The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an overly particular sport, one who has stood the check of time and remained a outstanding fulfillment, even during the murky lens of 2025’s gaming tradition. There is a reason why such a lot of people proceed to go back to what’s, no less than personally, Nintendo’s biggest sport. BOTW completed one thing no different sport had ever controlled earlier than, and it in large part stays unchallenged, particularly in terms of enforcing relaxing exploration and significant environmental storytelling.
In reality, BOTW is sort of too distinctive, with follow-up makes an attempt, each from Nintendo and third-party copycats, hardly ever shooting the magic that made it so out of the ordinary within the first position. Breath of the Wild’s sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, is surely an relaxing sport in its personal proper, but it surely does not come with regards to being higher than its predecessor. I could not put my finger on why for a large amount of time, however after just about 300 hours in BOTW, I’ve in any case figured it out, and it has made returning to TOTK virtually unattainable.
BOTW’s Environment Is What Made It So Out of the ordinary
It Feels Extra Coherent And Constant
Tone and setting play this type of important function in video video games, however I think they’re frequently sorely lost sight of. The sensation of unease and dread as you step into Ash Lake for the primary time in Darkish Souls, or the joyous sense of journey that washes over you as you certain around the Argentum Business Guild in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, are simply as integral to either one of the ones reviews as their gameplay mechanics and visuals. Tone and setting are the explanation I regularly to find myself replaying BOTW perpetually, as it captures a temper in contrast to another sport.
Breath of the Wild is melancholic, separating, and introspective. It’s also stunning, tranquil, and heartfelt. There’s something so hopelessly somber about meandering throughout BOTW’s sparse but captivating rolling fields and up its frost-capped mountains. Attaining the highest of the very best top and gazing the sundown sweep throughout Hyrule could also be a transformative and hopeful revel in that, no less than the dozen instances I have skilled it, imbues me with a way of pleasure. The simultaneous encapsulation of each the wonder and grief of Hyrule is what makes BOTW so modern and relaxing.
Regardless of TOTK’s Enhancements, It Nonetheless Can’t Beat BOTW
Ultrahand May By no means Change BOTW’s Tone
Tears of the Kingdom, for all its many achievements – and there are lots of – by no means rather manages to seize that very same tone, or actually decide to certainly one of its personal. There is something lacking in TOTK, between the mechanic-focused inventions and a surprising overwhelming sense of creativity that makes it a considerably much less engrossing revel in, no less than for me. The facility to create anything else at any time robs TOTK of the depression and isolation that BOTW has, as a result of it is actively encouraging a way of caprice and a laugh that its predecessor lacked.
TOTK additionally fills its model of Hyrule with extra NPCs, has extra actions within the open global, and provides new settlements. The once-haunting apocalypse feels smartly and really over, no less than in some respects. I discovered, after many hours in each BOTW and TOTK, that, deep down, Tears of the Kingdom used to be nonetheless seeking to seize that very same sense of depression that Breath of the Wild had. Its soundtrack continues to be deft and delicate, its global keeps, occasionally, the ones stunning moments of reflective solitude, and the bodily devastation of Hyrule reminds you that the struggle isn’t rather over.
But, regardless of its easiest efforts, TOTK can not seize BOTW’s magic, no less than in terms of its extra uneasy and deeply haunting tone. This is via some distance its biggest weak point, one thing that, frankly, can have been resolved via carving its personal trail and making an attempt a brand new tone altogether. When TOTK is at its maximum inventive, pushing avid gamers to design foolish contraptions and pairing Hyperlink up with its quirky solid of characters, it shines. However it does not decide to that during the similar manner BOTW dedicated to Hyperlink’s isolation and its exploration of the heavy burden resting on his shoulders.
Zelda’s Subsequent Sport Will have to Center of attention On BOTW’s Strengths
TOTK Mustn’t Be The Style Going Ahead
Regardless of the subsequent Zelda sport is also, it mustn’t make the similar errors as Tears of the Kingdom. After all, smartly earlier than I hit the 300-hour mark, I used to be keenly conscious about how Tears of the Kingdom’s reuse of Hyrule felt disappointing. Its gameplay, whilst greatly other, prioritized mechanical innovation over distinctive worldbuilding, which additionally harm it. TOTK additionally put some distance an excessive amount of focal point on its unbridled creativity, which alienated any individual who did not have the persistence to really become familiar with the unending attainable of its many new mechanics.
All of those problems, which plagued my first and 2nd playthrough of Tears of the Kingdom, will have to no longer be repeated within the subsequent Zelda sport. However, crucially, Zelda’s subsequent access will have to focal point on Breath of the Wild’s biggest strengths, relatively than correcting TOTK’s weaknesses. It wishes a constant and robust setting and tone that makes its global really feel extra alive than any choice of NPCs or fancy environmental design can be offering. It wishes to rouse a sense in the way in which Ash Lake or the Argentum Business Guild, to call a couple of, have in different video games.
With a robust sense of identification, tone, and setting, the following Zelda sport may simply fit Breath of the Wild and turn into Nintendo’s subsequent easiest sport.
When Nintendo places the sector, setting, and tone first, it creates one thing really impressive. Then again, when it falls again on gameplay and mechanical innovation, it falters. This used to be additionally the case with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The following Zelda sport wishes an international oozing with setting, identical to Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Masks, and the various different wonderful video games within the sequence. With a robust sense of identification, tone, and setting, the following Zelda sport may simply fit Breath of the Wild and turn into Nintendo’s subsequent easiest sport.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5/10
- Launched
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March 3, 2017
- ESRB
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E for Everybody: Delusion Violence, Use of Alcohol, Gentle Suggestive Subject matters
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo EPD
- Writer(s)
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Nintendo
- Engine
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Havok
- Go-Platform Play
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no
- Go Save
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no
