Daily Debate: Is Playing Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Back-To-Back a Good Idea?

Tears of the Kingdom may be the new game on the block, but its predecessor Breath of the Wild is keeping a type grip on the zeitgeist. If sales numbers, Nintendo’s marketing, and the popularity of Zelda Dungeon’s Breath of the Wild guides are anything to go by, many players are returning to — or playing for the first time — the 2017 Zelda title in preparation for the new sequel. But is playing both games back-to-back a good idea?

Despite the fact that I am really enjoying my time in Tears of the Kingdom, I have come to realize that a lot of the minute-to-minute gameplay is very similar to that of Breath of the Wild. I’m once again meticulously combing the overworld for Shrines, treasure chests, and Korok Seeds. And despite the expansive new Depths and Sky Island areas, much of that overworld is, or at least feels, the same as it was in Breath of the Wild. Journeying through this world again has been immensely rewarding, but I believe a lot of that has to do with the fact that it’s been six years since the last adventure.

Andrew King of video game website The Gamer recently shared about how he partly regretted playing 100 hours of Breath of the Wild directly before playing Tears of the Kingdom. I completely identify with his thoughts:

“But a lot of the time you’re just running around Hyrule, pressing all the same buttons you used for 100 hours in Breath of the Wild. In those moments, it feels exactly like Breath of the Wild. That isn’t a bad thing. Breath of the Wild is a great game and Tears of the Kingdom builds on it wonderfully. But it has me wishing that the memory of Breath of the Wild wasn’t so fresh in my mind.”

A friend of mine just picked up Breath of the Wild for the first time, with the express purpose of preparing for Tears of the Kingdom. After playing more of the new game myself, I had to advise this friend against playing both games back-to-back. Like King, I recognize that the similarities between both games on a fundamental gameplay level may very likely lead to open-world burnout. And no one should step into Tears of the Kingdom already burnt out, in my opinion.

But what do you think? Is it okay to play Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom back-to-back? Do you think it’s a bad idea? Join the debate in the comments below!

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