
With a little under four weeks remaining until the worldwide launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it's still a little early to debate whether or not the game itself will be superior to its predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You know, seeing as nobody's played it yet, an' all.
We here at Nintendo Life love a good debate, though — our video team just recently ranked every trailer for Tears of the Kingdom, be sure to check out the video and other poll at the bottom of the article — and since Nintendo has now graced us with the third and final trailer for the upcoming sequel, we thought it would be fun to find out whether our lovely community prefers the latest glimpse at Tears of the Kingdom, or its counterpart, the 2017 Nintendo Switch Presentation trailer for Breath of the Wild. The latter is known in some circles as The Best Trailer Ever Made™, but TOTK's final one is a bit tasty, too.
Both trailers share much in common, including sweeping views of the environment, tantalising hints at how the games' narratives might play out, and introductions to the numerous residents of Hyrule. But which one is really better? Well, it's up to you. Check out each trailer below and don't forget to cast your vote in our poll.
First, let's remind ourselves of the two final trailers for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch Presentation Trailer (2017)
The final trailer for Breath of the Wild has become simply iconic within the Nintendo community and ranks as one of the finest trailers for any Nintendo game (possibly any game full stop).
It starts with some beautiful glimpses of the scenery throughout Hyrule before resting on the Master Sword hidden within Korok Forest. Then, the camera sweeps toward Link standing atop a hill overlooking Hyrule Castle, and it's this moment that sends chills down our spines - it's simply stunning. The music is perfect and wonderfully encapsulates just how epic this game is going to be.
From this point on, we get a lot of quick cuts showcasing gameplay and cutscenes, giving us hint after hint as to who we'll be meeting on our journey and where the story might take us. The music remains consistently epic throughout and the voiceover work does a more than adequate job of demonstrating the stakes at play here. Just wonderful stuff.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Official Trailer #3 (2023)
Looking back at both trailers now, it's actually quite shocking just how similar they are in terms of structure and content. The Tears of the Kingdom trailer once again starts with quiet shots of the scenery, focusing on the new Sky Islands. Then the music kicks in and we see Link sky diving towards the surface.
Unlike Breath of the Wild's trailer, this one rests on the quieter moments a bit longer, and it's really not until we see Hyrule Castle rising from the ground that things kick into high gear. After a glimpse of Ganondorf / Demise / Whoever-the-heck-that-guy-is, we get quick shots of gameplay and narrative beats, wisely focusing on aspects not found in the first game.
Overall, while there are definitely moments in this trailer that feel darker than the first game, the overarching vibe is still quite uplifting. The beautiful saxophone music, the reintroduction of the first game's cast, and the stunning shots of Link soaring through the sky atop a flying structure: it's simply epic.
Voted for your favourite Zelda Trailer? Good work. Be sure to leave a comment below with your reasoning and why your trailer of choice is the top dog. And check out our video team debating and ranking all the TOTK-specific trailers, too:
Comments 69
Breath of the Wild was a literal console seller. I saw video of people weeping. Because of that fact it objectively wins.
3 was the first trailer I felt pumped after watching. It was pretty darn well done
BOTW trailer, easily. Its a masterpiece of editing work, perfect pacing and syncronisation between what is happening and the music and dialogue.
The TOTK one, meanwhile, does exactly what I predicted this final trailer would do - aim for the same superb editing as the BOTW trailer, but fall short of it by a good margin. Its still very good, don't get me wrong - but its nowhere near close to what the final BOTW trailer is. TOTK one feels a bit too full of stuff and the pacing is slapdash because of it - all because prior to this trailer they had shown us literally nothing in comparison, so had to cram a ton of stuff into the latest trailer to get people hyped.
TL;DR - BOTW trailer is leagues better in every way, TOTK one falls short despite being a very good trailer in and of itself.
Edit - I guess the recency bias is VERY strong with this poll, lol
Even though it was obvious that BotW will be a launch title I still was super excited and relived when they showed "March 3rd" at the end of the trailer
Alone that makes that trailer super special to me
TOTK’s final trailer was phenomenal, however, I still give the edge to BOTW. Seeing that trailer for the first time was an unforgettable experience.
I had never watched that BotW trailer until now. Wow! I'm excited for TotK, but that BotW trailer was epic!
Slight edge to BOTW because TOTK practically copied its same beats. But both trailers were are awesome and got me hyped to play the games!
The idea that after doing all you did to defeat Gannon and save Hyrule in Breath of the Wild having Gannon come back so seemingly easily and makes things even worse makes all that basically a wet fart… honestly prefer the clean slate next generation Zelda instead of direct sequels granted we still don’t fully know How Gannon returns yet and the game dose look amazing
The BOTW trailer is definitely more iconic, but it was also kinda inaccurate. It led a ton of people to think that game was going to be way more story-driven than it actually was.
We obviously haven't played TOTK yet, but it had more of a focus on showing us all the new cool gameplay and story elements that we hadn't seen up to this point. And where I was already sold on BOTW by the Nintendo Switch presentation, this was the trailer that sold me on TOTK.
It's difficult for me. I might slighly prefer TotK as somehow I feel super excited for the mystery from it and after it. It raises more questions. But BotW is just a really good trailer too and I still really like seeing the world for the first time. I also really like the music in that trailer.
I think though my vote is on can't choose as I still really like BotW trailer while still liking TotK one as well.
As for the 2nd poll, for me that's a no-brainer and the 3rd official trailer for me. It finally showed what I was hoping to see for so long and showed me it will be a new adventure with new things in gameplay, story and the world.
I still weep when I see the BotW trailer, mainly due to the music and the atmosphere which seems to be constant throughout the trailer. TotK feels more as if they wanted to show what will be different / added to BotW, there’s a lot of very different showings throughout this trailer.
So I chose the BotW trailer.
Sidenote: I love how much gameplay Nintendo puts in their trailers.
BotW trailer is the better one. Probably the best trailer I've ever seen.
anyone who picks TOTK trailer is clearly recency bias its not better than BOTW
Breath Of The Wild’s trailer is still my favourite video game trailer of all time, and although TotK’s final one was great, but the full experience of Breath Of The Wild’s makes it slightly ahead for me.
@Cashews I also voted for the Botw trailer, but person judgments about which piece of art is "better" are strictly subjective.
Breath of the Wilds trailer got me to buy my first Switch.
Tears of the Kingdom trailer got me to cancel my pre order. I may eventually pick it up pre owned when/if I see it cheap.
my guess is a lot of people that didn't watch and wait for BotW are voting in this
Final 1 yess that is Ganondorf.
BotW still wins this one pretty easily.
The way its tone, music, etc. builds throughout is consistent. The trailer is almost a story in itself. The pacing is perfect. It's a work of art, and I'm glad people are finally starting to appreciate it more than they used to (the Switch 2017 presentation in general blew me away, and it'll never cease to amaze me that, immediately afterward, people were acting disappointed by it.).
I'd put both in my top five video game trailers, though. Nintendo absolutely knocked it out of the park with TotK's final trailer.
Those voting for the TOTK trailer don’t remember how GREAT the BOTW trailer was. 6 years and 5 playthroughs later, it still gives me goosebumps.
The TOTK trailer is way better. It shows more gameplay elements (the BOTW seems to be more about cutscenes) and has much better music.
The Music in the BOTW trailer is rather bland and does not fit the style of the Zelda franchise.
BotW for me just because I was hyped for the game and also for the switch itself I went straight to Game and preordered the game and console for the midnight launch
Their could never be a more hyped Zelda than Botw so it wins obviously.
Both trailers are great! But my God, the BoTW trailer can still make my tear up. The music and the grandiose of it is just epic. It really draws the emotions out of you. BoTW wins for me. It made me so proud to be a Zelda fan.
For me it's BotW hands down. That trailer's pacing and music is perfect. It just keeps building, showing epic scene after epic scene. Hinting at a the 100 years that have passed and Ganon's links to the Royal Family. I can't even say how many times I watched that trailer leading up to 03/09/2017. Seriously, the music from it was my morning alarm for several months.
@Matl
The bias is legit. I completely agree with all of your points. The BotW trailer is perfect. TotK is decent, but the pacing is not near as good.
I'm convinced this poll has since recency bias over the TotK trailer. Then again, the TotK does have that saxophone...
BotW. TotK has some obscenely cool things in it that build off of the previous game, but BotW was absolutely mind-blowing in terms of Zelda.
Breath of the Wild obviously! I still get the creeps, when I'm watching this masterpiece of a trailer. I'm sure, Tears of the Kingdom will also be a class of its own and a worth successor to BotW, but what BotW and especially its 2017 trailer have done to me in over 35 years of gaming experience is unparalleled. BEST TRAILER OF THE BEST GAME EVER! No question.
Tears of the Kingdom’s third trailer is great, don’t get me wrong…but I still get chills when the music picks up in the Breath of the Wild presentation trailer. That trailer was mind-blowing, at the time.
@Chozo Normally I would agree with you - but not in this case. It was on the back of that trailer Nintendo pinned all of their hopes for the console on. And largely because of that trailer - Nintendo went from 4th place in game console sales to 1st.
Twilight Princess E3 reveal.
Those mentioning recency bias seem to forget that nostalgia bias is also a thing and is as much as if not even more powerful...
Anyway, for me the Tears of the Kingdom trailer is better just because it shows more of the cool stuff we'll be able to do gameplaywise, buth both are incredibly spectacular!
And yeah, it's obviously the best among the Tears of the Kingdom trailers, too.
The BOTW trailer had better music, but I honestly like the TOTK one more. IT. IS. EPIC.
The music in the BOTW trailer is the best video game trailer music though.
Have we been reduced to comparing the hype generated by a trailer last week to one years ago? Seriously?
I get it, we're all excited about the imminent release of Tears of the Kingdom. And we can't wait to finally play it. But this is rather spurious and trite. I thought this site was a bit above this level of churnalism, but nope.
For the record, the first trailer for Breath of the Wild has never been beat by those of us who saw it. "Open world Link!!!!" And our expectations were surpassed.
The TotK 3rd trailer was great but the final BotW trailer was better by a country mile.
First time we saw Zelda, the trailer flowed better, release date confirmed and the music was incredible. Best game trailer of all time.
TotK trailer never had a chance of topping it.
I liked BotWs trailer more cause I prefer the grand orchestral sound the series is known for. And altho the game is absolutely nothing like the trailer, it gave off a sense of urgency and/or despair. Hyrule castle town was being raided and destroyed by Ganon and the sheikah machines turned against them, Link and Zelda running away battle damaged, Link almost being on death's bed, and Zelda unable to awaken her power to prevent any of this
Meanwhile, TotK's trailer more gives off that typical avengers 'everyone is here' feeling where everyone is now standing up to ganondorf equipped with a jazzy version of the main theme and everything
I definitely was super excited for BoTW and the final trailer got me to a hype level I've only had for a handful of games. The delay also played a part, waiting for a new 3D Zelda game for that long was excruciating!
I like that the BoTW trailer starts out slow, the pacing and music is amazing. But it also shows so many epic shots! Yeah, ToTK trailer is also cool but for me BoTW wins by a large margin!
BOTW's trailer still amazed me more because of how epic it was on many angles. I especially liked how the music "builds up" throughout the trailer, which was something I felt was missing in TOTK's trailer for me.
I don't understand how TotK is winning the poll atm. The only explanation I find is many didn't experience the BotW trailer when it happened.
I hope I'm wrong about this. But I'm feeling a letdown coming with TotK. It's so samey to BotW its worrisome. And the delay of 6 years to get here...I dunno. I hope I'm wrong, but it just 'feels' a bit late to hit hard with me. FF16 is giving the same vibe too. Maybe it's age catching up to me finally.
I'm surprised it isn't closer. I think both trailers are great, but the main reason I went for BotW is that 6 years is a long time and whilst they may be keeping more secrets held back I think TotK trailer could and should have shown more new things than it did.
I can’t help but notice that the visuals in the the second and third trailer aren’t as good as the E3 2021 teaser. The game still looks better than Breath of The Wild but I can’t find those amazingly rendered from the E3 2021 teaser and the high resolution shadows being seen from a distance when link is falling down.
Breath of the Wild trailer was more important, Tears of the Kingdom Trailer is the better trailer.
Remember Nintendo came from the dark place called the Wii U and had no idea if the Switch was going to as successful as it became. It needed a killer app to sell the system and the BotW trailer was exactly that.
BOTW was such a bar raiser for Zelda — and video games in general — that I think it's hard to compete with that anticipation. That said, the TOTK trailer ties BOTW with classic Zelda and has me excited in a brand new way.
I chose the BoTW.
While I think ToFK certainly will have a better story and may end up being a better game, this trailer #3 was expected to happen. This was not the case for BoTW and it created a lot of hype for the game. Plus BoTW was a wholly new experience - yes, ToFK is not just "more of the same" but there will be sense of familiarity that you definitely would not have felt when first playing BoTW.
Both epic trailers, though!
Plus after re-watching the BoTW trailer, the music at the beginning reminded me of James Bond music from the Pierce Brosnan era.
@Dahn_
Recency bias.
@Olliemar28 As a social experiment, can you redo this poll ~one year from now (or at least a few months after the final inevitable ToTK DLC goes live)?
At any rate:
BoTW Trailer wins.
Summary:
We spend 30 seconds just admiring a beautiful world. 20 seconds in the Korok Forest, with a long shot on the Master Sword.
Then Link just looking over Hyrule Field during an orchestral swell. Then we see Link doing some incredibly normal things (gameplay-wise at least), and it just looks like a world that I want to explore.
Note: no enemies yet, we've only seen ordinary animals doing there thing.
Then, some voiceovers, a clip of Ganon flying around the castle, and a combat montage, then more shots of the many environments.
Then, that zoomout at 2:20 is just perfect.
We're treated to the divine beasts and scenes of destruction and despair.
And then there's the final ending scene with the piano and Zelda saying 'Open Your Eyes', which is a request not just to Link, but to the viewer.
The BotW trailer establishes Hyrule as a gigantic place, promises you can go anywhere, teases incredible interactions, and invites the viewer to try it.
A close call, but def the last trailer.
A Tear of the Kingdom fell on my cheek while watching Official Trailer #3 2023.
The only issue is that neither trailer ended on a moment that wowed me and they both sort of just peter out. Everything else about them is perfect though. I have to go with BOTW trailer, just because it ends a little more strongly.
Both are fantastic trailers, but BOTW is far superior. And is still the best videogame trailer of all time. That can be said that after playing the game the BOTW trailer a till only scratches the surface of all the experiences you’ll have in the game. Keeping in mind that it was meant to be a hype trailer as we already knew quite a lot about the game.
It’s the opposite for TOTK. The game launches in a few weeks and, even after this trailer, we still know so little about it. We just got a taste of what Nintendo has been holding back and can’t wait to see more. And we know there’s a LOT more to see and discover. The game may ultimately be better than BOTW, but the trailer isn’t.
@Cashews people cry with everything these days though... when did people become such cry babies?
Yeah, there's no contest here. BotW's trailer was showing off an astonishingly beautiful open world unlike anything we'd ever seen before, absolutely brilliant scoring, and promised a dramatic, emotional story lending new weight to familiar beats.
I get folks riding high on the hype for TotK, but... no, the trailers are nowhere near comparable. TotK's trailer is showing us... a somewhat modified version of a (still drop-dead gorgeous) world we've already thoroughly explored, and only sort of gestures at its narrative. It's more of a teaser than a trailer, despite its length.
@Krysus I mean, Square-Enix has had a pretty troubled history with Final Fantasy Games since the merger, you really SHOULD doubt their ability to deliver. But has Nintendo ever really failed to deliver with ANY of their flagship series? IE, Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc.?
I found most of the BOTW trailer boring until the latter half. It's an alright trailer I suppose, I don't get why people like it so much. But then again I found BOTW to be an underwhelming Zelda game.
It’s odd to see the comments so heavy on BOTW but the poll showing TOTK leading.
Both were very strong trailers, each promising specific gameplay advances (open world, gliding, climbing anything) (building, falling a lot).
@Kestrel Skyward Sword, Mario Sunshine were not bad misses, but not so popular. Best I got.
Seems like I agree with the majority here. As much as I loved Breath of the Wild's trailer, Tears of the Kingdom's shows a lot more going on.
I absolutely LOVED the new trailer for Tears of the Kingdom, but I think that as a trailer it doesn’t quite match the progression and buildup of the Breath of the Wild trailer. Both are amazing though.
It's hard for me to be impartial here. Breath of the Wild was my first experience with open world gaming and the trailers really hyped me so much. Tears of the Kingdom doesn't have that advantage. My hype for it is naturally lower, but I know it's going to be a total blast!
The BOTW trailer is infinitely nostalgic, but the one small caveat is the disappointment that the music never made it into the game. Pacing for BOTW's trailer is indeed perfect, but the TOTK's trailer is more bombastic, illustrating the escalation of how much higher the stakes have risen, understandably so since it's a sequel.
I voted TOTK because it embodies the emotional culmination of the BOTW timeline, and to me it lands harder because of that. Both trailers make me tear up!
Hopefully the TOTK trailer music will make it into the game!!
The answer is obvious:
"I can't pick between them!"
@Matl TOTK was way better...
I had fallen out of playing many video games so I didn't watch the BOTW trailer back when it came out. I'm not sure I actually even saw it before I eventually played the game (on my housemate's switch with her copy because I didn't have a switch then either). And I'm more excited for TOTK than I was for BOTW (since I wasn't really anticipating it at all, ha). But still gotta give the edge to the BOTW trailer. It's especially the music. Feels more epic. Still super hype for TOTK, though. This time, it'll be a day one purchase for me.
I´m primarily a PC gamer with a really good rig to play on. Long time ago, I have liked SNES but no other console ever interested me. I have bought Switch solely to play Breath of the Wild and it became my second favorite single player game of all times (ranked by time spent), as I have played it now for over 1100 hours. It managed to beat Skyrim, Mass Effect series (all games combined), Dragon Age series (all games combined), Fallout 1, 2 and 3 and the only single player game that managed to beat it is Fallout 4 (with over 2000 hours playtime currently). So of course I would prefer the Breath of the Wild trailer at present.
Also I have the dread feeling Tears of the Kingdom is destined to fail with me. I hope not! But how can you repeat such a huge success of the previous game.
People seem to keep forgetting that the until the final BotW trailer dropped, we had NO idea if this game even HAD a story. We only had glimpses of the world and mechanics, and one line from Zelda. I remember some people theorized that this was all a big remake of the first Zelda game, with little to no story, no towns or characters - only pure gameplay.
BotW's trailer was not only amazingly edited and composed, it was a huge RELIEF because we finally knew that yes, there will be gorons and zoras and characters and voices and a story behind the stellar open-world gameplay. This elevated it and made it endlessly rewatchable.
I will say TotK's final trailer definitely has that same magic, since we haven't really seen many characters, but as good as it is I don't think it quite reaches the heights of the BotW's trailer because we already had the assurance (just by playing BotW) that the game will be good and have a story we care about.
@Gorlock
I'm not revealing anything, but according the leakers TotK is like the best open world game ever. And we now live in a post BotW and Elden Ring times. Someone even stated that our hype is not nearly enough. The game will be a lot more than most of us may expect.
@Cia That is encouraging.
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