Random: Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Sold Better Than Tears Of The Kingdom Last Quarter

TotK is a story sequel to BotW. If I'm new to the Switch ecosystem, or at least to this particular duology, I'm buying BotW first.

TotK is $10 more expensive than BotW in the U.S. at well, which is probably also a factor.

That said, I also think BotW is a much better game overall, both in terms of its initial impact and its design focus.

Because BOTW is better game than TOTK:)

Oh Jon, we miss you so much!

I'm guessing botw just gets discounted a lot more than totk

Yunobo is in both games, so I love both! I personally prefer Tears of the Kingdom, but Breath of the Wild is something special.

I think people probably wanted to experience the first game before playing the sequel.

Breath of the Wild is iconic and will remain that way.

There are many reasons why new people will be getting into the franchise and will start with BotW over TotK.

Probably since most people already bought Tears of the Kingdom that will, and Breath of the Wild has more staying power

breath of the wild you can find many bargains for in price.. while totk still at 70 bucks..

Most people who already played BotW and wanted the sequel have bought TotK by now. If you’ve just bought a Switch or you’re just now deciding to get into Zelda then BotW is the default pick.

Sometimes playing the most recent sequel in a series as an entry point is fine (Pikmin 4/Splatoon 3 etc.) but BotW/TotK are two sides of the same coin even if the story links aren’t strong so it makes sense to start with BotW

Because BOTW is cheaper than TOTK?
I wish Nintendo would lower the price of their Switch consoles and games so I could actually buy one LOL.

Well the first game is where you start, right? And not everyone who plays the first game is gonna feel the need to play the sequel, so anyone who hasn't played them is gonna go with BotW and may decide that's good enough for them.

Shame. Tears of the Kingdom is better.. Not by much, mind you, but still better than Breath of the Wild.

Really do hope they go back to the old formula though. I finished OoT, TP and WW countless times whereas I can't even be bothered to finish BotW or TOTK once..

While I agree with everyone else here that stuff like the lower base price and discounts likely play a huge factor in this, I can't imagine most general consumers (AKA not Zelda fans, who have all already bought both of these games) would even be aware that one is the sequel to the other. Most people who aren't chronically online just simply don't think about that kind of stuff.

It's simple: BotW is the better game and makes more sense as a starting point.

Also, people that want to know what the hype is about may buy BotW. If they don't like it, they'll not get TotK. Mystery solved.

@CactuarDavid I beg to differ. I can see many game store employees or general electronic store sales clerk asking if one played the first one if they picked up the second one only for purchase. It’s a very common question and easy interaction.

It's a better game.

For me, I like zelda botw more because it didn't have a gimmick, it's just an open world zelda game. I though zelda totk will be like botw but with improvements like better dungeon and no more expendable weapon, but for better or worse, zelda totk is it's own game with features like ultrahand.

I hope zelda totk sequel will be more like botw but with true dungeon and non expendable weapon.

If TotK added the ability to share Ultrahand build designs between players, I believe it would boost sales tremendously. Look at the popularity of Minecraft.

If just the smallest interactive online component were added to the building aspect of TotK, it would sell like crazy and would also keep online streamer content super high.

Nintendo is leaving money on the table. I honestly can't help but wonder if they'll add in some online component like this for a Switch 2 TotK Deluxe port.

BOTW is the better game… at least it was a bit of a Zelda game… unlike the other one…

BotW is 1million times better than TotK. I think TotK is a bloated, boring and insultingly easy game compared to the first, so I am not surprised it is selling better.

I'm not surprised by this honestly. When I went to my local Walmart, they had BOTW in a more prominent spot than TOTK. I also don't think that 70$ price tag is doing it any favors. Shame though, I like tears much more. It really is glorious.

I see we're at that part of the Zelda cycle. So we'll need to wait five years or so before it's cool to like TOTK again...

@Anti-Matter article about BotW / TotK, neither of which you've got into, yet you somehow still manage to spin it into a PlayStation 5 game that's unrelated?!

Do you not use this sites sister site, Push Square? That's PlayStation focused and might be a better place to discuss PlayStation games.

I was thinking maybe people bought BotW after playing TotK to get more Zelda, but yeah the comments here make way more sense. It's the first game and new Switch owners would likely buy that, plus it's cheaper.

@Yoshi3 The issue for me is that the focus was shifted away from exploration and adventure, and toward creativity and resource gathering. It's still incredibly cool exploring new environments, sky islands, the depths, etc., but I would have enjoyed the game way more if they'd spent five years putting in better dungeons and a more involved story rather than simply adding in an incredibly fiddly new mechanic (Ultrahand) that required a ton of dev time to get right and ended up dominating the game.

I'm a big believer in liberating Zelda from its past design trappings, but a lot of what worked in BotW ONLY works in BotW. The story being minimal, out of order, and relegated mostly to the past, for example, works brilliantly with the setup, but it simply makes things confusing and unsatisfying in TotK when they tried to tell a more traditional story.

Honestly, it reminds me of Fire Emblem Fates, which ended up retreading a lot of the same ground as Awakening, but in a less satisfying and narratively cohesive manner.

@CupidStunt I have some issues with TotK, but honestly, it's probably the hardest game in the series I've played since Zelda II. Plenty of challenging enemies and environments. Surprised to see you think it's easy.

TotK is the far superior game. But BotW is being sold at a greater discount and is cheaper than TotK, so this is not surprising.

Its only natural that you start from the beginning, not the middle

Natural for people new to this, buying BOTW first then TOTK.
Tears of the kingdom is an amazing game best Zelda game ever played. The possibilities in this game are endless.
Still playing this game from time to time.
The story in this game is like watching an anime movie.

Yes I never picked it up due to all that stupid crafting mechanism.

because breath of the wild is the better game

Tears of the Kingdom is the better game but it's also a sequel so of course it's sales weren't going to be the same, especially as new Switch owners are going to go for BoTW first.

I found totk to be unplayable due to framerate issues.

Tears of the Kingdom is one of the most lazy soulless copy and paste games I've ever played it tried so hard to be Breath of the Wild all over again and to me failed miserably

@Ralizah I'm a bit in shock to read your comment. I found that the sense of 'going on an adventure' has never been more true in a Zelda game as it is in TotK. Playing through the story was much more engaging and all of the main quests really felt like an adventure. Like, you didn't know where you would end up, how far you would go, who you would meet or how it would end up. And all that, despite the game using mainly the same world as the previous one.
I also loved BotW, but it was kind of missing the point in terms of an adventure game, it was much stronger in terms of exploration.

Ah well, different points of view I guess 😅

Why we do have all these ppl hating on Tears?
i understand the the game has its problems but that does not make it a horrible game.
oh well.

we all got opinions ig

For me TOTK was by far the better game that it's not even close for me but BoTW had more of that shock factor since it was a brand new Zelda game and the hype towards it's release was insane.

BoTW is also cheaper so that's probably the biggest factor right there. Especially during times like this where every dollar counts with how expensive everything is nowadays.

@Yalloo "Ah well, different points of view I guess"

Yup!

Don't get me wrong. TotK IS a good game, and it does certain things much better than in BotW. I just found I preferred BotW's more focused game design and the way it integrates storytelling, game progression, and mechanics.

I'm glad TotK was such a magical experience for you!

Probably just folks starting with the first game before the second.

Maybe it could be people like me, who bought TOTK last year having never played BOTW. Loved TOTK but needed a year off, then played through BOTW.

I'm sure I'm in the minority, having not played BOTW first, but I much prefer the story, structure and mechanics of TOTK. The world also feels much more alive between villages, there was too much boring traversal with little going on in BOTW between quests.

Both fantastic games though, and both in my top 10.

I love both, preferred TOTK due to the sheer volume of things to do (although I still love those do nothing periods in both, sometimes I’d just sit and take in the surroundings) and the vastly superior final showdown. Plus I hadn’t played BOTW since I beat it in 2017 so I’d forgotten loads. Doing the memories out of sequence didn’t bother me as I’ve seen Tarantino films. And Gaspar Noe films.

As for people who cry about technology disappearing, at the start of BOTW a bunch of towers magically appear out of nowhere and some shrines don’t even appear until you complete a quest. Plus you watch over 100 mummified monks vanishing into thin air after every shrine. Just as unbelievable methinks. It’s fantasy! 😂

I think the mindset would be it’s billed as a sequel, best to play the first one to see what it’s all about. Either way it’s win win.

The market speaking on a $70 Nintendo game.

@Bikadovlt

"It’s hilarious that people are using this as evidence that “BotW is better than TotK,” despite overwhelming critic and user reviews showing they’re equally excellent."

Ah, yes. The "It's not the numbers, it's the numbers" argument. 😆✌️

I'll agree with one thing though: they are equal in the sense that I'm equally bored with both games 😊 next!

I love both and am glad they're both selling and reviewing well. Botw would probably be my favorite for reasons not mentioned in the comments, but it's a small preference. They're an amazing 2-part adventure. Plus, as a long-time Zelda fan, and to add a different point of view on this topic, I am glad they retired the "formula" from A Link to the Past and OoT; those games and the other "formula" Zelda games were fine for their time but it was long overdue for the series to move forward and move on. Having every game follow the restrictive and linear formula established in the 90s severely restricts creativity and makes every game feel samey. The series objectively has broader appeal now as evidenced by the sales figures. Hopefully the formula stays retired and we get another open world masterpiece, with perhaps more dungeons which are longer and more complicated. I'd also enjoy a more sequential story not presented through memories, as long as it doesn't restrict the game to a linear formula. I prefer open exploration to a linear map.

@Ralizah I feel like the BotW/TotK comparison is very similar to the Doom 2016/Doom Eternal comparison. TotK and Doom Eternal both have a busier, much more involved gameplay loop compared to their predecessors, and it turned people off.

BotW is an almost Zen-like experience that directly assisted many suffering from depression and anxiety.
TotK uses the same template but caters to those with ADHD and OCD. There is always something to do close at hand. And it's far less of a zen.

I enjoy both for whatever day I'm having.

Doesn't surprise me. BotW can be found for cheaper, has more name recognition, and is a better entry point for any new Switch owners.

I prefer TotK, but BotW is still a fantastic game in its own right.

@swoose Yep only 20 million people bought it, so roughly the population of Romania...that showed them! It was available for much less pretty much everywhere though, I paid less than £50 brand new...

watch in 5 years this game is gonna have a wind waker moment its basically series standard at this point

2nd time ain't as good as the first.

Ah, we are in the "hate TOTK" part of the Zelda cycle. Carry on gamer-splaining why botw sold more "because it's better and TOTK sucks", not because people beat TOTK, loved it and wanted more so they picked up the prequel.

@Ralizah I agree with your take on TOTK except for the story.
I thought the story was brilliant and weaved well into the game.
That was a major improvement over BOTW in my opinion. Other areas, not so much.

@Nintendoslaysps5 or because it's cheaper

I enjoyed both games thoroughly but I preferred BotW. I think TotK was a bit too cluttered and repetitive in comparison. Plus BotW had that brand new Zelda game feel to it, whereas TotK was just an extention of BotW.

TotK may be a great game to some, but it is not at all a Zelda game to me. I'm trying to force myself to beat it, just so I know what the story line is. So far though I've had a hard time going back to it. Ultrahand feels so gimmicky. Here's to hoping they branch off with this open world concept and will make some more linear 3D games of the past for us.

@OfficerFarva what makes something na video game a "gimmick" exactly? LoL. This is a word used by people who don't know how to attack a game. Google the meaning.

Its a Zelda game because it was made by the fathers of Zelda. Get on board or get left behind. Tired of old nostalgic fans asking for them to recreate the same game over and over.

@Nintendoslaysps5

Go 💦 to my comments some more. I enjoy it.

@OfficerFarva so you don't know. Cool!

@Ralizah The combat was possibly a bit more challenging, but the puzzles were insultingly easy, and the dungeons even more so. The dungeons were devoid of challenge, and the bosses completley uninspired compared to those within the Divine Beasts. The Divine Beasts as dungeons were far more creative and inspired, with nice challenging puzzles.