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Should You Play Tears of the Kingdom if You Hated Breath of the Wild?
While I tried a few times, I just could not engage with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I felt that the world was too big and empty, my quest was nebulous and ill defined, the survival elements were frustrating, combat was tedious… I know it’s a beloved game, my opinion doesn’t take away from your enjoyment, I’m just saying what I didn’t like.
But, I figured I’d try The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, to see if any of my annoyances had been fixed, after all, I really enjoyed Majora's Mask, but still haven’t played even half of Ocarina of Time. The answer may surprise you. Potential spoilers ahead.
Taking place shortly after Breath of the Wild, there’s a time skip of indeterminate length; it’s clearly been more than weeks, but less than months. For reasons made clear in the opening, you awaken on an island in the sky, and I don’t just mean a high up place like in the first game. This is where you’re told all of the basics by some robots — but only the basics that apply to this game. For the things you would have learned while playing Breath of the Wild you’re left wildly unprepared unless you can muddle through it. Once you leave the sky island and start exploring the open world you’ll soon encounter the basics of combat, dodging, etc, etc.
The starting area of Breath of the Wild annoyed me, because I had no idea where to go or what to do, until I “videogamed” my way into it — just walking up to everything and climbing it, hitting it, or talking to it. Tears of the Kingdom gives you a little more direction, or at the very least better direction, and the starting area feels smaller and better suited to, you know, starting. It doesn’t hold your hand by any means; for instance, it tells you how to cook and that you need to eat something to keep you warm, but it doesn’t say which ingredients you need.
On the whole, Tears of the Kingdom is literally just Breath of the Wild 2. But for some reason I’ve really gotten into it! The quest is a little less nebulous, though the world is still big and empty, the survival elements are just as tedious, but the combat… While at first glance it would appear that combat hasn’t changed at all, there are actually more types of weapons which has made a difference to me. They still break far too easily for my liking, but I’m enjoying the changes made which mean that you can increase their damage, or create weird combinations. Who knew that all I needed to enjoy the last game was to be able to attach a long stick to a short stick?
So, should you play The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom if you hated The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Absolutely, you should borrow a friend’s copy to see if it clicks with you this time, like it has with me. It’s 60 quid, after all, and a first-party Nintendo game so it’ll eventually go as cheap as £40 if you’re lucky, so a heck of a price just to find out you still don’t like it. But if you thought that you could love Breath of the Wild if only for some je ne sais quoi? Check out Tears of the Kingdom.
COMMENTS
Jean - 03:52pm, 11th May 2023
I am with you. As a long-time fan of Zelda, I cannot accept Breath of the Wild as a Zelda game. I really hated it. I think I am not playing TOK, I am not prepared to experiment again with the tedious and horrible battle system.
Acelister - 07:27am, 12th May 2023 Author
Sounds like you should definitely skip it. Combat has been improved, but not *that* much since it's a sequel.
RJ - 04:10am, 13th May 2023
BotW and TotK aren't Zelda games. The whole point of Zelda is to limit your exploration until you can find an item needed to progress the game. This is called item-based progression, and it's the core part of what makes TLoZ (The Legend of Zelda, for you BotW fans who might be unaware) unique compared to most games. Breath of the Wild killed the Legend of Zelda. Does every game really need to be open world with a crafting system? Was Skyrim and Minecraft not satisfying enough?
Acelister - 11:33am, 13th May 2023 Author
It's been a nice detour, but I'd definitely like a return to the approach of past games more.
Giselle - 12:58pm, 14th May 2023
Funny to find this article. I found breath of the wild absolutely tedious, played around 10 hours and had a feeling I was going nowhere so I gave up, but I really thought tears of the kingdom must be a better game and I should give it a try
Chris - 07:21pm, 17th May 2023
I'll add a +1 to this sentiment. I tried really hard to get into Botw, but I just didn't get all the hype. It was basically the reason I bought a Switch, since I'm a long time Zelda fan. I played quite a bit, beating 2-3 of the major bosses. Divine Beasts, I think? Anyway, I couldn't bring myself to keep playing. I hated several of the mechanics. Climbing, weapon durability, slipping in rainy weather, shrines. This one, though, I'm hooked. Climbing isn't as important because of the Ascend skill and sky tower things. Rewinding rocks that fall from the sky also eliminates a lot of climbing. Weapon durability isn't as annoying with the fuse ability. I get to try new fuse combinations, which is a lot of fun. Shrines are much more interesting to me with the building mechanic. I remember really dreading shrines in Botw, but I mostly really enjoy the ones in this game. Basically, all the things I hated about Botw are still there, but have received significant overhauls that make them non issues to me. I still want a 3D linear Zelda, but this is a far better game than Botw for me.
Acelister - 08:41am, 18th May 2023 Author
I think hands-down the worst thing in both games is making you choose between stamina and health. But at least in Tears as you say stamina is less important thanks to various systems now in place! Who needs to climb a mountain when you can construct a gentle slope out dozens of logs?
ThatOneDude - 06:35pm, 27th May 2023
Just want to throw this out there. You say is been more than weeks, but less than months; but it's actually been a few years bewteeen games. There're a few people from the first game that have gotten *noticably* older. (No, I don’t mean Purah who reversed her aging.)
Acelister - 12:39pm, 29th May 2023 Author
I tried to keep it vague to try and avoid spoilers, but that part does read a little too vague now that I'm re-reading it. I actually meant between the prologue and waking up on the island has been more than weeks, but less than months.
Oh Dear - 04:00pm, 11th November 2023
Overhyped, just like the first one.