. Having had the engine already developed, the time in Totk was spent on making the world truly full and dense with quality content. The result is the best open world game I've ever played, but it stands on the shoulders of botw more than any other zelda stood on the shoulders of Ocarina (debatably)

[@nathanielrasey]

Best part about Tears of the Kingdom.....no more guardians sniping you while exploring Hyrule.

[@R24EXD]

I kinda miss that actually

[@bobbobbins4877]

Guardians were fun to fight once you learned how to shield deflect.

[@summerycast7936]

I miss that anxiety, but the _hands_ are enough to send me panicking for the hills.

[@HungryWarden]

I miss that.

[@HungryWarden]

@@summerycast7936The hands aren’t scary.

[@Therealgirlinthedesert]

Would it be too confusing for someone to play Zelda TOTK if they haven’t played any Zelda before? Thinking of getting the game.

[@Mohgenstein]

Tears is better but I much prefer the lonely and relaxing vibe of Breath of the Wild compared to the epicness of Tears.

[@Gullbone]

I dont like how totk basically made exploring the map redundant, riding around on my horse was probably one of the most relaxing and best things for me in the game and they basically ruined it with the added shrines, sky island, and vehicles

[@HungryWarden]

Ironically, horses are still better for hills than vehicles.

[@warrenwise8798]

The TotK will never match the feeling I had with BotW…it just won’t. The awe I felt for BotW was the sense of adventure and game works. The awe I feel for TotK just relates to game mechanics. The awe

[@TheAlibabatree]

Exactly

[@pokebattler831]

It will never match it for YOU. The awe factor in TOTK is there for me and it’s incredible

[@TheAlibabatree]

@@pokebattler831 Cool story. Isnt fun to hear everyone’s opinions?

[@pokebattler831]

@@TheAlibabatree it is! It’s interesting to read how other people play/enjoy video games.

[@juansanchez209]

@@TheAlibabatree Why are you being rude?

[@ColiNoob-x5c]

so if i havent played either and can only play one, is totk the way to go? Or is it necessary to play both to understand the story?

[@sebbepvp1207]

just watch zelda botw story on youtube and buy totk

[@ceegk3071]

Breath of the wild feels like an actual Zelda game, I liked the lore and everything until tears of the kingdom came in and started saying random bs like Hyrule being founded by furries. Gameplay wise is the better game, but the map is really underwhelming. I was exited when I saw the akadala citadel had an entrance but was quickly disappointed when it turned out to be just another cave, the same thing when I saw an entrance to the 8th sister, I was disappointed when I got inside and just a big cave with a tingle hat 😐

[@revelation2-9]

New Zelda lore is absolutely atrocious. Tear stones replacing the Triforce, furries replacing the Hylians there were in the sky from Skyward Sword, and they officially stated that ALL past Zelda games are now "myth" in the timeline? TotK might be the biggest disaster for Zelda which is so sad because the game still plays well.

[@JMPC98]

No, totk tells the story about how the new kingdom of hyrule was built after the destruction of the old one (that is, the ocarina of time kingdom). It is like a new cycle, something like that. But all the tales about the old timeline still remains. You can check them in the Sidon's murals around the Zora Domai for example. It tells the legend about Ruta from ocarina of time

[@Alltartaget]

"But also because quite frankly nobody had ever done an open world like that before" No mans sky - did you forget me

[@Delta-nl7pi]

BotW beats TotK. Hands down.

[@c.d.dailey8013]

Oh wow! I am so hyped. I played TOTK a little bit. It is not enough to make a fair judgement. I do love BOTW. It is my favorite Zelda game. I did start a new playthrough not too long ago. I am getting pretty close to finishing. I completed about a hundred shrines. I have completed two divine beasts. I definitely have an order of completing the divine beasts. They are salamander, bird, elephant and camel. I did the salamander and bird so far. I hope to do the elephant one soon. This current playthrough is not my first. I beat the game once before. I did learn about how best to tackle Breath of the Wild. I find that it is good to improve my character first. I complete shrines to get hearts and stamina. I visit fairy fountains to upgrade armor. It isn't until later on that I complete the tougher tasks. The main one is doing divine beasts. I also enjoy fighting over world bosses on the side. This video makes me excited to try out Tears of the Kingdom again. This game can be exciting and overwhelming. With more experience, I am better able to tackle it.

[@jack_knife-1478]

Can you imagine this game in 4k with nicer textures WOW. It looks incredible now!!!👍

[@eradicatedpulse6896]

Rather imagine it running at something higher than 20FPS something like 60 maybe?

[@The_Ostrich]

​@@eradicatedpulse6896 Imagine you getting a degree and a job.

[@chinese_bot]

Been playing it at 3x res at a locked 45 fps (60 fps causes stuttering on my rig) w/ autoHDR and several clarity mods and it looks absolutely gorgeous on my 65in OLED. Straight up been having the time of my life, it’s so good. Probably sunk 50 hours into it already. Such a shame that people have to play it on a ten year old tablet :/

[@eradicatedpulse6896]

@@The_Ostrich imagine getting this upset

[@deathshade777]

The human eye can’t even see a difference past 1080p unless you play on a 55in tv. Only morons play on anything bigger then a 24in 1080p monitor. It’s actually bad for your eyes on the long term. 1080p is far better to run games on. Having farrrr better fps. Far lower power usage. Better frame pacing. Lower cpu and gpu temps.

[@Joe_334]

It's just a shame that my mother could never get into these two games. She loved the original Legend of Zelda. As someone who enjoyed the older games, these were a breath of fresh air. I really miss the hookshot as a staple item. I still think they could work on Link no longer being a mute.

[@bowserplaylist899]

BOTW was better. Not liking TOTK near as much

[@Galactic_Empire_Ruler]

TOTK is hands down the best! So much better in my opinion. BOTW is great too but I like that I can attached pretty much anything to my weapons and shield on TOTK. The abilities given at the shrines are so useful, not the mention the different types of mobility devices you can build! Cant beat that. 😌

[@HungryWarden]

I hate the tacky looking weapons. I really miss the Vicious Sickle, Lynel weapons, and more. The devices you can build are useless for traversal since you can just teleport to a tower. And running is often faster anyway unless it’s a hoverbike.

[@DaisyPlushProductions]

Can someone tell me why I should play BOTW or TOTK? I absolutely got so bored with BOTW, I really missed the classic dungeon mechanics and the cool classy AMAZING story/plots to the original Zelda Games. I played 10 hours of BOTW and it felt like a boring chore. I really don’t like open worlds!!! I really hope someone can convince me to pick up TOTK, so many people have been hyping it up and it feels as if i need to as well 😭

[@Truthbomb101.]

I didn't like Botw. Some of it I enjoyed but very little. Zelda moving to open world really pissed me off, Zelda games were never tedious to me until botw. So much empty land and same stuff over and over, repetive is what the game was. Some parts of Totk feel alot more Zelda like though...so far I'm enjoying it more. Still similar to botw though...I haven't even got to any major towns yet or dungeons so we will see how it goes. If you liked the storylines of past games and sidequests this game does it better than botw that is for sure. So far there's more to do. Explore caves, wells etc. Some of them are pretty intricate and cool. But still the world can feel baron at times, that's stock standard in most open world games though. Don't buy into the hype, it's a good game no doubt but nothing will beat OOT MM or any previous game TP SS all of them. This has a chance to maybe better one of those games though (I really need to get to more towns and dungeons to confirm) but so far it has potential. The only negative other than I don't like Zelda games in open world settings lol, is the ultrahand. Controls are a little clunky when you rotate wasting you time with which position you want to move the object and puzzle solving can be annoying and frustrating at times. I never thought id be doing that stuff in a Zelda game lol...the old puzzle solving is just masterful you know how it is...overall though as a classic fan I enjoy totk better and would recommend it more than botw to somebody who likes classic games more. Doesn't mean its classic though.

[@justinrisen1929]

If you didnt like BotW and its open world you are gonna hate TotK mate. Its bloated and honestly oberwhelmingly so. Though BotW is im favorite game ever made.... i too pray Zeldas next installment is more towards the classic approach.

[@flamebreaker7318]

​@@justinrisen1929 this is the most classic zelda approach since zelda 1 even then zelda has never stayed the same in the literal second zelda they changed the combat to side scrolling zelda is no one thing it has changed and evolved overtime.

[@Olympxc]

I think breath of the wild is much better. Its like avatar the last airbender vs legend of korra. In breath of the wild you’re in this world where for 100 years you’ve been asleep and monsters have taken over everything. You’re the only one who can stop this 100 year war before everything gets conquerred. In totk I don’t even feel like there is a threath out there. Also the characters in totk are so bad and empty. The sages all say exactly the same in each cutscene and feel like literal robots. The new sages are just botw characters that are inferior to the champions from the divine beasts. And the divine beasts were much more fun. They were unique puzzles to solve with cool mechanics. I was also very disappointed with the map being pretty much the same. There were barely any changes to the overworld and the depths were just and empty copy of the overworld. I liked the sky island but the mazes and some other things were just copy and paste. The fuse system is boring and very early on a lot of fuse combinations will just become irrelevant since you can just use the strongest ones and forget about the other hundreds od combinations. Also the 100% collectables are just stupid. Even more boring korok seeds, new signs, caves, frogs, wells, bosses etc. Breath of the wild was made from nothing and totk should have expanded on it a lot but it was such a disappointment for me because they could have made it so much better than it is

[@FanumTax-uq9ek]

Hot take botw is infinitely better than totk

[@apersonontheinternet8354]

FACTS 👏👏👏

[@THEJefftheKiller]

Nostalgia blinds you

[@AlexandruT1987]

just got my first switch oled, never played breath of the wild to an extend that i would say anything is familiar. would tears of the kingdom still be meh in comparison or would id be much better starting head on with it?

[@FirstGentleman1]

Breath of the Wild was incredible for me, Tears of the Kingdom is a good game too, no doubt but it feels so similar. It just feels like an Add-on to BotW and not like an entire new game.

[@audiolego]

Tears is my first Zelda game experience and I finally made it to the second shrine 2 weeks later.

[@didgeridoo5754]

Dude your not playing the if you think it's an add on

[@FirstGentleman1]

@@didgeridoo5754 I still play it and it's a very good game but it feels so much like BotW. Take for instance Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask, they feel different. Two different worlds. Or Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, also very different. But not with BotW and TotK. Let's say it's a big Add-on.

[@kingkrysen]

​@@FirstGentleman1 I agree with u on that

[@CL-os5cz]

You're not alone, I too feel like it's an addon which isn't a bad thing some fan boys will cry about (IDGAF).

[@PhillipTietjen]

I played through BOTW and honestly was not a fan. The world felt empty and boring to explore. After playing TOTK, BOTW definitely felt like a demo. I enjoyed TOTK significantly more, by far it was the superior game!

[@bobbobbins4877]

TOTK makes BOTW feel like a first draft.

[@crossover5606]

Lol no, it's simply a sequel. The same way that MM was a sequel to OoT. Was OoT just a first draft for MM?

[@toddmusic]

I think BOTW is a more adventurous game in a natural sense. I feel the environment more. The weather. The land. TOTK has way more stuff and better boss fights. Both are 9.5/10 must plays.

[@jackginney6795]

Everything Tears added was a slight update, dungeons are just as short and run the same but just have filler designs, Talking about tech demos, that is the depths and sky islands personified, there is literally nothing in them, they needed far more exclusive bosses, enemies, and even new biomes and areas, Little enemy variety upgrade, The story runs the exact same, Breath of the Wild memories story is far better and develops Link and Zelda as characters way better and that’s not up for debate, The whole build system did not belong in a Zelda game and really wasn’t impressive at all, Tears had a lot of stuff to do but none of that stuff had any substance, Tears was more of an upgrade than a sequel and it might’ve been more fun to just play around in but breath of the wild is a far better game, The only things impressive about tears is the perfected sound and gameplay systems