Breath of the Wild was the better first-time experience. Discovering Hyrule and the intricate world they created was awe inspiring playing it on launch 6 years ago. With Tears of the Kingdom there wasn’t as many surprises (apart from the first few hours in the depths). Having said that, I’m more likely to replay Tears of the Kingdom just because of how much more it gives the player to do and to work with. It’s an evolution and improvement on BotW in almost every other way, from mechanics, to dungeons, to story.

How do you know your percentage progress with such precision?

I bought BotW together with a used but relatively new Switch about three months after launch. I just finished BotW today after having purchased Totk a couple of days ago with “more than 255h” on the clock as my switch tells me. Though you can subtract 80 for the first attempt after wich i paused and restarted. So i had an on/off relationship with BotW for six years and only the release of it’s sequel finally pushed me to finish it. It took me so long not because i didn’t like it. On the contrary as my playtime counter gives away. But just because it’s so goddamn big. When totk came out i bought it and thought “well lemme just quickly finish botw so i can get to totk” before spending another 30ish hours in that game. I know i’d feel empty now if it wasn’t for totk allowing me to basically jump into “botw 2” immediatly. I think it’‘s telling that after so much time spent in this world i still can’'t wait to jump into totk right after killing ganon. Excitied to see what they did to this world that i know in and out in 6 years of development time.

Honnestly I just bought myself a Switch and I’m just amazed by BotW and am really enjoying it however I do feel like some of the story telling aspect is lacking & I was told that TotK does not disappoint in that department and now I am also even more looking forward to TotK, urgh I love The Legend of Zelda sooo muuuch

I like both games for what they are. Though I have already forgotten how TotK began, I still remember the moment when I left the shrine of resurrection in BotW. That open world (moment) was incredible. TotK on the other side has a bit more of the original Zelda charme regarding dungeons and the like and I really do love the temples. I am not so keen for the crafting part, but than I just don’t spend too much time on it.

I still love BOTW, and I will probably go back to replay it again at some point. It has a different feel to it, especially compared to the later game construction wackiness of ToTK.
Having finished both back to back, I think they both have their own place in my replay roster. Will just depend on what I’m feeling like at the time.

Yes. They have different vibes. I admit going back into the old UI is hard.

I absolutely loved BotW and I think I still do. Played through it again before the release of TotK and did all of the shrines. The gameplay loop can get a bit repetitive, but I absolutely loved exploring the world.

Strangely, the world in TotK feels smaller to me. Maybe I was more easily impressed in 2017, but Hyrule felt huge back then. Due to how much easier you can traverse the world in TotK, it feels a bit less grand. It’s also so jam packed that to me it feels less like a real world and more like a game.

That being said: TotK has a lot of fun stuff that I would probably miss in BotW. The gameplay js much more diverse and I’d probably get annoyed at how much effort it’d take to go somewhere. I think that if you played them for the first time in reverse order, you would absolutely think TotK is the better game.

I haven’t finished TotK yet, but I feel like BotW does some things better in terms on congruence. I’d say TotK is better overall despite this. Both games are great on their own!!

BotW is a cool game, and I had fun playing it.

That fun didn’t last very long though. I got bored pretty quickly. I’m not sure I even have 50hrs in it to this day. I did some shrines and got the divine beasts, but I never felt compelled to 100% or fight Ganon or do any side quests.

It had a cool premise, but there just wasn’t enough stuff to keep me interested, and tbh I think that’s true across the board, bc from what I’ve seen, most of the people who get tons and tons of fun out of it are making their own fun doing stuff like speed running and finding glitches, not just generally playing the game. Those kind of things don’t interest me. If I wanted just a sandbox, I’d play Minecraft or Gary’s Mod or something.

On the other hand, I’m at 100hrs now in TotK. I got all the depths filled out, completed more shrines than I ever did in BotW (and found more than exist in BotW), completed a ton of the side quests (especially the “Side Adventures” ones that I really enjoyed), got all of the old games’ armors and upgraded them fully (except TP), explored lots of caves and wells, etc, etc. I’m doing things in the game, and I’ll keep doing things through this game. Everything is so much more engaging. TotK takes the intricate sandbox world and actually makes it worth using.

Tl; Dr: I dropped BotW whereas I’m actually playing TotK. BotW was a really cool experience, but I’m firmly in the camp of “TotK makes BotW feel like a tech demo.” Do I still have love for BotW? In some ways, but generally no.

I started replaying BotW right before TotK came out. I almost didn’t want to stop! It was such an amazing game. I sunk 300 hours into it on my Wii U, and then bought it again for the Switch that I bought just to play TotK.

I feel like TotK has so much more going for it. The weapon fusion using base weapons that each have their own inate ability is much more fun than just using the same old Royal Guard Swords because they’re better than everything else.

Sticking stuff to arrows is also super fun. So much more versatile than just the 3 elements + bomb arrows. I love they they brought back bomb flowers for that purpose.

As much fun as I’ve had with the vehicle building, once you figure out the perfect hoverbike, it feels like it cheapens the game somewhat. Who needs stamina anymore, or the climbing gear? Or snow boots? I’ll just poop out another hoverbike and fly everwhere. Why do I even need legs? 😂

Don’t get me wrong, I kinda love flying everywhere. It’s such a great way to explore the beautiful world. The views are gorgeous! But at the same time I kinda miss being limited to exploring the countryside on a horse.

When I’m finally done with my first run through the game, I think I might go back to BotW again. I won’t really know how that feels until I do it.

I do love both, but the QoL improvements in TotK just make it much harder to go back to BotW.

I like TOTK more than BOTW, but I might still return to BOTW sometimes - the ambience and atmosphere is very different. Playing TOTK is like playing in the world’s biggest, wildest sandbox, while playing BOTW is like a walk alone in a mountain forest at sunrise.