Topic: BotW is Better than TotK

And yet another notification. BotW actually looks better than TotK. The draw distance is lower in terms of textures, but this works better for the overall atmosphere. Farther objects look more blurred, which in this rare case looks better.

Of course, the surface world looks better in terms of artistic direction as well. TotK has this sky island clutter from fallen island pieces. It doesn't look that good on the surface, because the sky islands look the same everywhere while the surface has different biomes. Also in BotW, the grass seems to be in denser in some areas. This makes the nature look more alive.

I couldn't care less about the borderline insane babble about resolution or fps, but let's state it anyway. I did notice BotW has more consistent fps despite the fact some reviewers claim the opposite. Apparently they forgot BotW runs pretty much perfectly everywhere but Korok Forest.

I'm currently playing both games side by side. And the more I play the more I just want to play BotW. At this point my conclusion is that TotK sacrifices too many basic things about good and solid gameplay for complexity.

Obviously this is personal opinion ( as almost every gaming point is), but I can’t think of anything that BOTW did better. All my problems with BOTW were resolved in TOTK, to the point where I doubt I’ll ever go back to BOTW.

@blindsquarel
Just for example are the sages in your opinion better executed than the champion abilities in BotW?

To be honest, when I was playing TotK through I also thought I'd never go back to BotW. However, once I did I almost immediately noticed how much more effortless the gameplay was in almost every aspect.

In my opinion, the three things TotK definitely does better are the sheer scale of it and Zelda's part of the story. The final boss is also arguably more interesting.

Other than that, BotW just feels like the more solid game.

@Cia
The sage abilities in BOTW broke the game imo. Revalue gale made a lot of puzzles shippable, Urbosa’s made combat to easy, and Mipha’s made fairy’s pointless. Darius is the only one that didn’t feel game breaking, and even then it also made combat really easy. Meanwhile in TOTK the sage abilities definitely help you, but they trivialize parts of the game to the point where they feel pointless. Also you can run around with Tulin, so that’s another bonus.

I do like BOTW, but I think reusing the overworld hurts the replayability. Why spend 100 hours in the exact same world but with less to do? There is more to explore in TOTK, the dungeons are actually good, bosses are unique and amazing, the side quests are more interesting, and I like the story more.

( sorry for spelling errors, it is hard to type on mobile.)

@blindsquarel
Thing is, I rather play BotW because the actual gameplay is better, for reasons mentioned in OP.

So, while you may favor TotK by saying "Why spend 100 hours in the exact same world but with less to do?", when I could argue against TotK "Why spend 150 hours in the same world but with worse gameplay."

That being said, I may prefer BotW but that doesn't mean I'd never play TotK again. It still has the awesome scale and unique mechanics going on. I just don't think TotK renders BotW obsolete or vice versa, because they both have their strengths. I learned this by actually starting BotW after TotK again. You can feel the difference in controls, etc. by simply trying.

@Cia
At the end of the day it’s all subjective. Both games are absolutely incredible, so I can see why you like BOTW more.

That I'll never tire with BotW is pretty much assured by the fact that they left the remote bombs out of TotK.

@blindsquarel
Yeah, both games are definitely masterpieces and I can understand your preference too

@Matt_Barber
That's true but you can still use two types of bombs in TotK: bomb flowers and zonai time bombs. So, it's quite rare you would run out unless you use bombs in battles.

You're certainly not doing this in TotK:

@Matt_Barber
Yeah, obviously not. To me this is just one more example in the list proving TotK does not make BotW obsolete.

I love that this thread exists. If I could do memes I'd post the Dozens of Us one.

I'd be unbothered that TOTK is held to be better than BOTW if that wasn't paired with the notion that BOTW is now worthless. It is unpleasant to see my favourite game go from hero to zero like that.

While there are a number of reasons why I preferred BOTW, a number of which have been echoed here, I'll bring out an example of something that can be directly compared that illustrates the different approaches.

After the tutorial, you are directed to a Sheikah leader to get the lowdown on what's happening with the four tribes. In BOTW that is Impa in Kakariko Village. Getting to Kakariko Village is a journey unto itself. I hold that journey as one of the most exquisite gaming experiences ever. Dropping into the wider Hyrule when still incredibly vulnerable, dodging moblins and octoroks while progressing towards the grand landmark that is the Duelling Peaks. Then finding the first remnant of actual civilisation at the stable, punctuated by the music rising out of the quiet and hanging out there for a little bit before proceeding on to Kakariko. Yeah, it's really hard to explain in words what made it so magical and I know I'm not doing this justice, but it really was.

What about in TOTK? You need to see Purah at Lookout Landing. So after diving off the Great Sky Island, you drop almost in front of the front door and... there you are. Time to get on with the content. (Purah's entrance was pretty awesome though)

TOTK is always desperate to make sure you're never without "content". BOTW on the other hand isn't afraid to breathe.

@Matt_Barber Yeah, the infinite bombs in BOTW helped relieve weapon/resource anxiety. I still miss them in TOTK. (Unsurprisngly, I used duplication glitches in totk to fill that void. I never felt the need to duplicate in botw - although, I had more spare time back then.)

Scott the Woz would agree.

I agree with the vast majority of this. One complaint levelled at BoTW was that there was ‘nothing to do’, but I’ve never played a game in which ‘doing nothing’ was so utterly compelling. I fell completely in love with the world and lost myself for (hundreds of) hours exploring it. That was enough for me. The story may have been ‘light touch’, but the landscape itself acted as a canvas for the real story: the one the player wrote by forging their own path and making their own adventure.

A big mistake I made with TotK was trying to play it like BotW: ignoring the story and setting out on my own path. However, I found that the inherent narrative of adventure is diminished precisely because of the extra freedoms granted to the player. Vertical height is not rationed to nearly the same extent, and so you can get pretty much anywhere just by jumping down to it, or attaching a rocket to your shield and boosting up. You’re not made to work to nearly the same extent, and so the feeling of accomplishment is vastly reduced.

BotW made the act of climbing a mountain feel like… well, climbing a mountain. It was slow, laboured process, but once you made it to the top, there was a real a sense of awe and wonder in seeing the world stretch out before you. In contrast, TotK’s mountain summits aren’t even its highest points, and you’re more likely to jump down to them than climb up. It’s like taking a helicopter to the top of Everest.

So yes, TotK is not BotW, and I’ve felt frustrated trying to derive the same sense of beauty and wonder from it. However, it doesn’t necessary need to be BotW to be good, and plenty of people seem to have genuinely enjoyed it, so I’m now trying to play it on its own terms. Instead of ignoring the story, I’m attempting to stick to it as closely as possible in the hope it’ll add some much needed structure to the enormous, sprawling world. Hopefully I can finish the game and say that I’m glad I did!

I’d like to resurrect this thread to share my thoughts especially post EOW.
To start, botw’s story feels to fit the player’s experience better. As controversial as the memory system is it serves as a reward for exploration and goes hand in hand with that. Botw’s main objective is to explore and discover the story and lore as you go, building links strength before the goal which is always available. Totk’s story is just bad. The objective you get is to find Zelda as opposed to destroy Ganon, this does not align with what the play wants to do as it is fairly easy to see where Zelda is after some key dragon tears which you could accidentally stumble on first (in my first play through I found the purah pad dragon tear first and that ruined it for me).

The feeling of totk is off. To me this is apparent once you reach the surface, breath of the wild was magical, an adventure in its purist form across a desolated hyrule. It’s akin to the vision of the original game. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s going on with totk but it’s not the same vibe, it feels almost too campy if that makes sense. The game was advertised as darker and grittier but I think botw had darker vibes.

Months after Eow we have had time to reflect what significance it has on the series as a whole, and in this case it reinforces the significance of botw as the founder of this more open version of Zelda. This further cements botw in Zelda history as a massive innovation that transcends its game and sequel, and that’s exactly what totk will be remembered as, a sequel.

That’s my opinion, but there are things I do like about totk such as being able to ride dragons and plummet from the heavens to the depths. But botw is just simply better.

@Xenoblade-Fan I find your comment really interesting, and I would like to share my opinions (even if they're s little different from yours.)

I can't really agree personally with the first point. To me, there ain't a lot of difference between "find Zelda" and "defeat ganon". Especially when they both lead to the same point. (The tears do suck though, like, why are they in a random order? What sense does that make? I just don't care that much about story in Zelda games. Most of them I find rather uninteresting.)

I actually do kind of agree with your second point though. I think the "vibes" of botw were way better. That being said, I really don't find it to be a huge issue. Totk isn't just trying to be BOTW again. It's almost remixing BOTW into a more action-packed adventure. I prefer the somewhat post apocalyptic vibes of botw, but I don't think Totk is bad in this regard, just different.

I overall think there are clearly areas where I like BOTW more, but I undeniably found the moment to moment gameplay of tears to be way more enjoyable. There was so much more to do and see, he shrine design was more fun, I loved messing around with ultrahand, and the progression system is so good I could rant about it for hours. That's my thoughts at least.

Sincerely, a Zelda nerd with way too much free time on his hands.

@Bigmanfan To be fair, Zelda games are some of my favourite yet I don’t have a ton of this free time to invest in finding all the little details in totk, most of my time with video games nowadays is Splatoon 3

One more thing, one of my favourite weapons in botw was the forgotten edge of duality. It just looked so cool

@Xenoblade-Fan As you could probably tell by my profile pic, that use of time is not one I disagree with lol. And to be honest you're probably a bigger Zelda fan than I am. I've only played like 7 games in the series. (But I am pretty obsessed with the open-wield ones as you could probably tell.)