Does Tears of the Kingdom Make Breath of the Wild Unplayable?

I think it makes it less desirable to play, not unplayable. I found myself enjoying the story and characters in BOTW better. I would definitely play it just for that aspect. TOTK's gameplay is just on another level.

After beating totk I kinda feel like they’re two fundamentally different games. They each offer such different experiences and carry such different tones. Despite its increased size and just stuff to do I feel like it boils down to OOT vs. Majoras mask. Generally similar framework with some huge additions that heavily differentiate the two titles to the point where they can both stand on their own.

I still really feel as if there could have been more connections between BOTW and TOTK without alienating new players. I really really don’t think Hetsu recognising Link would have been detrimental at all, for example.

I think totk makes going back to botw better. There are certainly less things to do, but after playing totk, it makes all of the features of botw seem more charming. Like how the weapons are just weapons, you find a cool looking sword and you just get to use it, instead of fusing some ugly, silly looking monster horn onto it. There are certainly less features, but you get a newfound appreciation for the little quirks

what if TOTK had reused the same world map, but set it in the distant past, where Zelda ends up? the terrain would’ve been the same, but everything else could’ve been different… different towns, structures, roads, different population centers, even different vegetation and water features. imagine those giant, hollow tree stumps found around Hyrule were giant living trees… Zora’s Domain wouldn’t be there yet, and so the series of reservoirs and waterfalls would be completely different… or perhaps the Dueling Peaks are still just one mountain at that time? and on top of that, it would’ve been a good reason to actually give us all new weapons and armor 🤷🏻‍♂️

For me, i still say BOTW is my favorite Zelda game of all time. Now i love TOTK, and it is probably a better game over-all, but, the first time i picked up BOTW just felt so different for me. It reminds me of the first time i played OoT. For me, personally, TOTK couldnt give me that same feeling that i got when i first played BOTW. Now, the waiting period before TOTK came out was a lot of fun. Thats how i found this channel and a few others. So really at the end of the day Zelda, in general, is just the greatest series of games ive ever played and that will never change.

BOTW is completely worth still playing, especially from a story standpoint. I loved TOTK even more because of the world, characters and story that BOTW established first.

Botw will never be obsolete because of story and lore. Its also much more immersive since you can’t skip over large stretches of land in an instant. The problem is you can really only experience Botw once and after that Totk just has much more to offer.

I went into TotK thinking it would make Breath redundant. And it just....didn't. TotK doesn't replicate what Breath did, which was using natural exploration and intrigue to get you to explore the game. Tears knows you've explored it all already so just adds busywork and side tasks to get you to go around instead. I much preferred the game experience of Breath and I think it's much better personally. They do stand on their own however.

I like how much bigger botw’s world feels. In totk, traveling is so streamlined and the world feels smaller as a result, even if it does have more content in it. I liked how it could take hours of time playing for a player to journey to a distant destination on the horizon. In totk, a piece of debris falling beside you allows you to glide your way somewhere in seconds. Even if a player chooses to ignore that debris and keeps walking, the fact that there are so many options to speed up travel lessen that feeling of exploration to me personally. Besides that, botw is definetly still playable, even if the experience might feel strange coming from totk. Different story, quests, and shrines will evoke a different feeling and result in different experiences.

I've not climbed a single tree yet in TotK. Or used environmental objects to battle moblins, like boulders or bees nests. I've hardly ridden my horse. I haven't touched a sand seal. Fans and wheels get me everywhere I want to go, both vertically and horizontally. I haven't shot a single enemy from a great distance without using a wing or homing eyeball. Haven't bothered getting the shrine locator, since due to the green spirals above them, Shrines are incredibly easy to find. Encountering dragons is no longer a rare and magical experience, since there is never a moment when there isn't one in the sky somewhere, and farming them for items is far easier since you can now ride them and shoot them point-blank for scales/etc. The point is, BotW gave you many tools, but finding the right one for the job, or simply using what was available in your current environment, was part of the fun. TotK is different, as it gives you 2 extremely versatile tools that, while providing incredible potential for creativity, pretty much do everything. BotW is definitely a game you can still play and appreciate.

Breath of the Wild is the most artistic, minimalistic and original game. Its world was crafted to both survive, traverse with difficulty and discover by exploration, things we already did and therefore does not feel the same in Tears of the Kingdom. Sure, Tears of the Kingdom is more fun, but at least I will still enjoy the original, the real open world experience. Tears of the Kindgom is just more fun and content added to that experience.

I think BoTW is a much slower and quieter experience than ToTK. And I think this lends itself to the sense that BoTW takes place in a world that has been broken by tragedy, and you're traversing it years and years after that tragedy took place. BoTW's Hyrule is essentially a ghost of its former self, and it's hard to explore the wilds and the ruins without occasionally stopping to think about what it must have been like before the Calamity struck. ToTK is much bigger and busier. The NPCs aren't just barely surviving and trying to scrape together happiness in a post-apocalyptic society. They are rebuilding and looking to the future, and ready to defend their homes from new threats. And so I think that, combined with the new abilities, makes it easier to go through ToTK without slowing down as much. Ultimately, I agree that I think they have their own appeal and it's not just as simple as saying BoTW looks like a tech demo now or isn't worth playing. ToTK DOES have a lot more to do, but I think there's a certain vibe about BoTW and a certain magic about stepping out onto that Great Plateau that can't be recaptured.

I wish the previous champions had more references in TOTK

For me, the worst thing about switching between playing them side by side is the muscle memory. Before TotK I was SO used to pressing up to change Rune abilities. When playing BotW it was easily the hardest getting used to again, even more than not having the arm abilities anymore, or whether the dragons can be ridden. Granted that's because I only dabbled with Ultrahand, I'm no engineering genius after all.

Link to the Past is a masterpiece and stands as my favorite Zelda game even now.

Definitely not. It’s an entirely different beast. The calmness and simplicity of BotW is its magic and the complexity and creativity is TotK magic

I loved Botw, but I’ve been loving Totk more! But I think I will always go back to botw just to compare. But Totk is better in my opinion! 😊:_link:

I have more than one Switch, so after putting in about 250 hours into TotK, I was looking forward to a replay on the other and enjoying it all over again. Well, I ran into a roadblock after some point replaying...the wonders of a "new" Hyrule were eclipsed by all the stuff I now felt I had to "tick off", as in checklist, before I felt I had completed the game to my personal satisfaction. I blame this mostly on my personal state of mind and perhaps, replaying it too soon. Some games are like that. I poured heart and soul into TotK, but it's so overwhelming in scope it can feel like having to climb an endless ladder instead of an epic adventure, wheras BotW was mostly running around doing what the heck I pleased and getting stronger along the way, so replaying it often never got very old for me...at worst, I could lay it aside for a few weeks and I'd be good to go again. Perhaps I need to do this for TotK; recharge my mental batteries because it was SO engaging, but it feels like an endless list of chores until the sense of wonder gets restored, I guess. XD I never tire of watching TotK videos, though!

My second playthrough of TOTK I took a more linear approach (no climbing, ascending and paragliding to create massive shortcuts) and re experiencing the details is great and you notice a lot of the different changes they made to certain paths and newly added paths.