With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom being a direct continuation of Breath of the Wild, some players may understandably be hesitant about setting out on their Hyrulean adventure if they haven't yet played (or finished) the first game. This is a valid concern to have, as it can be unclear how much of the newest Zelda title relies on past events or knowledge gathered from the prequel.
After all, Breath of the Wild is a massive game, and finishing it is a task easier said than done. Just completing the main story takes around 50 hours, but when factoring in the dozens of side quests, Shrines, and Korok Seeds scattered around the open-world map, the total playtime easily adds up to well over 100 hours. Many of those who started the game might not have reached the finish line, and those who have never played it might feel too overwhelmed to start now. As such, both parties may find themselves curious whether they actually need to play BOTW before TOTK.
You Don't Have To Play BOTW Before TOTK
In reality, players don't need to play Breath of the Wild to enjoy Tears of the Kingdom. While there are obviously plenty of spoilers for the events of BOTW, the narrative of TOTK isn't hard to follow, especially with a recap of BOTW's story. The new Zelda game has completely changed the controls and mechanics - so much so, that those without muscle memory of Breath of the Wild's own controls will likely have an easier time mastering them. Plus, all items and abilities unlocked during the prequel are reset going into Tears of the Kingdom, so players needn't worry about any previous progress (or lack thereof) affecting gameplay.
You Should Play BOTW First Anyway
While players don't necessarily have to play Breath of the Wild before Tears of the Kingdom, it certainly serves to enhance the experience if they do. Apart from its highly entertaining gameplay, much of the enjoyment of TOTK comes from seeing how the game has built upon the foundations of BOTW. The most obvious example of this is Tears of the Kingdom's map, which has completely reimagined Hyrule as a collection of floating, fragmented islands, while still staying true to the previous game and displaying a kingdom that's in the process of rebuilding. Many of the game's new mechanics and side quests are also fun callbacks to BOTW.
Tears of the Kingdom is better than Breath of the Wild in a plethora of ways, but only those who have played the latter will truly be able to appreciate the nuance. For this reason, fans will greatly benefit from playing Breath of the Wild first - but at end of the day, anyone who's eager to jump into Link's latest adventure should not feel pressured to delay their playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Source: IGN/YouTube
