The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

WithThe Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdombeing a verbatim good continuation ofBreath of the Wild , some players may understandably be hesitating about setting out on their Hyrulean adventure if they have n’t yet played ( or finish ) the first game . This is a valid worry to have , as it can be indecipherable how much of the newestZeldatitle trust on retiring events or knowledge gathered from the prequel .

After all , Breath of the Wildis a monolithic game , and finishing it is a task easier said than done . Just complete the main write up takes around 50 minute , but when factoring in the dozens of side pursuit , Shrines , and Korok Seeds break up around the open - world function , the entire playday easily adds up to well over 100 hours . Many of those who started the secret plan might not have make the finish stemma , and those who have never played it might sense too overwhelmed to depart now . As such , both parties may come up themselves curious whether they actually need to playBOTWbeforeTOTK .

concern : Every New Link Power In Tears of the Kingdom , Ranked Worst To Best

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You Don’t Have To Play BOTW Before TOTK

In reality , player do n’t require to playBreath of the Wildto enjoyTears of the Kingdom . While there are plain plenty of spoiler for the event ofBOTW , the narrative ofTOTKisn’t hard to follow , especially with arecap ofBOTW ’s story . The newZeldagame has completely changed the controls and mechanic - so much so , that those without sinew remembering ofBreath of the Wild ’s own controls will likely have an easier metre mastering them . Plus , all items and abilities unlocked during the prequel are reset going intoTears of the Kingdom , so actor need n’t worry about any premature progress ( or miss thence ) regard gameplay .

You Should Play BOTW First Anyway

While player do n’t necessarily have to playBreath of the WildbeforeTears of the Kingdom , it for sure serves to raise the experience if they do . Apart from its highly entertaining gameplay , much of the delectation ofTOTKcomes from ensure how the secret plan has built upon the foundation ofBOTW.The most obvious model of this isTears of the Kingdom ’s mapping , which has whole reimagined Hyrule as a collection of float , fragmented islands , while still stay true to the previous game and expose a kingdom that ’s in the process of rebuilding . Many of the game ’s new mechanic and side pursuit are also fun callbacks toBOTW .

snag of the Kingdomis better thanBreath of the Wildin a overplus of ways , but only those who have played the latter will truly be able-bodied to appreciate the shade . For this reason , lover will greatly benefit from playingBreath of the Wildfirst - but at close of the solar day , anyone who ’s eager to leap into Link ’s latest escapade should not feel pressured to check their playthrough ofThe Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom .

Source : IGN / YouTube

Link falling out of the sky in TOTK’s intro sequence on the left, and the promotional art for BOTW on the right.

Zelda with her hands cupped while Link is in the background peering off into the sky.

Link and Zelda ride through a beautiful sunset-drenched hilltop from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild