Should You Play Breath of the Wild (BotW) First?

Playing Breath of the Wild brings a lot of benefits to players who are moving on to play Tears of the Kingdom. Read on to see why you should play Breath of the Wild before Tears of the Kingdom.

Do You Need to Play Breath of the Wild Before Tears of the Kingdom?

Highly-Recommended to Play

Recommended Points
	Story Connection to Tears of the Kingdom
	Gameplay Familiarity

Story Connection to Tears of the Kingdom

The official trailer of Tears of the Kingdom revealed several returning characters from Breath of the Wild with some having their grown-up versions in this game. It also featured some updated versions of some familiar locations with better textures. From this, it is safe to assume that the story of Tears of the Kingdom takes place several years after Breath of the Wild.

Story Summary and Timeline Placement

Gameplay Familiarity

Tears of the Kingdom uses the same mechanics as Breath of the Wild with the open-world map, weapon durability, and cooking. Knowing some of these basic features will help you transition to Tears of the Kingdom smoothly, easily giving you a headstart among new players.

What Transfers Over From Breath of the Wild (BotW)?

Best Features of Breath of the Wild

List of New Features in Breath of the Wild
	Open-World Action Adventure Game
	Freedom to Advance Dungeon Anytime
	Replayable Quests and Mini-Dungeons
	Environmental Changes

Open-World Action Adventure Game

Breath of the Wild is an open-world adventure game. You can freely go to any mountain, river, or plains you see. How your adventure goes in Hyrule is completely up to you.

Freedom to Advance Dungeons Anytime

Unlike in previous Zelda games, you can freely do any quest and dungeons at your own pace. As it is an open-world game, you have the freedom on how you want to explore, do quests and conquer dungeons at any time you want.

Replayable Quests and Mini-dungeons

There are over a hundred shrines in Breath of the WIld. Clearing them will grant you stamina and strength along with a bunch of other rewards. You can even replay some of these shrines!

List of All Shrines

Environmental Changes

In BotW, Link and some NPCs will behave differently depending on the weather. Some might even affect your adventures. For example, Link would not be able to climb cliffs on rainy days as they will be slippery.

Is Tears of the Kingdom Beginner-Friendly?

Tears of the Kingdom adds new features and elements to Breath of the Wild's gameplay, making it arguably a better version of its predecessor. So regardless of whether you have any experience with Zelda or not, you can still play the game enjoy the experience.

Beginner's Guide

How is Breath of the Wild Connected?

Story Connection

As mentioned, the official trailer of Tears of the KIngdom featured grown-up versions of some of the characters from Breath of the Wild. It is safe to assume that Tears of the Kingdom will serve as a continuation that takes part several years after Breath of the Wild's timeline.

Both Games Use the Same Map

TotK	BotW

The official trailer of Tears of the Kingdom featured several familiar places from Breath of the Wild. This means that Tears of the Kingdom will be using the same setting as Breath of the Wild.

World Map of Hyrule, Locations, and Map Icons Explained

Differences from Tears of the Kingdom

List of New Features

List of New Features in Tears of the Kingdom
	New abilities to help you on your adventures
	New Sky and Underground Maps
	Mini-map Coordinates Display
	Paraglider Redesigns
	Inclusion of Ganon
	Mysterious Gacha Machine
	New Items Added

These are the new changes implemented in Tears of the Kingdom. Some of the best and notable features are Link's New Abilities and the addition of Sky and Underground Maps!

New Features and Gameplay Changes from BotW

Link's New Abilities

Link's Four New Abilities
Ultrahand	Fuse	Recall	Ascend

Like in Breath of the Wild, you can also get these abilities early in your adventure. Some of these were reworked from past abilities like Vitalock and Remote Control Bakudan of BoTW. However, these new changes are much better in performance and can help you significantly during your explorations.

Four New Abilities Introduced

New Sky and Underground Maps to Explore

One of the best highlights of Tears of the Kingdom is the addition of Sky and Underground Maps, expanding the number of major areas to explore significantly. There are not many changes implemented in the returning world map, but the addition of these new maps will provide a new experience for both returning and new players alike.

Product Information

Breath of the Wild

Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Related Guides

Tips and Tricks
A Beginner's Guide to Tears of the Kingdom

All Tips and Tricks Guides