If you play Breath of the Wild before Tears of the Kingdom for the first time, it would help you to appreciate the story and setting. However, replaying the former might leave you too burnt out to enjoy the latter.
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Should You Replay Breath of the Wild Before Playing Tears of the Kingdom?
An important factor to consider is that both games take place in the same world. You’ll see many of the same sights in Tears of the Kingdom as you did in Breath of the Wild. There are certainly plenty of differences, but the overall world is the same.
Breath of the Wild can be quite a long game. Even if you only do the main story objectives, you’re still looking at somewhere between 25 to 50 hours of gameplay. That is unless you’re doing a speedrun, which can take as little as 23 minutes.
After all, doing so may leave you burnt out on open-world Legend of Zelda adventuring. This is not something you want going into Tears of the Kingdom. Potentially, you won’t enjoy the game as much.
Conversely, you may be the type of person that enjoys seeing the world differences between the two games. Taking note of all the changes might be satisfying and worth the time. However, that depends on you and your perspective.
Should You Play Breath of the Wild for the First Time Before Playing Tears of the Kingdom?
If you’ve never played Breath of the Wild before, now would be the time to do so! However, as mentioned before, the game can take a while to play through, so it might burn you out before you get to Tears of the Kingdom. Instead, if you want the story, gameplay highlights, and memes, think about looking up videos on YouTube.
There’s nothing wrong with passively enjoying gameplay videos. Doing so would be an efficient way to pick up tricks and tips to try in Tears of the Kingdom without needing to figure them out for yourself—like how to shield surf.
What’s more, doing either of the above can immerse you into the setting and get you hyped for your next big Legend of Zelda adventure. If there’s any good reason to play Breath of the Wild before Tears of the Kingdom, it’s that.
With that said, we’re certain that the developers created Tears of the Kingdom to be enjoyed regardless of how much experience you have with the Zelda franchise. You could be a veteran who played every title in the series or a complete newcomer. It won’t matter much, as the game will still be fun if it’s your kind of thing.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap up the main points in a neat little table:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Taking note of all the changes might be satisfying and worth the time | Replaying BotW has high potential to burn you out if you've already played the game |
| Can immerse you in the world and get you hyped | Playing BotW for the first time can burn you out even if you've never played it before because it's a long game |
In the end, it really depends on your personal preferences. Factors like how much of a Legend of Zelda fan you are, how much you’ve played Breath of the Wild, and how much you enjoy open-world games are important things to consider.
Instead of delving into a ton of repetitive dungeons, a better way to get hyped for Tears of the Kingdom might be to enjoy some Zelda memes. Much like when Link lifts up a piece of the Triforce, the power is in your hands.
