The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda title to make a significant impact on the franchise and the gaming industry since the 1998 hit, Ocarina of Time. While this Nintendo series has always been held to a high standard with quality title after quality title, Breath of the Wild took things to new heights alongside the launch of the Nintendo Switch. Then, in 2023, a direct sequel dropped, expanding this version of Hyrule further. While there are many similarities between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the slight differences lead me to ask — which did it better as a modern 3D Zelda game?

With 33 mainline games (including remakes), there have only been a handful of direct sequels: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask to Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass to The Wind Waker, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to Breath of the Wild. If you stand back, the first two sequels listed had significant changes to gameplay and/or characters that allowed the game to stand on its own, for better or for worse. Majora’s Mask recycled Ocarina of Time‘s assets in such a creative way. Link is transported to Termina after his adventures and is faced with a three-day countdown until the moon crashes and obliterates everything. There are less dungeons, more side quests, and a focus on time management. The tone is also much darker. While I prefer The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time between the two, I’ve heard many arguments that I find reasonable that Majora’s Mask is superior.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass occurs after Link’s adventures in The Wind Waker. There is no King of Red Lions; instead you have a new sassy side kick — Linebeck. While you still sail the open waters, you are exploring new islands, and more importantly, are using a completely different gameplay style with the…stylus. Another central theme in Phantom Hourglass is the continuous return to the Temple of the Ocean King. Both of these major differences were pretty divisive to the series, and not many will claim this is their favorite Zelda title; however, one can appreciate its attempts to be unique.

Now we arrive at the new-age Zelda. While open worlds have been around before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but its attitude of “if you see it, you can travel to it” has inspired other games to adopt this concept (including traveling via paraglider). It certainly was revolutionary to the series, opening up the game for the player to tackle in any order and manner. In Breath of the Wild, the formula was turned on its head: no traditional dungeons, no traditional items, breakable weapons, and a set of powers. The story is minimal and tucked away in memories.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom follows Link and Zelda after the defeat of Calamity Ganon. A whole new race was introduced, the Zonai, as well as a new set of abilities: Ultrahand, Ascend, Fuse, Recall. The map was expanded in a vertical manner, allowing you to explore the sky, caves, and Depths. Although well-received, many fans struggled to find enough differences to allow Tears of the Kingdom to stand out.

Nintendo implemented some changes in hopes to satisfy player feedback, such as themed dungeons, and while weapons are still breakable, you can fuse items with them to increase their stability on the battlefield. And yet, was that enough to be a stronger game between the two?

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had an interesting premise with more involvement with the Princess herself which I like; however, it was revealed in a similar manner as the memories from Breath of the Wild. I also appreciated the fact the story of Ganondorf’s revival can stand independently, and the newer powers extended Nintendo’s dedication to allow the player to explore and do whatever they please. However, whether it is the abilities or items, you still solve puzzles in shrines and tackle the same regions in any order. Breath of the Wild‘s Magnesis, Bombs, Cryonis, and Stasis were plenty revolutionary and a lot of fun to use.

When looking at the two games side by side, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is clearly the “bigger” game, but I think it grew too large and diluted the differences that resulted in a soggy experience. Aside from King Rauru and Ganondorf, there weren’t many compelling new characters, and the newer locations were just okay. Sure, they were beautiful, but there was a lot of open, empty space. It honestly felt like I was playing more of Breath of Wild. It offered more, but I didn’t feel like it was any better. One of our writers actually wrote a fantastic editorial on how Tears of the Kingdom as a sequel is problematic, and I felt our thoughts were aligned in many ways. In the end, I believe that between the two, Breath of the Wild “did it better” as the new age Zelda. Even with the few flaws it had, Tears of the Kingdom simply blew up the map and swapped a few mechanics and swapped the story while telling it in a similar fashion. Despite the slight improvements, Tears of the Kingdom still pales in comparison to Breath of the Wild’s clear and targeted direction.

Which title do you think did it better as a modern 3D Zelda game? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.

Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast about Video Games

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