Both are pretty close to me, and both definitely have their issues that they both share and weirdly do not.
BotW being the sort of reintroduction to a much more freeform of gameplay allowed for much less handholding and consequently led to experiencing the story, if at all, at your own pace and in whatever order. Because of this, it made it much easier for me to look at the whole as an experience rather than segmenting cutscenes and gameplay. Compartmentalization of these aspects would have been far more detrimental to my enjoyment of the game overall. Disregarding the king’s blatant advice to head east first led to things like getting to my first night of play getting to the very top of Hyrule Castle, and then later on a perilous climb over the canyons to the west, avoiding whatever the hell the giant thing in the sandstorm was, and after some long trek through the desert getting eaten by a giant sand fish. Might not be “canon” for everyone else, but those are the kinds of experiences that nonlinear storytelling helps to make stick in your mind.
That all being said, I don’t think I ever got all the flashbacks my first time around, and I just was not very fond of either the champions or their replacements feeling like they had the depth of Saturday morning cartoon characters. Like it or not, the overly generic voice acting and directing did not help it one bit, Zelda herself worst of all. Playing again in Japanese was far better at least. Heard some other languages are better, maybe an idea to try if I ever play these again.
Eventually I did see all the memories, and while I wish the game had given the same amount of development to its other cast, I think at least this part was solid and really tied everything together. That and the whole thing with her father and finding both their respective diaries, too - those are the aspects I find take good parts from other more open ended forms of storytelling that really work. Not everything should be a collectible, necessarily, but the logs from Metroid Prime, Bioshock, a ton of more nuanced details in games like Fallout New Vegas, these are all things you can leave around your game world for players to discover on their own that I especially enjoyed in BotW, even if it’s not that common.
Ganon himself, I really didn’t mind being more of a force of nature rather than a character. We’d had him more human for a few games prior, and only really one where I felt they actually made use of that in Wind Waker. The others range from generic to kind of shoehorned in to where he didn’t really need to be in the first place. Here, they made it work by simply showing the outright level of destruction wrought upon the land by such a cataclysmic event. That alone was all enough for me - simply Ganon’s presence permeated through the malice found throughout the world, and the guardians a living reminder of their over reliance on external factors like technology that got them into this mess. It is not perfect by any means, but I feel the main takeaway shown through Zelda herself was that it was her deep bond with Link that allowed her to protect him and through that, everyone else, and something like that could not be forced, it had to be genuine. That all ties in to how much of the game becomes hopeful in the face of all that’s been lost and leads to the hope it can all be mended.
TotK surprisingly takes on a bit more of a conventional approach, but in a way I’d kind of expected them to just by them having brought Ganondorf back. Still not quite how I’d expected everything to turn out, both a positive and a negative. I will start by saying that, while the intro was neat, and the tutorial section was fresh in the first few hours…it wore off much faster, in part being designed way more linearly, and I just don’t find Rauru as compelling for whatever reason. I guess he just doesn’t have that same sense of mystique, yet familiarity, nor the drama with another adjacent character to mull over, and most of all you don’t really find him doing much different on the island. Guess it’s a bit difficult to give a reason for someone you already know is a ghost to go hunting or chop down trees or whatever. Throughout the game I was kind of hoping we’d at least get more of a sense of his culture, or more of a community if the robots on another sky island somewhere. I liked a few of the low gravity and sphere shaped ones, standouts are definitely the large smokestack thing and the lighthouse looking ones, but was really hoping for something more definitively in the lore we could learn from.
Likewise with the depths. Fine enough for the most part, Kohga’s return and learning more about the Yiga was fun, but I feel there was a bit more build up that just wasn’t followed through on for how important this place seemed to be. Might have been asking a lot but could have at least been interesting to see those mole people from Skyward Sword or Subrosians, or like I said, seeing more of those robots in a community setting. As is, I think I share some grievances that the depths are largely wasted space outside of the few set pieces there are down there, unfortunately.
Now, once you’ve got down to the surface, the game is even more open than I’d anticipated. The game does show you plain as day that you should definitely go down to see the front of Hyrule Castle. My bad for not immediately going there, but I wanted to see the rest of Hyrule field first, and especially changes to the Great Plateau. It was a while before I realized I didn’t have the paraglider, making one of the first shrines I did next to impossible. I eventually did make my way down to the castle town ruins, probably from the angle I approached I simply did not notice Lookout Landing at all and went north to the castle. Assumed whatever I needed was there somewhere, and, left with little options…I jumped down the giant pit, and only then remembered once again I couldn’t fly and died at the bottom. I guess I just got really used to having one prior for a good 40-50 hours lol. One of those moments that can only come about from this style of gameplay, both good and bad but the important part is how memorable it is.
Going further in, I guess I ought to put a spoiler warning for anyone who still hasn’t played.
So, straight away, I should say I changed to Japanese as soon as I could. I’ve seen others play in English and it’s still just not great, unfortunately…still don’t like Zelda, and feel neither Rauru or Ganondorf fit at all, regardless of how talented they might be otherwise. Matt Mercer is just not burly and imposing enough to fill in the role of this large and seasoned war monger. The only one I found decent was Sonia, I think, and haven’t really listened to anyone else beyond that. The Japanese, well, I can’t understand most words, so going off intonation alone it seems fine enough for the most part.
Having heard of influence from studio Ghibli, I’d watched Princess Mononoke in preparation for this game, and that set some expectations for me. Definitely feel the similarities. However, might have been appropriate to watch some of the others as well, and since I procrastinate a lot, I simply haven’t yet. Even so, knowing some of this definitely made some elements just seem pretty obvious, especially the shift from a much more solemn and lonesome atmosphere the previous game had, to one much more about camaraderie here. That and the follow through on rebuilding and healing, often very literally.
The fake Zelda thing was kinda obvious from the get go, and it was a bit silly the game expected you to entertain this mystery, but I do feel it wasn’t exactly the main point of the premise, at least not for fans who are a bit older than small children who got the game for xmas or whatever. It’s another one of those much more natural elements of the storytelling, being able to go around the whole world and hear about her here or there, especially with the whole sidequest about the rumors of Zelda sightings. It feels much more organic this way. Some of the first things I saw were the flowers at the monuments at the Great Plateau and Castle town ruins. And then, going back to Link’s house in Hateno, if you find what’s there, well…that all just goes back to these extra details that can be found that add a lot to the experience, and to the depth between Link and Zelda in the years between the two games. But most of all, just how important Zelda came to be to the people of Hyrule, something not typically shown at all but something much more believable here in how much trust they’ve come to place in her, leading to all these misunderstandings and just why it’s genius for Ganondorf to take advantage of it, just as Ganon did with the guardians.
Speaking of, kind of a side tangent, the lack of guardians is definitely missed, but then I feel the overall feel of the game is not meant to be as dangerous or foreboding but oddly more melancholy. That and, it’s much more of a surprise when the really nasty stuff does show up in the more quiet places. Now, all the Sheikah tech disappearing is a point of contention, makes sense for people to ask, but that’s where I’m fine with my own headcanon that much of it was repurposed for the towers and the Purah Pad, and probably the rest discarded and dismantled in fear of it turning on them ever again. Going off that, some say it arguably ****s all over established canon, I would totally agree, which is why I think everything in both of these games takes place far after everything else in the series, to the point it may as well be a reboot. I’m completely fine with thinking that for myself.
There’s the scene in which Ganondorf bows down to Rauru in his throne room. It’s not exactly fresh in my memory, so I’d have to rewatch it again to confirm, but there’s a bit where he says how curious it is that Rauru is the last of his kind (along with his sister I guess). Not really sure exactly what the implications are, but I remember thinking, did the Zonai force their rule over the much more primitive people living on the surface? Had Ganondorf been written a bit better, I think they could have taken a kind of angle where he was refusing to bow to someone just as greedy as he was, but I guess they opted not to. Perhaps if Rauru had some guilt over perhaps nefarious ways of how he came to rule, that could have added a much needed layer of complexity to the narrative that just wasn’t there. As it is, I do like this Ganondorf more than his OoT incarnation, definitely leagues above TP, still short of TWW sadly. At the very least, his opening lines during the last confrontation add a sort of a flavor reminiscent of someone like Grey Fox, simply relishing in having someone to give him a worthy fight. Perhaps for him it is just down to bloodlust.
Going from that, there’s the memories. In trying to tell a more contemporary story, I do feel they often fell kind of flat for me, often being too brief and contingent on one another. Only one I enjoyed on its own was Sonia recalling the teacup. Not much else to say about them other than it’s kind of unfortunate they couldn’t do this kind of thing another way. Only thing is, some say they hate getting these out of order, but then I’d respond, have you never seen any other media out of order? It can be fun and is often used very deliberately to add mystery in trying to piece together how it all fits. If you really want a terrible example, Beyond Two Souls is much worse than what was done here.
The parts where I think this story is strongest is in each of the plights of the people around Hyrule and how their leaders are dealing with them - each of my least favorite parts of the last game. Here, I felt the situations were much more dire, from the moment I first stepped foot in Rito village, helped by the imposing quiet in the soundtrack, realizing the children were left in their own out of necessity. I’ll admit, I initially was not a fan of Tulin himself until I realized he kind of mirrored Komali as well as lending to the idea of needing to not go it alone this time. Sidon I’d originally did not understand the meme worthy, Undertale-like reverence for, but the much more serious problem in Zora’s domain now along with having a fiancé and him dealing with that made him much more compelling this time. Riju, the only one I’d found decent before, well, the situation she dealt with was what I found to be the most frightening, and with her standing strong in the face of it and pushing herself to train and grow made me love her all the more for it. I did Death Mt last since it was absolutely my least favorite part of BotW overall, and while I found things to be far sillier here, part of that definitely made Yunobo more endearing to me, especially in finding real strength behind the false mask of confidence. And getting to go into Death Mt and actually seeing a slightly different depths biome and the whole Fire Temple, definitely a highlight this time around.
I’d kind of waited on getting everyone in my “party” to do much of the side content, mostly the larger scale battles. Perhaps it was a mistake to wait that long, but I kind of sucked lol. Definitely found them all useful in battle. I kind of wish they were actually there with you. I kind of get it, being there “in spirit”, but it feels kind of half hearted when the drama is centered around them deciding to go with you, just to be able to be with their people after all. Just sort of a smaller nitpick I guess.
Anyway, so the side content. Mostly what I was excited for was the pirate related stuff, starting with Lurelin and Bolson. Really great bit here, especially seeing it all rebuilt and Bolson himself finding something more fulfilling to do with his work, to help people who are really in need. Really wish there had been more to the pirates themselves, though…it really just ends up being a flavor thing, just your average bokoblins with some set dressing. Really could have made more of a completely optional dungeon out of Eventide and their hideout with some more story significance or characters. I remember seeing others theorize maybe they were the ones from the Oracle games, could have been neat.
But the real good stuff is in Tarrey Town. Not a ton admittedly, but everything with Hudson, even the stuff with the town accepting whatshisuglyface into the community was nice. But there are plenty of smaller things like this throughout the game that build so well off stuff from the first, even if it’s not all explicitly mentioned. This is one aspect where I’m not sure in which the credit is due, but at least where I feel those who think the point of it being a direct sequel was so they could just copy/paste everything are completely off the mark. So much of the enjoyment is contingent on it being set in the same world and seeing how the characters have all adjusted and adapted to new developments, or how they’ve aged and come to change their views, etc.
In conclusion, well, it’s very hard for me to say. BotW had the benefit of being the first of its kind, and used that very well to create its own unique way of telling the story and giving the right kind of vibes. Totk was trying to tell a much more structured story, for all the good and bad that comes with, but I feel used the fact it was building off another as best it could, only for some stuff to not match up so well in the interest of things like the Sheikah tech just not fitting in anywhere to the themes it presented. I think the parts that mattered most to me were the cast of characters you spend most of your time with, and with how much better developed they were in the sequel, I suppose that is the one deciding factor for me to say I prefer it.
