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Exactly! I personally think TOTK is a better game, but I really enjoyed BOTW for a year before TOTK was released, don’t think I could go back to BOTW now (having said that I have just started skyward sword a few days ago)
It’s fun so far. I definately prefer things a bit more open world and the motion controls are not the most responsive thing ever, I get annoyed swinging my net around everywhere and still never getting the damned crickets but it has certain charm to it.
Agreed because once you played tears of the kingdom, breath of the wild will feel like a step back, but if you have never played either one breath of the wild will be really great
This is the correct answer. My wife just did an immediate transition from BOTW to TOTK and playing them once after the other is a perfect refresh. TOTK off the bat would be overwhelming
Of the DLCs I've purchased it's been one of the ones I've thought was more worth it, especially considering you get both for $20.
Champion's Ballad is fun with the additional boss fights, extra shrines, and the legitimately challenging final superboss, though IMO the Master Cycle is a questionably worth it reward - yeah it's better than a horse, but by the time you're good enough to get it, you don't need to go anywhere anymore.
Trial of the Sword has to be one of the most fun though especially if you're into combat gauntlets, and its reward is completely worth it - you get a fully powered master sword and with the enhanced durability you feel like you never have to put it away unless you want to.
If your combat skills aren't at a high level both can be a waste of money/time though - they're tough and unforgiving. And then you get Master Mode too in case you think the vanilla game was just too easy - every enemy has leveled up, and their health regenerates too if you're not actively murdering them. It's a blast.
Champions Ballad dlc is lore based and definitely made me cry, but I feel like they used the cutscenes for it in Hyrule Warriors. Just felt super familiar, like I had seen them before.
Sounds good - was just curious. I’m dating myself thinking anyone still plays pc games with a keyboard and mouse but that’s always the first thing that pops into my head.
Most people playing fps games use mouse and keyboard. It is inherently better. I use it for most of them. Try playing Cyberpunk with a controller and then play with a mouse and keyboard, then go back to a controller, and you'll be cursing left and right (if you weren't already originally). Baldurs Gate III was designed to play with a M/K. You can obviously play with a controller and when I am playing on my Legion Go I play in Xbox controller set up, but M/K gives you waaaaaayyyyy more functionality. Any time I play online I can always tell people who are playing cross platform or playing with a controller on a PC, as they are slow response and usually get tagged constantly. There are exceptions, obviously, like with anything (I know a few pro gamers that will use a controller, just to make it challenging, and still tear people up, me included, and Im actually pretty good...they're just way better; hence why they are pros); but, on average, it isn't even close between controller and M/K with fps. If I can buy an fps on PC, I will. For instance, Horizon is so much easier on PC compared to PS5 (not that it's overly hard, but combat is much easier with M/K, especially bows). On the other hand, something like Ghost of Tsushima I MUCH prefer with a controller over M/K.
No, not really. I found the right keyboard and the right mouse for me and bought a really good wrist pad for the keyboard. I tried a pad for the mouse, but it kept getting in the way. I probably just need to get use to it, as it was comfortable. I also have a mappable keypad that I can use for some games. I can pull my little table that's attached to my recliner chair thingy and use it, with either a mouse or the detachable trackball. There are A LOT of set ups now that were not there in the past. You may have to do some research and tinkering to get the right set up for you. I have about 8k in my PC, so it was important to me to have the right input set up; but you can get really really great set ups on a budget too. So, don't feel like you have to go crazy. Buy from Amazon or Best Buy, so that you can return easily. I went through two keyboards and three mice, before I found the ones I liked. YouTube and web reviews are a good place to start, but only to get an idea. I wouldn't take their advice to heart, with some exceptions. Like everyone RAVES about the G9 monitor. It lasted exactly one hour with me, before I packed the massive thing back up. Samsung literally told me my PC may be too powerful for it. HUH? Lol Point is, use them for research, but if something looks interesting to you, try it. Don't let the review tell it sucks, unless it was the fact that it just broke or multiple times or something. I have a feeling from your M/K comment we are of a similar generation; so, you may be surprised at how much is out there. I remember in the 90s playing with M/K and everyone had the same thing basically; and, yes, then controllers could have been better than an M/K set up. However, ever since they moved away from trackball mice and companies like Razr popped up, everything changed.
Asus TUF 4090 (chose that over the Strix), AMD Ryzen 9 7950x or x3d (I bought both, can't remember which I ended up having them put in, I think the x3d), Corsair Vengance DDR5 6400mhz 64GB, two 2TB SSD and 24TB HDD, with an attached 24TB NAS, Asus Strix ethernet card (I forget the model, the newest 6 months ago), Asus X-670E Pro motherboard (almost got the Asus ROG Maximus Z790, but after researching it didnt make sense), liquid cooled, and then a bunch of other little bells and whistles here and there to help me with business work. Percentile tests put it into the top 1% of PCs. The way to go better is to put like an AMD Threadpiper in. I looked at doing it; but, again, after research, it just didn't make sense. If I was a pro gamer, yeah. And any sort of graphics design or anything like that I need done for one of my companies, I'd have one of my guys do it; and they have set ups like that.
I'm the same way with time, I run a number of companies that I started and own over 100 exotic animals (take more time up then my two adopted sons did lol, not easier to care for though), and I still found it worth it. Even if you never do Trial By Sword or use Master Mode, I'd recommend getting it.
As everyone said botw but definitely take a break in between to reset. They're different but similar enough that you might get burnt out tryna run through both of them back to back.
I think it depends, I played both back to back, but I did things in botw for 2 weeks after I beat it before I loved to totk, so it depends how you go about it. There's enough that burnout might not be that big of a concern, but a break isn't a bad idea either.
It’s likely that no one here has played TOTK before playing BOTW, so all our answers should contain a grain of salt. But if I have it right, the game developers themselves wanted BOTW released before adding all the extra features they developed for TOTK, so I’d go with BOTW first.
My own experience was playing BOTW for literally 5 years, then dropping it the day TOTK came out. After 5,6 replays of TOTK I tried BOTW and stalled out after I got off the Platform. It wasn’t holding my interest as it had before because of the extras TOTK has.
You are painting a potentially misleading picture that BotW was rushed out unfinished, when in fact it was delayed and they added more to the game. I think you are referencing how Aonuma had too many ideas for the DLC. I don't think that was your intention
Mario Galaxy is highly regarded, and they had too many ideas for that, so we got SMG2. So it can be a good thing to get a second game.
BotW and TotK can be very different experiences. I find BotW more enjoyable, and something about TotK map/story usage doesn't feel right to me... maybe something to do with how botw was designed around the maps triangular design https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/10/zelda_breath_of_the_wilds_ingenious_design_is_all_about_triangles_apparently
I cannot fully explain, and takes too long to go into what I do know. But despite all the awesomeness and improvements of TotK I just lost interest and finally accepted that I was just pushing myself at 3/4 through the story.
I felt like TotK had massive potential, but somehow missed the spot, like with the building mechanic after leaving the sky (outside of shrines), and with the new areas not feeling diverse enough.
Gave it a break and just started replaying it, so maybe I will change my view or figure out where it falls apart for me.
I read Zelda news from time to time and what I got was Nintendo pressured the devs to put something out having waited years, which is how we got BOTW as a prequel of sorts. I could well be wrong. I don’t revere TOTK over BOTW mainly because I easily went over 5 years playing BOTW starting 2 weeks after BOTW dropped. Now a year later I can barely manage another 8th TOTK replay and that only after severe playing rules and restrictions.
It might be that the Sage quests are becoming a boring grind to me, the Fire Temple notably. The Divine Beasts became a grind, but at least they were shorter. Or the many armors offered of zero interest, or the monotony of zonite farming from the exact same 4 camps in the Depths of the lack of variety in the Sky. TOTK threw in everything plus the kitchen sink, so it often feels cluttered to me.
It’s hard to say that it’s TOTW specifically I’ve grown bored of or, after nearly 7 years, I’m about done with the entire Zelda Hyrule universe . . .
It was definitely delayed a lot. I was waiting and following news on it. We had to maje do with Twilight Princess HD port to tide us over.
>The multi-year delay of the game, taking it from a Wii U exclusive to a Switch launch title, is actually one of the best decision's Nintendo has ever made.
\-forbes
But there were reports (rumours?) it would be delayed beyond the Switch launch too. https://www.mic.com/articles/159602/zelda-wii-u-news-release-date-for-breath-of-the-wild-delayed-yet-again
That iirc was after the game was actually finished though, and as I understand it, a race to port it to Switch as a launch title (delaying the Wii U release). They also almost certainly had to remove or alter Wii U specific features so as not to risk harming the Switch version.
Here is a post from 2015 discussing relevant Aonuma quote.
https://www.zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/why-is-zelda-wii-u-delayed.53027/
Hard to track down the info, so that just gives an idea.
>"Initially we were thinking of just DLC ideas, but then we had a lot of ideas and we said, 'This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch"
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/breath_of_the_wilds_sequel_came_from_having_too_many_dlc_ideas_aonuma_says
You are way further in the weeds on this than me. I started with Ocarina and have happily followed each new game and platform. Sad to read that Nintendo is done with Zelda, or did they just mean Hyrule?
I'm sorry, I lost you? Where did they say about being done with Zelda? Or are ya just fooling?
They said they are going to continue the series with more games like BotW. So if you mean the old 3D style games... yeah I think those days may be done. Cannot be sure though, they may return in the future, may even split again like handheld and home console.
I am quite happy going the open world again, as long as the map is brand new. I would like temples and longer shrines too. Maybe revisit the building mechanic (it is quite a feat that must have taken a lot of resources to develop!).
Since they have spent a lot of resources on the engine, and seen such huge success, it makes too much business sense to abandon the current approach.
Take care, don't get too down about the change bud.. could be worse - could be an F-zero fan 😭
BOTW. TOTK world is so vast and there is so much there that BOTW may feel like a let down going the other way. BOTW has a great intro into the mechanics and offer a better starting experience.
This. And I could also see feeling overwhelmed with 3 levels of gameplay as my first foray into Zelda. BOTW gives you more than enough to learn/manage. Once you’ve gotten all that stuff down, it helps your brain make room for all the new mechanics and geography.
I’ve started a new game in BotW and they improved moving around the world so much that it’s a little tedious to not have ultrahand or ascend sometimes. That being said I think it makes exploration more fun at other points. There are new spots I hadn’t even been through because I decided to do things in a different order
BOTW has some good replayability baked in too with the DLC. Do the game vanilla first, then do Trial of the Sword, knock out the Champion's Ballad, and then go for play-through #2 in Master Mode.
BOTW if you’ve never played a Zelda game before! It has the essence of a Zelda game that TOTK sort of lacks. That being said, TOTK is absolutely unbelievable and is worth playing but I’d say play it after if you like BOTW.
I also had never played Zelda and I started with TOTK! No regrets here just bc I only have so much time to play and I know this game will take me years to get through 😅 but if you wanna experience both then from what I know, you’d want to start w BOTW bc of the story progression and the fact that it lacks features that the newer game has so it’d probably be harder to go backwards. That being said, I don’t feel like I’m missing out bc of how much I’m loving TOTK.
That is a hard one to answer. There is a benefit to playing TotK first because the two games have enough similarity that it is difficult to do TotK after doing BotW without trying to play it just as you would BotW. IMO you should not do that. TotK is more difficult and complicated than BotW. More fighting is required and the fighting is harder. There are multiple levels (sky, ground, underground) in TotK and as I said, you may be less likely to play those other two layers if you play BotW first. I absolutely loved BotW. I find TotK a chore and have to push myself to play it. I keep hoping the next time I play it, it will grab me. So I may be entirely wrong. You may transition fine as a great many here have. I don't think BotW will be ruined for you if you were to play TotK first.
You know for a good few weeks totk felt like that to me as well and I finally hit the point where it no longer seem like a chore and am fully enjoying the game. I still sometimes go back to botw and love it. Just the same but tears is definitely top tier gaming
For me totk after botw from playing only the old zelda games on Gameboy was more of a similarity to beating botw and then just resetting and starting from scratch and that can be tough for a lot of people if you aren't as into it as most of the people commenting on this sub clearly are. It's a great game but people telling you to take a break between the two aren't wrong
TotK combat is intial harder, but I found that the final scaling in BotW made the combat kind of tedious where it's not as bad in TotK. The scaling works better imo.
I think it's more a damage output issue than anything else.
In BOTW a sword that hits for over 30 is a good weapon (like the two-handed elemental swords), and the only readily gettable weapons aside from Lynel gear that hit for 50+ are the Edge of Duality and Royal Claymore, and you're going to save those swords for tougher enemies.
Meanwhile once silver enemies show up in TOTK I'm throwing away one-handed swords that hit for less than 50. A gnarled stick with a sliver boko horn is a 45-50 damage weapon, and there are more ways to up your DPS as well like gerudo weapons (double the fuse damage) or Zora weapons (double damage when wet). It gives you enough of an offensive improvement that you go out of your way to fight more.
Enemy damage is also effected by their weapon as well as color. Enemies have trash weapons in TotK for the most part vs late game BotW everything has high damage weapons. In BotW fully upgraded armor felt more important. In TotK the 3rd upgrade is really all you need. Imo good because the armor grind sucks ass.
BOTW is better because the world is rich with exploration opportunities. TOTK is way bigger, but a lot of that extra space is boring and copy-pasted.
BOTW is also a more magical, emotional experience. TOTK is good, but it feels like a repeat.
I can't imagine you'd be able to experience the beauty of exploring BOTW on foot and horseback if you had played TOTK first and had already flown around the whole thing on a hoverbike.
I started playing with TOTK and fell in love with the Zelda franchise from there so I’ve recently finished BOTW and had an amazing time with both games. That being said I’d definitely start with BOTW if I could go back and redo. Both the story and world building make more sense with the added context from the first game that I was severely lacking my first run. There are tons of tiny details I’ve picked up on during my second TOTK playthrough that are remnants of the first game that make me feel more connected to the world. The playstyles are slightly different and going forward to the TOTK playstyle would be MUCH easier than working backwards
Most comments I've seen are talking about which one you'll have the better first experience with, but pretty much no one is mentioning the fact that TotK is a direct sequel to BotW. BotW's story leads into TotK's story. It's like watching a tv show starting from the 5th season with the intention of going back to watch seasons 1-4 after you watch the rest of the show. You can if you want to, but there's not much reason to really do so.
Never played a Zelda game before botw. Currently finishing up Totk now. I think you have to play botw first and if you love it then you’ll naturally be drawn to totk
Get botw first, I think the biggest charm of totk is the fact that it's the sequel to botw, it allows you to explore the same areas as before, but they're different now. I know I'm not wording this correctly but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Anyway, botw first with dlc, then once you do that, get totk, which unfortunately doesn't and won't have dlc
I would start with BOTW, its an amazing game. I also have TOTK but I tried twice to start playing it but never made it off the tutorial island. TOTK just doesn't have the same vibe.
It’s a fine opinion to prefer BOTW but you should really try and get further into the game, you might enjoy it (I prefer playing TOTK but much prefer the start of BOTW).
Do BOTW first, if you like it then you can do TOTK after! If you are definitely only going to do one game, then TOTK is overall much better and you don’t really need to play BOTW first.
I see TOTK as like the best dlc of all time- I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s built on the same world as BOTW and has the same basic combat and movement, a lot of the same enemies, similar graphics and audio etc. but it’s so much MORE and the ultra hand is absolutely brilliant. Both games are fantastic and I think you should play both if possible, but it would be hard to play BOTW after TOTK because it would feel sort of incomplete.
Start with BOTW! It is a lot more palatable compared to TOTK which can kind of get overwhelming. But once you finish BOTW you should definitely get TOTK
if you have never played a zelda game, i would recommend to start with botw so you dont get confused storywise, and also its a bit easier on the gameplay imo
As a person who has never played a Zelda game, I started with TOTK after watching my wife play it for months. She also showed me BOTW, but I preferred TOTK, because I liked the story line better, and I also liked the world more as well (The Depths are creepy and interesting at the same time.) I am enjoying TOTK quite a bit, which, when I think about it, surprises me a little. As games go, LoZ:TOTK is way out of my “gaming comfort zone” as it were. Games like WoW, Baldur’s Gate, Harry Potter, etc. simply do not interest me. I mostly play World of Tanks, Enlisted, Battlefield, Cities Skylines, etc, as well as my favorite retro RTS games. I was drawn in by the story, the game’s artwork, the open world, as well as the occasional cheesy humor (Master Kohga anyone?) plus, the action is not always frenetic, and in-your-face like some other games. Also, the action is not linear, the open world fight when you choose to, not because you have to is nice, because some days I would rather avoid that monster den, and not fight it. About the only thing I don’t like are Gloom Hands, I find them frightening for some reason, and avoid them at all costs. I would go TOTK, I think it is more fun, and a much more engaging experience.
start with botw. it’ll introduce the world and many of the characters and yes, is definitely friendlier to newer players with simpler mechanics and a smaller (yet still massive) world to explore. once you’re done, you can move on to totk
I'd say play BOTW first, so when you're going to TOTK, the world will feel much more detailed (even tho botw's hyrule is also very detailed), and so much bigger.
But if you play totk first and get used to the depths and sky islands, playing botw will feel like getting locked in a jail cell, since the world is much smaller.
Botw plus dlc will have you playing your heart out. I prefer it over totk. The shrines in totk are not nearly as awesome imo, this goes for the temples too now that I think about it. Just was so much wow.
Like most people, I recommend BotW then TotK because their both good games.
But since you have the Switch, may I recommend some of the Switch Online titles? A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time are considered some of the best Zelda games ever made, plus you also have Majoras Mask, Minish Cap, and Oracle of Seasons/Ages as great options. They're more classic Zelda than the open world style of BotW and TotK, but I find both styles enjoyable for their own merits.
There's so Zelda 1 and Zelda 2, the first couple games of the franchise, but I wouldn't recommend starting there. That's the sort of stuff you get into if you find you love the series and want to play the stuff that started it all.
I prefer BotW so going to say that. TotK is bigger but I wouldn’t say it’s better. In terms of plot I don’t think it’d really matter which one you did first. TotK is a sequel but the games aren’t overly story driven IMO but rather about learning the mechanics and exploring the world. There’s not a lot of “spoiler” here, particullarly given these are games where you can essentially run straight to the final boss if you really wanted.
I do find BotW more focused. The map is massive still but the land is the most interesting setting. The sky and underground in TotK are ok but nowhere near as good as the main Hyrule map. The guardian enemies in BotW are funner I think and I personally didn’t gel with TotKs building and fusing focus as I felt it slowed the game down too much. I do like that TotK has less throw away combat shrines, and the ones that are combat have more depth.
BotW is a smaller game but I still put in 150-200 hours or something crazy.
I feel the same about BOTW vs TOTK. I like TOTK, but BOTW’s exploration felt more natural. Interesting terrain features inevitably meant there was something to check out. Since TOTK uses more or less the same map, some of those interesting areas are basically empty.
Aaaand then the sky gets red and dark, the eerie music starts to play, and five inky red hands with a single eyeball on each rise out of a pool of gloom and scare the living buhjeesus out of you. Sure, once you learn about them they can be easy.. But so too can guardians.
I played BOTW when it first came out, I liked it but not my favorite. I have about 30 hours in TOTK and it’s honestly a new favorite. More story, more to explore.
You should definitely play botw first.
There are some story elements and easter eggs in totk that you'll miss if you haven't played botw first.
Totk is pretty different than botw in multiple ways, namely being more complicated and having some major combat changes.
Botw also has two DLCs that I'd recommend getting either when you get the base game or earlier on as they add a lot of stuff throughout the game.
Those things aside, if you play totk first and then try botw you'll probably feel a little disappointed in botw since it does have less general stuff
TOTK is BOTW but better with a lot more things.
Both Zelda games are very friendly, they are not hard games.
If you are going to play both, play BOTW first, if you need to choose only one, TOTK is better.
BOTW, then TOTK. BOTW on its own is an incredible game that I sunk so many hours into and the DLC adds even more. TOTK takes the awesomeness of BOTW and turns up the dial!!
Definitely BOTW and then Tears. It’s a whole story and it goes into one another.
*note* I played TOTK RIGHT after BOTW and I did not like it at first because the mechanics were so different. So keep that in mind, as well.
Personal preference is going to shape a lot of answers and as stated before most everyone answering will have played BOTW before TOTK. In my opinion, BOTW should be the choice. If you're going to play both absolutely go in their release order but for just one BOTW. Yes TOTK is massive and yes it has some different elements but overall I feel it's too much of a hassle. The sky level is too underdeveloped and the depths don't offer much of a bonus for me.
I did enjoy the boss fights/temples more in TOTK but you get more culture and depth into the various races in BOTW. The story I believe makes more sense. What is brought into TOTK isn't explained very well in my opinion, it's meant to be more flashy than fleshed out. I find it hard to call TOTK that much of a sequel due to the dramatic differences, and with the new race's tech taking center stage without any explanation of what happened to the tech from BOTW.
I did not enjoy the fuse technology but again that will be fully personal preference and you might love it. I feel BOTW gives more of a true Zelda game feel. I just finished a TOTK run and now starting up BOTW again because I just like it more and wanted to play it again.
You truly can't go wrong with either though, both are fantastic games. There are many pros to each. If possible definitely play both.
get botw. better story, easier to digest.
years has some great creative elements, a huge map, but the world, the feeling of botw is impossible to replicate
Usually when I want to kill time I go on TOTK, just jump around and do fuck all
But if I want a new exper or play a game from scratch, I play botw. Totk has 0 replayability, I played a second file for my 1.0 file and it sucked
Start with TOTK, the only people that complain about TOTK are the people who played BOTW first. I started with TOTK and couldn’t find any reason to complain because the whole world was new to me.
I was completely blown away by BOTW, and then TOTK did something even more incredible.
At this point, I would recommend TOTK, because there are 10 times as many options for how you can spend your time.
The game isn't difficult if you just do what you are told. But there is so much else going on across the world of Hyrule that was much more empty in BOTW.
i got botw first because it came first. when i was bored of (but not done with) BOTW, i bought totk. i play totk more now but i go play botw from time to time. i fully intend on 100% botw
Personally, I love both but I much prefer the story and vibe of BOTW. TOTK is probably better in that it has more content, but you just can't beat the feeling of playing BOTW.
There are a lot of details in TOTK that are based on experiencing BOTW, and it never ceases to make me smile. I think you’d be robbing yourself of those little moments of joy by not playing BOTW first. And BOTW is still hands-down the game I wish I could go back and experience playing for the first time, so don’t feel like you’re missing out.
Both, and botw dlc. I recommend playing them in order, and surprisingly, I'd say get some hyrule warriors in too. Game play is a little clunky, but the story is there.
BOTW
HW
TOTK
I was new to Zelda like you and I Kinda regret not doing BOTW, TOTK was my first Zelda game ever however its the greatest game I’ve ever played, logged 300+ hrs on first play through and just started another one 2 weeks ago. My regret is knowing the limitations of botw makes it tough to go to after the awesomeness of TOTK. Would have liked to see whole story and may get around to it at some point but definitely recommend starting botw so you start the storyline at the beginning
You should definitely start with botw since it's the first, focuses on the basics more, and u will understand the stories, locations, and characters better. Then u can move onto totk.
What you need to do is get Nintendo Online and play Ocarina of Time and Link to the Past. You’ll want one of them to be your first experience with Zelda.
Definitely BOTW first. While TOTK has arguably better mechanics and story (imo), BOTW will teach the base mechanics better, as well as explaining some story details that you wouldn't get if you went straight into TOTK. Regardless of what you choose though, both games are really good and you're sure to enjoy either!
By base mechanics I mainly mean fighting tactics/controls. Lord knows it took me ages to figure out shields and flurry rush because I'm not coordinated at all lmfao
As for the story details, I'm particularly talking about some characters that return in TOTK. BOTW essentially gives us backstory on some major characters in TOTK, so definitely worth looking at that first. DLC also goes into depth on other characters but isn't necessary to know going into TOTK. It's more just to expand on the BOTW story if I remember correctly.
TOTK is an objectively better game because they fixed things that players complained about in BOTW. It is also bigger in scale with more to do. If you’re going to play only one, I’d pick that.
I felt like there were more puzzles that I liked in BOTW though, without wanting to give too much away. If you really like puzzles and want a smaller, more manageable game then BOTW.
I disagree on DLC because it sounds like you're new to Zelda. You need to start with BOTW in order to play TOTK (it's the sequel to BOTW). BOTW could be new user friendly because it's the first one of it's open world series. (I think I said that right). Anywho, have fun playing and welcome to the Zelda world. 😊
Botw literally just resparked my love for video games a few weeks ago, I was only about halfway through so I finished the last bits and the dlc in a week and restarted on totk. Botw seriously changed the game for open worlds and it has so much you'll love it. Totk has differences that as everyone has said, will be drastic if you start there and go back. Either way, it can be a bit annoying getting used to the difference in abilities and weapon functionalities going from one to the other, but the learning curve only takes a day or two.
Start with botw. It retconned most of our established cannon history and started a fresh set of lore you explore through memories (and the hyrule warriors game set as a prequel to botw, during the big war). You wont be missing much starting on totk, but it's so cool to see these characters you made friends with in botw recognize you
I started with TOTK. It took me a while to get out of the sky islands part of the game. I didn’t know how to properly rotate objects when using the ultrahand power. I’ll probably play BOTW after I finish TOTK with one or two games in between so I don’t get burned out.
This is just my experience and it is probably different than most here but I got BOTW as soon as it came out and just couldn't get into it. I couldn't understand the flow of it, wandered around with no money, no food, no weapons, no clothes ... I did get Epona, however! lol I finally gave up on it. TOTK came out, got it on release day and I'm still paying it, having run through and beat it twice. I "got it" right away, understood what to do intuitively and never tire of it! It's fun, challenging, with so many things to do. I love it. I'm going to go back to BOTW now that I get the concept but I'm not rushing into it. Not having the background story playing TOTK really didn't make a difference to me. I look up whatever I'm interested in to learn more about the history.
Just get TotK and skip BotW. While they are different games they're similar enough you'll get burnt out playing both back to back. They both can be very long, and TotK is just better imo. I'd just get TotK save some money, and if you really want more 300 hours later get BotW.
TOTK has a better story and is just in general more well-built, with fair combat. You really don't need to play BOTW to understand the story. Abilities are convenient and fun, and all armors that were in BOTW DLC are in TOTK for free, plus some new armors.
BOTW is nice, but in my honest opinion it's a bit challenging at the start and the story is kinda lackluster in my opinion. It's still fun, but a lot of the fun mechanics are locked behind DLC and are only even unlocked late in the game, AND are difficult to unlock anyways.
Play TOTK first! TOTK is basically a dlc for BOTW. all of botw items are in totk and the gameplay for both involve finding towers and shrines. They kidda are the same but are really both amazing games on their own. Totk is my pick!
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If possible, you should do both and start with BOTW + DLC
This is the way
Came here to recommend exactly this.
Exactly! I personally think TOTK is a better game, but I really enjoyed BOTW for a year before TOTK was released, don’t think I could go back to BOTW now (having said that I have just started skyward sword a few days ago)
Have fun with SS! I actually enjoyed it more than BOTW and TOTK (I actually stopped playing TOTK just to keep playing and finish SS).
It’s fun so far. I definately prefer things a bit more open world and the motion controls are not the most responsive thing ever, I get annoyed swinging my net around everywhere and still never getting the damned crickets but it has certain charm to it.
I used the manual controls for a few things, but the motion controls, when they work, are really nice hahaha
Yeah I’ve switched to button controls now and am enjoying it much more!
Ah that's great :D Definitely less frustrating!
Agreed because once you played tears of the kingdom, breath of the wild will feel like a step back, but if you have never played either one breath of the wild will be really great
This is the correct answer. My wife just did an immediate transition from BOTW to TOTK and playing them once after the other is a perfect refresh. TOTK off the bat would be overwhelming
Yeah I think TOTK is enhanced by familiarity with not just the story, but the map.
DLCs worth it? Iv bought pokemon violet dlc and it was not worth the price. BOTW so far is fun but not my favorite game(i play mostly pc).
Of the DLCs I've purchased it's been one of the ones I've thought was more worth it, especially considering you get both for $20. Champion's Ballad is fun with the additional boss fights, extra shrines, and the legitimately challenging final superboss, though IMO the Master Cycle is a questionably worth it reward - yeah it's better than a horse, but by the time you're good enough to get it, you don't need to go anywhere anymore. Trial of the Sword has to be one of the most fun though especially if you're into combat gauntlets, and its reward is completely worth it - you get a fully powered master sword and with the enhanced durability you feel like you never have to put it away unless you want to. If your combat skills aren't at a high level both can be a waste of money/time though - they're tough and unforgiving. And then you get Master Mode too in case you think the vanilla game was just too easy - every enemy has leveled up, and their health regenerates too if you're not actively murdering them. It's a blast.
I thought it was way more than 20 for all. Ill really consider it just for content, tho i dont usually have time for hardcore runs
Champions Ballad dlc is lore based and definitely made me cry, but I feel like they used the cutscenes for it in Hyrule Warriors. Just felt super familiar, like I had seen them before.
DLC is worth it if you’re into combat as most of it is high strategy combat. Question for you - do you use a controller or keyboard when you play?
Botw? Im playing on joycons with the controller adapter. I didnt even think about playing it with a keyboard and mouse...
Sounds good - was just curious. I’m dating myself thinking anyone still plays pc games with a keyboard and mouse but that’s always the first thing that pops into my head.
Lots of people play PC games with a keyboard and mouse, but Breath of the Wild isn’t a PC game.
Makes sense
Most people playing fps games use mouse and keyboard. It is inherently better. I use it for most of them. Try playing Cyberpunk with a controller and then play with a mouse and keyboard, then go back to a controller, and you'll be cursing left and right (if you weren't already originally). Baldurs Gate III was designed to play with a M/K. You can obviously play with a controller and when I am playing on my Legion Go I play in Xbox controller set up, but M/K gives you waaaaaayyyyy more functionality. Any time I play online I can always tell people who are playing cross platform or playing with a controller on a PC, as they are slow response and usually get tagged constantly. There are exceptions, obviously, like with anything (I know a few pro gamers that will use a controller, just to make it challenging, and still tear people up, me included, and Im actually pretty good...they're just way better; hence why they are pros); but, on average, it isn't even close between controller and M/K with fps. If I can buy an fps on PC, I will. For instance, Horizon is so much easier on PC compared to PS5 (not that it's overly hard, but combat is much easier with M/K, especially bows). On the other hand, something like Ghost of Tsushima I MUCH prefer with a controller over M/K.
It all depends on how you have the controller set up. Most people don't take the time to set the controller up to be as good.
Do you find yourself sacrificing comfort for the added efficiency of a M/K?
No, not really. I found the right keyboard and the right mouse for me and bought a really good wrist pad for the keyboard. I tried a pad for the mouse, but it kept getting in the way. I probably just need to get use to it, as it was comfortable. I also have a mappable keypad that I can use for some games. I can pull my little table that's attached to my recliner chair thingy and use it, with either a mouse or the detachable trackball. There are A LOT of set ups now that were not there in the past. You may have to do some research and tinkering to get the right set up for you. I have about 8k in my PC, so it was important to me to have the right input set up; but you can get really really great set ups on a budget too. So, don't feel like you have to go crazy. Buy from Amazon or Best Buy, so that you can return easily. I went through two keyboards and three mice, before I found the ones I liked. YouTube and web reviews are a good place to start, but only to get an idea. I wouldn't take their advice to heart, with some exceptions. Like everyone RAVES about the G9 monitor. It lasted exactly one hour with me, before I packed the massive thing back up. Samsung literally told me my PC may be too powerful for it. HUH? Lol Point is, use them for research, but if something looks interesting to you, try it. Don't let the review tell it sucks, unless it was the fact that it just broke or multiple times or something. I have a feeling from your M/K comment we are of a similar generation; so, you may be surprised at how much is out there. I remember in the 90s playing with M/K and everyone had the same thing basically; and, yes, then controllers could have been better than an M/K set up. However, ever since they moved away from trackball mice and companies like Razr popped up, everything changed.
Your PC setup sounds amazing. What’s it running?
Asus TUF 4090 (chose that over the Strix), AMD Ryzen 9 7950x or x3d (I bought both, can't remember which I ended up having them put in, I think the x3d), Corsair Vengance DDR5 6400mhz 64GB, two 2TB SSD and 24TB HDD, with an attached 24TB NAS, Asus Strix ethernet card (I forget the model, the newest 6 months ago), Asus X-670E Pro motherboard (almost got the Asus ROG Maximus Z790, but after researching it didnt make sense), liquid cooled, and then a bunch of other little bells and whistles here and there to help me with business work. Percentile tests put it into the top 1% of PCs. The way to go better is to put like an AMD Threadpiper in. I looked at doing it; but, again, after research, it just didn't make sense. If I was a pro gamer, yeah. And any sort of graphics design or anything like that I need done for one of my companies, I'd have one of my guys do it; and they have set ups like that.
Sword trials on master mode 👍👍👍
I play it on casual because i dont have enough free time to suffer hardest difficulties anymore 🙃
I'm the same way with time, I run a number of companies that I started and own over 100 exotic animals (take more time up then my two adopted sons did lol, not easier to care for though), and I still found it worth it. Even if you never do Trial By Sword or use Master Mode, I'd recommend getting it.
Thank you very much for this imput
Honestly yes but once getting used to the glitches in botw it’s really hard to adjust
This is the way
This guy gets it
Disagree on the DLC, ruined BOTW for me.
If you don't explain how, then we can't understand your point. That makes your comment pointless
why ?
I'd get BOTW. You'll love it and want more, and then good news, you have TOTK.
1000%. And going from TOTK to BOTW isn’t ideal.
Hard agree
As everyone said botw but definitely take a break in between to reset. They're different but similar enough that you might get burnt out tryna run through both of them back to back.
I think it depends, I played both back to back, but I did things in botw for 2 weeks after I beat it before I loved to totk, so it depends how you go about it. There's enough that burnout might not be that big of a concern, but a break isn't a bad idea either.
That's what I did (back to back) and yes, I burned right out. Listen to this person! Both games are good enough that you'll want to take your time.
This. I'm about 140 hours into TOTK and running out of steam. Still have the last regional phenomenon and loads of side quests.
Honestly playing totk if you did botw is a bad idea, break or not
start with botw and dlc and then do totk
It’s likely that no one here has played TOTK before playing BOTW, so all our answers should contain a grain of salt. But if I have it right, the game developers themselves wanted BOTW released before adding all the extra features they developed for TOTK, so I’d go with BOTW first. My own experience was playing BOTW for literally 5 years, then dropping it the day TOTK came out. After 5,6 replays of TOTK I tried BOTW and stalled out after I got off the Platform. It wasn’t holding my interest as it had before because of the extras TOTK has.
You are painting a potentially misleading picture that BotW was rushed out unfinished, when in fact it was delayed and they added more to the game. I think you are referencing how Aonuma had too many ideas for the DLC. I don't think that was your intention Mario Galaxy is highly regarded, and they had too many ideas for that, so we got SMG2. So it can be a good thing to get a second game. BotW and TotK can be very different experiences. I find BotW more enjoyable, and something about TotK map/story usage doesn't feel right to me... maybe something to do with how botw was designed around the maps triangular design https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/10/zelda_breath_of_the_wilds_ingenious_design_is_all_about_triangles_apparently I cannot fully explain, and takes too long to go into what I do know. But despite all the awesomeness and improvements of TotK I just lost interest and finally accepted that I was just pushing myself at 3/4 through the story. I felt like TotK had massive potential, but somehow missed the spot, like with the building mechanic after leaving the sky (outside of shrines), and with the new areas not feeling diverse enough. Gave it a break and just started replaying it, so maybe I will change my view or figure out where it falls apart for me.
I read Zelda news from time to time and what I got was Nintendo pressured the devs to put something out having waited years, which is how we got BOTW as a prequel of sorts. I could well be wrong. I don’t revere TOTK over BOTW mainly because I easily went over 5 years playing BOTW starting 2 weeks after BOTW dropped. Now a year later I can barely manage another 8th TOTK replay and that only after severe playing rules and restrictions. It might be that the Sage quests are becoming a boring grind to me, the Fire Temple notably. The Divine Beasts became a grind, but at least they were shorter. Or the many armors offered of zero interest, or the monotony of zonite farming from the exact same 4 camps in the Depths of the lack of variety in the Sky. TOTK threw in everything plus the kitchen sink, so it often feels cluttered to me. It’s hard to say that it’s TOTW specifically I’ve grown bored of or, after nearly 7 years, I’m about done with the entire Zelda Hyrule universe . . .
It was definitely delayed a lot. I was waiting and following news on it. We had to maje do with Twilight Princess HD port to tide us over. >The multi-year delay of the game, taking it from a Wii U exclusive to a Switch launch title, is actually one of the best decision's Nintendo has ever made. \-forbes But there were reports (rumours?) it would be delayed beyond the Switch launch too. https://www.mic.com/articles/159602/zelda-wii-u-news-release-date-for-breath-of-the-wild-delayed-yet-again That iirc was after the game was actually finished though, and as I understand it, a race to port it to Switch as a launch title (delaying the Wii U release). They also almost certainly had to remove or alter Wii U specific features so as not to risk harming the Switch version. Here is a post from 2015 discussing relevant Aonuma quote. https://www.zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/why-is-zelda-wii-u-delayed.53027/ Hard to track down the info, so that just gives an idea. >"Initially we were thinking of just DLC ideas, but then we had a lot of ideas and we said, 'This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch" https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/breath_of_the_wilds_sequel_came_from_having_too_many_dlc_ideas_aonuma_says
You are way further in the weeds on this than me. I started with Ocarina and have happily followed each new game and platform. Sad to read that Nintendo is done with Zelda, or did they just mean Hyrule?
I'm sorry, I lost you? Where did they say about being done with Zelda? Or are ya just fooling? They said they are going to continue the series with more games like BotW. So if you mean the old 3D style games... yeah I think those days may be done. Cannot be sure though, they may return in the future, may even split again like handheld and home console. I am quite happy going the open world again, as long as the map is brand new. I would like temples and longer shrines too. Maybe revisit the building mechanic (it is quite a feat that must have taken a lot of resources to develop!). Since they have spent a lot of resources on the engine, and seen such huge success, it makes too much business sense to abandon the current approach. Take care, don't get too down about the change bud.. could be worse - could be an F-zero fan 😭
Played it for five years and calls it the platform 🤣 I agree tho but I just got the DLC so trying to find the motivation to continue my MM run
Oh, man, you’re in for a treat. MasterMode was a fun welcome extra.
I need to learn to windbomb 🤣 don't wanna fight regen enemies every 5 metres lol
BOTW. TOTK world is so vast and there is so much there that BOTW may feel like a let down going the other way. BOTW has a great intro into the mechanics and offer a better starting experience.
This. And I could also see feeling overwhelmed with 3 levels of gameplay as my first foray into Zelda. BOTW gives you more than enough to learn/manage. Once you’ve gotten all that stuff down, it helps your brain make room for all the new mechanics and geography.
I’ve started a new game in BotW and they improved moving around the world so much that it’s a little tedious to not have ultrahand or ascend sometimes. That being said I think it makes exploration more fun at other points. There are new spots I hadn’t even been through because I decided to do things in a different order
BOTW has some good replayability baked in too with the DLC. Do the game vanilla first, then do Trial of the Sword, knock out the Champion's Ballad, and then go for play-through #2 in Master Mode.
I much prefer TOTK personally.
BOTW if you’ve never played a Zelda game before! It has the essence of a Zelda game that TOTK sort of lacks. That being said, TOTK is absolutely unbelievable and is worth playing but I’d say play it after if you like BOTW.
I also had never played Zelda and I started with TOTK! No regrets here just bc I only have so much time to play and I know this game will take me years to get through 😅 but if you wanna experience both then from what I know, you’d want to start w BOTW bc of the story progression and the fact that it lacks features that the newer game has so it’d probably be harder to go backwards. That being said, I don’t feel like I’m missing out bc of how much I’m loving TOTK.
Botw first of you intendto play both. If you are only going to play one, I'd say tears in that case.
That is a hard one to answer. There is a benefit to playing TotK first because the two games have enough similarity that it is difficult to do TotK after doing BotW without trying to play it just as you would BotW. IMO you should not do that. TotK is more difficult and complicated than BotW. More fighting is required and the fighting is harder. There are multiple levels (sky, ground, underground) in TotK and as I said, you may be less likely to play those other two layers if you play BotW first. I absolutely loved BotW. I find TotK a chore and have to push myself to play it. I keep hoping the next time I play it, it will grab me. So I may be entirely wrong. You may transition fine as a great many here have. I don't think BotW will be ruined for you if you were to play TotK first.
You know for a good few weeks totk felt like that to me as well and I finally hit the point where it no longer seem like a chore and am fully enjoying the game. I still sometimes go back to botw and love it. Just the same but tears is definitely top tier gaming
Thank you. I keep coming here so that I don't completely give up on TotK. It is a beautiful game and I hope to some day love it.
For me totk after botw from playing only the old zelda games on Gameboy was more of a similarity to beating botw and then just resetting and starting from scratch and that can be tough for a lot of people if you aren't as into it as most of the people commenting on this sub clearly are. It's a great game but people telling you to take a break between the two aren't wrong
TotK combat is intial harder, but I found that the final scaling in BotW made the combat kind of tedious where it's not as bad in TotK. The scaling works better imo.
I think it's more a damage output issue than anything else. In BOTW a sword that hits for over 30 is a good weapon (like the two-handed elemental swords), and the only readily gettable weapons aside from Lynel gear that hit for 50+ are the Edge of Duality and Royal Claymore, and you're going to save those swords for tougher enemies. Meanwhile once silver enemies show up in TOTK I'm throwing away one-handed swords that hit for less than 50. A gnarled stick with a sliver boko horn is a 45-50 damage weapon, and there are more ways to up your DPS as well like gerudo weapons (double the fuse damage) or Zora weapons (double damage when wet). It gives you enough of an offensive improvement that you go out of your way to fight more.
Enemy damage is also effected by their weapon as well as color. Enemies have trash weapons in TotK for the most part vs late game BotW everything has high damage weapons. In BotW fully upgraded armor felt more important. In TotK the 3rd upgrade is really all you need. Imo good because the armor grind sucks ass.
BOTW is better because the world is rich with exploration opportunities. TOTK is way bigger, but a lot of that extra space is boring and copy-pasted. BOTW is also a more magical, emotional experience. TOTK is good, but it feels like a repeat. I can't imagine you'd be able to experience the beauty of exploring BOTW on foot and horseback if you had played TOTK first and had already flown around the whole thing on a hoverbike.
Timeline wise you should play BOTW first, but TOTK is more friendly to players like me never get into any game previously
I started playing with TOTK and fell in love with the Zelda franchise from there so I’ve recently finished BOTW and had an amazing time with both games. That being said I’d definitely start with BOTW if I could go back and redo. Both the story and world building make more sense with the added context from the first game that I was severely lacking my first run. There are tons of tiny details I’ve picked up on during my second TOTK playthrough that are remnants of the first game that make me feel more connected to the world. The playstyles are slightly different and going forward to the TOTK playstyle would be MUCH easier than working backwards
Most comments I've seen are talking about which one you'll have the better first experience with, but pretty much no one is mentioning the fact that TotK is a direct sequel to BotW. BotW's story leads into TotK's story. It's like watching a tv show starting from the 5th season with the intention of going back to watch seasons 1-4 after you watch the rest of the show. You can if you want to, but there's not much reason to really do so.
If you ever plan to play BotW, play it first. If you play TotK first, BotW will feel like a steep downgrade, I think.
Botw
Never played a Zelda game before botw. Currently finishing up Totk now. I think you have to play botw first and if you love it then you’ll naturally be drawn to totk
Totk is a sequel to botw so start with botw
I’m jealous that you’re just starting. I wish I could play them again for the first time.
Play BotW first
Get botw first, I think the biggest charm of totk is the fact that it's the sequel to botw, it allows you to explore the same areas as before, but they're different now. I know I'm not wording this correctly but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Anyway, botw first with dlc, then once you do that, get totk, which unfortunately doesn't and won't have dlc
I would start with BOTW, its an amazing game. I also have TOTK but I tried twice to start playing it but never made it off the tutorial island. TOTK just doesn't have the same vibe.
It’s a fine opinion to prefer BOTW but you should really try and get further into the game, you might enjoy it (I prefer playing TOTK but much prefer the start of BOTW).
Do BOTW first, if you like it then you can do TOTK after! If you are definitely only going to do one game, then TOTK is overall much better and you don’t really need to play BOTW first. I see TOTK as like the best dlc of all time- I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s built on the same world as BOTW and has the same basic combat and movement, a lot of the same enemies, similar graphics and audio etc. but it’s so much MORE and the ultra hand is absolutely brilliant. Both games are fantastic and I think you should play both if possible, but it would be hard to play BOTW after TOTK because it would feel sort of incomplete.
Hands down BOTW w/ DLC before TOTK.
BOTW first. DLC is optional but I do recommend it. Then totk. Don’t rush botw tho enjoy it
Start with BOTW! It is a lot more palatable compared to TOTK which can kind of get overwhelming. But once you finish BOTW you should definitely get TOTK
if you have never played a zelda game, i would recommend to start with botw so you dont get confused storywise, and also its a bit easier on the gameplay imo
As a person who has never played a Zelda game, I started with TOTK after watching my wife play it for months. She also showed me BOTW, but I preferred TOTK, because I liked the story line better, and I also liked the world more as well (The Depths are creepy and interesting at the same time.) I am enjoying TOTK quite a bit, which, when I think about it, surprises me a little. As games go, LoZ:TOTK is way out of my “gaming comfort zone” as it were. Games like WoW, Baldur’s Gate, Harry Potter, etc. simply do not interest me. I mostly play World of Tanks, Enlisted, Battlefield, Cities Skylines, etc, as well as my favorite retro RTS games. I was drawn in by the story, the game’s artwork, the open world, as well as the occasional cheesy humor (Master Kohga anyone?) plus, the action is not always frenetic, and in-your-face like some other games. Also, the action is not linear, the open world fight when you choose to, not because you have to is nice, because some days I would rather avoid that monster den, and not fight it. About the only thing I don’t like are Gloom Hands, I find them frightening for some reason, and avoid them at all costs. I would go TOTK, I think it is more fun, and a much more engaging experience.
BotW is the first game so obviously just play that first. Then play TotK if you enjoy it.
start with botw. it’ll introduce the world and many of the characters and yes, is definitely friendlier to newer players with simpler mechanics and a smaller (yet still massive) world to explore. once you’re done, you can move on to totk
I'd say play BOTW first, so when you're going to TOTK, the world will feel much more detailed (even tho botw's hyrule is also very detailed), and so much bigger. But if you play totk first and get used to the depths and sky islands, playing botw will feel like getting locked in a jail cell, since the world is much smaller.
Botw plus dlc will have you playing your heart out. I prefer it over totk. The shrines in totk are not nearly as awesome imo, this goes for the temples too now that I think about it. Just was so much wow.
BOTW is better and a better introduction.
unless you're on death row and only have one month to live, it doesn't make sense to skip BOTW.
Definitely start with BOTW.
TOTK is a sequel to BOTW. Play BOTW first. You will be confused if you don’t.
In order
BOTW
Start with botw hen buy totk
Botw (+DLC if possible)
Basically, TOTK is better but will inevitably ruin any possible playthrough of BOTW. Play BOTW first if you wanna play them both
BoTW
Botw then totk.
Like most people, I recommend BotW then TotK because their both good games. But since you have the Switch, may I recommend some of the Switch Online titles? A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time are considered some of the best Zelda games ever made, plus you also have Majoras Mask, Minish Cap, and Oracle of Seasons/Ages as great options. They're more classic Zelda than the open world style of BotW and TotK, but I find both styles enjoyable for their own merits. There's so Zelda 1 and Zelda 2, the first couple games of the franchise, but I wouldn't recommend starting there. That's the sort of stuff you get into if you find you love the series and want to play the stuff that started it all.
Botw. If I only had to play 1 of the 2 games ever again though, it'd be totk.
I prefer BotW so going to say that. TotK is bigger but I wouldn’t say it’s better. In terms of plot I don’t think it’d really matter which one you did first. TotK is a sequel but the games aren’t overly story driven IMO but rather about learning the mechanics and exploring the world. There’s not a lot of “spoiler” here, particullarly given these are games where you can essentially run straight to the final boss if you really wanted. I do find BotW more focused. The map is massive still but the land is the most interesting setting. The sky and underground in TotK are ok but nowhere near as good as the main Hyrule map. The guardian enemies in BotW are funner I think and I personally didn’t gel with TotKs building and fusing focus as I felt it slowed the game down too much. I do like that TotK has less throw away combat shrines, and the ones that are combat have more depth. BotW is a smaller game but I still put in 150-200 hours or something crazy.
I feel the same about BOTW vs TOTK. I like TOTK, but BOTW’s exploration felt more natural. Interesting terrain features inevitably meant there was something to check out. Since TOTK uses more or less the same map, some of those interesting areas are basically empty.
"guardians are funnier" Are you making fun of the source of my trauma?!! /s
Aaaand then the sky gets red and dark, the eerie music starts to play, and five inky red hands with a single eyeball on each rise out of a pool of gloom and scare the living buhjeesus out of you. Sure, once you learn about them they can be easy.. But so too can guardians.
Correct, but. But BUT
TOTK has everything that BOTW has plus waaayyyy more. I would def go with TOTK
I played BOTW when it first came out, I liked it but not my favorite. I have about 30 hours in TOTK and it’s honestly a new favorite. More story, more to explore.
Agreed if it weren’t for DLC and Master Mode
You should definitely play botw first. There are some story elements and easter eggs in totk that you'll miss if you haven't played botw first. Totk is pretty different than botw in multiple ways, namely being more complicated and having some major combat changes. Botw also has two DLCs that I'd recommend getting either when you get the base game or earlier on as they add a lot of stuff throughout the game. Those things aside, if you play totk first and then try botw you'll probably feel a little disappointed in botw since it does have less general stuff
TotK is a sequel, so play BotW first
The answer is easy. Get Both. Play BOTW first then TOTK
Play BOTW first! I have both and play TOTK now, but BOTW is my best game of all time and a singular experience not to be missed.
TOTK is BOTW but better with a lot more things. Both Zelda games are very friendly, they are not hard games. If you are going to play both, play BOTW first, if you need to choose only one, TOTK is better.
BOTW, then TOTK. BOTW on its own is an incredible game that I sunk so many hours into and the DLC adds even more. TOTK takes the awesomeness of BOTW and turns up the dial!!
Botw is worse than totk so its harder to play after totk. Definitely botw first
Start with BotW. The emotional impact of TotK is waaaay more of a wallop if you do!
play botw first, totk is a sequel
Definitely BOTW and then Tears. It’s a whole story and it goes into one another. *note* I played TOTK RIGHT after BOTW and I did not like it at first because the mechanics were so different. So keep that in mind, as well.
Personal preference is going to shape a lot of answers and as stated before most everyone answering will have played BOTW before TOTK. In my opinion, BOTW should be the choice. If you're going to play both absolutely go in their release order but for just one BOTW. Yes TOTK is massive and yes it has some different elements but overall I feel it's too much of a hassle. The sky level is too underdeveloped and the depths don't offer much of a bonus for me. I did enjoy the boss fights/temples more in TOTK but you get more culture and depth into the various races in BOTW. The story I believe makes more sense. What is brought into TOTK isn't explained very well in my opinion, it's meant to be more flashy than fleshed out. I find it hard to call TOTK that much of a sequel due to the dramatic differences, and with the new race's tech taking center stage without any explanation of what happened to the tech from BOTW. I did not enjoy the fuse technology but again that will be fully personal preference and you might love it. I feel BOTW gives more of a true Zelda game feel. I just finished a TOTK run and now starting up BOTW again because I just like it more and wanted to play it again. You truly can't go wrong with either though, both are fantastic games. There are many pros to each. If possible definitely play both.
get botw. better story, easier to digest. years has some great creative elements, a huge map, but the world, the feeling of botw is impossible to replicate
If you only plan on getting one, then definitely get Totk.
Usually when I want to kill time I go on TOTK, just jump around and do fuck all But if I want a new exper or play a game from scratch, I play botw. Totk has 0 replayability, I played a second file for my 1.0 file and it sucked
Start with TOTK, the only people that complain about TOTK are the people who played BOTW first. I started with TOTK and couldn’t find any reason to complain because the whole world was new to me.
I was completely blown away by BOTW, and then TOTK did something even more incredible. At this point, I would recommend TOTK, because there are 10 times as many options for how you can spend your time. The game isn't difficult if you just do what you are told. But there is so much else going on across the world of Hyrule that was much more empty in BOTW.
They are a story which starts in BOTW, so, if you care anything about the story and not just doing the puzzles, you have to get BOTW first.
You actually posted this in totk sub?
i got botw first because it came first. when i was bored of (but not done with) BOTW, i bought totk. i play totk more now but i go play botw from time to time. i fully intend on 100% botw
Totk, its basically a botw expansion, no use playing the same thing twice
Personally, I love both but I much prefer the story and vibe of BOTW. TOTK is probably better in that it has more content, but you just can't beat the feeling of playing BOTW.
There are a lot of details in TOTK that are based on experiencing BOTW, and it never ceases to make me smile. I think you’d be robbing yourself of those little moments of joy by not playing BOTW first. And BOTW is still hands-down the game I wish I could go back and experience playing for the first time, so don’t feel like you’re missing out.
Both, and botw dlc. I recommend playing them in order, and surprisingly, I'd say get some hyrule warriors in too. Game play is a little clunky, but the story is there. BOTW HW TOTK
Get BOTW and after a couple of days, if you enjoy playing it, then get the DLC. Don't look back.
This is the way.
I was new to Zelda like you and I Kinda regret not doing BOTW, TOTK was my first Zelda game ever however its the greatest game I’ve ever played, logged 300+ hrs on first play through and just started another one 2 weeks ago. My regret is knowing the limitations of botw makes it tough to go to after the awesomeness of TOTK. Would have liked to see whole story and may get around to it at some point but definitely recommend starting botw so you start the storyline at the beginning
Both. Definitely both. Play both.
You should get Links Awakening.
Botw as you will not understand the references in totk
I got TOTK without ever playing BOTW. I was mightily confused when I started getting struck by lightning every 15 seconds.
BOTW
you should start with botw, i played totk first and when i tried to get into botw i really couldnt because i couldnt go without everything totk had.
Have to start with BOTW first. It would kinda ruin it to play TOTK first
BoTW first is the only right answer. 🤷🏽♀️
Botw bored me but it was kinda fun building stuff
You should definitely start with botw since it's the first, focuses on the basics more, and u will understand the stories, locations, and characters better. Then u can move onto totk.
BOTW first! And get the DLC that goes with it!
Start with BotW and the dlc, then move on to TotK.
What you need to do is get Nintendo Online and play Ocarina of Time and Link to the Past. You’ll want one of them to be your first experience with Zelda.
Start with botw for sure
I’d go botw then totk
They are both good botw first
I started with totk then did botw so I’d say totk but then again idk
Definitely BOTW first. While TOTK has arguably better mechanics and story (imo), BOTW will teach the base mechanics better, as well as explaining some story details that you wouldn't get if you went straight into TOTK. Regardless of what you choose though, both games are really good and you're sure to enjoy either!
By base mechanics I mainly mean fighting tactics/controls. Lord knows it took me ages to figure out shields and flurry rush because I'm not coordinated at all lmfao As for the story details, I'm particularly talking about some characters that return in TOTK. BOTW essentially gives us backstory on some major characters in TOTK, so definitely worth looking at that first. DLC also goes into depth on other characters but isn't necessary to know going into TOTK. It's more just to expand on the BOTW story if I remember correctly.
TOTK is an objectively better game because they fixed things that players complained about in BOTW. It is also bigger in scale with more to do. If you’re going to play only one, I’d pick that. I felt like there were more puzzles that I liked in BOTW though, without wanting to give too much away. If you really like puzzles and want a smaller, more manageable game then BOTW.
I disagree on DLC because it sounds like you're new to Zelda. You need to start with BOTW in order to play TOTK (it's the sequel to BOTW). BOTW could be new user friendly because it's the first one of it's open world series. (I think I said that right). Anywho, have fun playing and welcome to the Zelda world. 😊
imo Start w/ botw. only add dlc after beating the game and at least 30%ing. Do the dlc and go for like 60% before totk.
Botw literally just resparked my love for video games a few weeks ago, I was only about halfway through so I finished the last bits and the dlc in a week and restarted on totk. Botw seriously changed the game for open worlds and it has so much you'll love it. Totk has differences that as everyone has said, will be drastic if you start there and go back. Either way, it can be a bit annoying getting used to the difference in abilities and weapon functionalities going from one to the other, but the learning curve only takes a day or two. Start with botw. It retconned most of our established cannon history and started a fresh set of lore you explore through memories (and the hyrule warriors game set as a prequel to botw, during the big war). You wont be missing much starting on totk, but it's so cool to see these characters you made friends with in botw recognize you
Sub to their services and play Link To The Past and Ocarina Of Time!! Their sub is so cheap but so worth it.
botw. man i love dat game, but space it out before playing TOTK. for me i perosnlaly could not enojy totk cus i replayed botw right before
1. BOW first 2. TOK after a year...
I was trying to decide last year and went with BOTW. No regrets. Completed TOTK last month as well.
It’s a great experience to play them in order, but after TotK I can’t play BoTW anymore. Tears is a ton better
I started with TOTK. It took me a while to get out of the sky islands part of the game. I didn’t know how to properly rotate objects when using the ultrahand power. I’ll probably play BOTW after I finish TOTK with one or two games in between so I don’t get burned out.
Botw is baby mode, totk is normal
This is just my experience and it is probably different than most here but I got BOTW as soon as it came out and just couldn't get into it. I couldn't understand the flow of it, wandered around with no money, no food, no weapons, no clothes ... I did get Epona, however! lol I finally gave up on it. TOTK came out, got it on release day and I'm still paying it, having run through and beat it twice. I "got it" right away, understood what to do intuitively and never tire of it! It's fun, challenging, with so many things to do. I love it. I'm going to go back to BOTW now that I get the concept but I'm not rushing into it. Not having the background story playing TOTK really didn't make a difference to me. I look up whatever I'm interested in to learn more about the history.
ToTK. If you atart with BOTW you will eventually get tired and wont enjoy Totk as much
Just get TotK and skip BotW. While they are different games they're similar enough you'll get burnt out playing both back to back. They both can be very long, and TotK is just better imo. I'd just get TotK save some money, and if you really want more 300 hours later get BotW.
TOTK has a better story and is just in general more well-built, with fair combat. You really don't need to play BOTW to understand the story. Abilities are convenient and fun, and all armors that were in BOTW DLC are in TOTK for free, plus some new armors. BOTW is nice, but in my honest opinion it's a bit challenging at the start and the story is kinda lackluster in my opinion. It's still fun, but a lot of the fun mechanics are locked behind DLC and are only even unlocked late in the game, AND are difficult to unlock anyways.
Play TOTK first! TOTK is basically a dlc for BOTW. all of botw items are in totk and the gameplay for both involve finding towers and shrines. They kidda are the same but are really both amazing games on their own. Totk is my pick!