Tears of the Kingdom is a sequel to Breath of the Wild, both part of the unique franchise also known as The Legend of Zelda. As fans who have been waiting for six years now for a sequel to the masterpiece Breath of the Wild, we are curious to see what the changes between the two games will be.
Differences Between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild
1st difference between TotK and BotW: Sky Islands and Terrain in general
The most apparent difference is in the terrain. In TotK, you will notice the sky islands and a lot of skydiving as well. We hope you are not afraid of heights. Meanwhile, in BotW, the sky was clear, and you got everywhere either by walking or with a mount.
But of course, there was skydiving there too, it just wasn’t that prevalent. In the sequel though, you will need to skydive in order to get to certain locations!
2nd difference between TotK and BotW: Weapon Durability
In BotW, besides the master sword, which recharges after some time, every other weapon can and will break. In TotK, they have introduced Fuse, which allows you to combine items with weapons. As you can see in the image below, combine a rock with your sword. This helps reinforce weapons, so they don’t break as easily and deal more damage.
3d difference between TotK and BotW: Traveling Methods
In BotW, you could go around with mounts, slide on your shield, paraglide, or stasis. In TotK, the stasis option is gone, but you can create your own vehicles, bridges, gliders, hot air balloons, and much more through the introduction of the new ability Ultrahand.
You can also use the ability Ascend to pass through the ceiling of an area and emerge in the space above it. Ascend helps you save stamina. Nonetheless, you have the previous ways of transportation, such as mounts and paragliders.
4thd difference between TotK and BotW: Recall
In BotW, you had stasis to freeze objects in place. However, in TotK, we get Recall, which helps rewind the path of an object, such as a rock that fell from the sky. You can use Recall on it, hop on it, and travel up.
Also, Recall is a great defensive tool. If an enemy throws something at you, you can use Recall to throw it back at them.
5th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Towns and Settlements
In the BotW, you can find a lot of towns, settlements, and places of interest, like Kakariko Village and Hateno Village.
Now in TotK, in the recent trailer, you can see that Hateno Village has changed. New towns are added to TotK for players to find shelter in.
6th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Side Quests
In the TotK, different side quests have been added that weren’t part of the BotW. Some of them include Link helping out villagers from monsters’ attacks
Or pulling carts with horses to get NPCs to where they need to be. However, these two are just a taste of the new side quests that have been made possible for you to play.
6th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Towers
In BotW, you had the Sheikah Towers, which were interesting platforming challenges and helped unlock regions of the map. They provided vantage points to scope out the terrain ahead of you and paraglide off of them.
But, in TotK, they are nowhere to be found. However, in previews, you see a Skyview Tower, which has an elevator that brings you up. As per the use of the Skyview Tower, it remains unknown.
7th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Caves and Chasms
In TotK, you see the addition of caves and chasms. They have sprung from the terrain of Hyrule, and they need to be explored. That’s all we know so far.
8th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Monster Forts
In BotW, you could see monster forts, and you’d clear them out for different rewards. Pretty straightforward, right?
In TotK, it’s a different story, I’m afraid. Here, they have a few upgrades, like the laser, which you can trigger, or the base they have built on top of a stone talus.
9th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Enemy Type
In BotW, you fought guardians and got materials for powerful weapons, armor, and arrows. In TotK, the constructs, mechanical beings, have replaced the guardians. They can wield multiple weapons at once, but their unique ability is to wield fused weapons as well.
10th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: New Bosses
In TotK, you face new bosses. As you can clearly see in the images below, we have a large structure made of blocks. The larger mech-like construct is believed to be a boss, but that is not certain. The three headed hydra is for sure a new boss, so grab your best weapons and go be the next Hercules.
11th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: New Beasts
In TotK, you see a centipede-like creature emerging from a tornado. Yaay! Don’t you just love centipedes and all their legs? Now it’s unclear if this is a new beast introduced to the game or just a new boss you have to defeat. Despite its nature, you still need to defeat it.
11th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Zonai Devices
Here, in TotK, you can earn Zonai charges from defeating constructs. Then, you get Zonai parts, which you use to build whatever you like at any given time. While it’s gacha, it’s not the kind of thing that makes you lose your life savings. This gacha was not present in BotW.
12th difference between Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: Ganondorf
In BotW, you fight Calamity Ganon, an underdeveloped form of Ganondorf.
Somehow, Ganondorf in the flesh has returned in the TotK. The extent of his powers remains unknown. Although he has an ability that engulfed Link’s arm.
Above, you saw all the differences between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. If you are new and need some simple tips to play Tears of the Kingdom, here are some TotK tips and tricks. Vanquish Ganondorf and bring peace back to Hyrule.
ALSO READ: Tears of the Kingdom: Health Foods Farm Late Game Guide | Legend of Zelda
