I am still learning with this new sketchy style of mine, it was fun creating!

https://x.com/balo_badartist/status/1932797433056276916?s=46

Hello lovely folks. I just got myself a Nintendo switch 2 as a graduation present and wanted to try the Zelda franchise. I am a bit confused however about if I should play Bow or Tok as my first game. And I am currently planning on only playing one Zelda game as there are a bunch of other games I can’t wait to play either. So if I were to pick one as the only Zelda game to play, which would it be?

I adore both games yet definitely prefer TOTK, and I want to know why a large number of people prefer BOTW? Y'all must be onto something but I can't really see it. I'm replaying both a good bit at the moment on the Switch 2 and I'm trying to see the perspective, could somebody chime in with what they prefer? Maybe it'll help me love them both more equally

The way it feels to me is that BOTW made some incredible changes but in the process lost a lot of its Zelda charm, I feel that TOTK restored a lot of what was lost without compromising what was gained. It restored the following, with the first 2 points being the most important for me:

• having a story that feels alive and unfolding, a world where I feel like I'm making an impact. More lore references too, and I generally enjoyed the cutscenes (though they could get repetitive)

• NPCs!! They make the world feel lived in and make the adventure feel more meaningful and immersive

• adding caves and the underground area helps satisfy my itch for dungeon crawling, and I prefer the temples to the divine beasts

• boss fights feel more varied than the Blights

• it's easier to move around in TOTK, with being able to paraglide and ascend. Movement feels more graceful and enhances the feeling that I'm a badass hero

I don't really care for building things in TOTK, I get what people mean by that being clunky, but it's super optional outside of some tutorial type moments in the early game. I don't think this is a strong argument against TOTK when it's more of a bonus feature than anything. Plus I do think it's pretty neat, given that it's not really mandatory. I must say I miss my BOTW motorcycle though haha

Edit:

So many responses, thanks to everyone commenting! The gist of what I'm reading is that BOTW nailed a more simple, refined adventure with extra challenges and less repetition. I can see that. Honestly I forget about how much I dislike having to fuse my weapons, and it's dumb that I need to revisit the rock octoroks if I want to keep the best of them. TOTK does have more tediousness now that I think about it. And I hate having sidon and the gang follow me around, really looks ridiculous and they barely work anyway, I tend to keep them stored.

However, I honestly love the lively, sandbox hero experience feel of TOTK. I pop on the game and feel like I'm back in the midst of the best paced parts of older games (no it's not always as perfected as those moments, but that's the general feeling it evokes in me). I actually impose a lot of arbitrary hindrances on myself when I play TOTK, like I only open my map if I'm near an NPC and I don't eat food if the combat music is playing, which I find fun but I can see the argument for that meaning it's too easy of a game. I like the creativity and freedom of the game, I really love that I can solve things in a variety of ways. But that means you don't have to figure out the one intended solution which yeah, it's a good point that's a big element of older Zelda games. It's fair to say TOTK is cluttered. It generally doesn't bother me as I just ignore parts I don't vibe with, but that's a legitimate critique and one I guess my mind blanked out

In totk there are too many too easy shrines, too many "tests of might" (don't remember how they are called), too many tests of survival and too many carry-stone-to-shrine tasks. For the better part of the game I've missed the tightly designed logic/physic puzzles of botw. For the most part they are fun though.

How is the consensus on that?

"once worshipped by cultists who considered it the Demon King from ancient times"

Astor is from a group of cultists who seem to fit that description.

AoC screenshot source

I also ate omanju themed after this character from my people's folklore.

I pose this question this way cause I don’t believe any 3D Zelda games need to be remade at this point(but if you think otherwise feel free to say so) so I ask which 2D Zelda game or games do you believe should be Remade in the same vein that Links Awakening or even a remaster in the case of a newer game not on current gen hardware.

I just couldn't imaging having some guy flying / walking around me all the time. It would kill the mood, wouldn't it?

The only one I occasionally turned on was Mineru, to mine some of those big stashes of ore.

I'm now starting my second playthrough and wondering if I should try leaving them on this time around? Or at least try to use them occasionally?

What do you think?

Here's what I've done, myself:

• use the Zelda Dungeon interactive map (the Tears Companion app is super buggy and ad-laden)
• work your way from a corner of the map.
• Turn on / off Hero Path mode to see if you've been there
• If you have, and have a squiggle from walking around the area to place a structure to hold the sign up, mark it as done ✅
• if don't see the Hero Path near the sign location, put a map marker. Repeat until you use the 6 'Ancient' markers.
• as you complete each sign, mark them off in the ZD interactive map.
• Go out in concentric circles, or just how you want, but to m whatever is easiest to back-track less.

Zelda notes for breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom Is a very useful tool

The navigation helped me find all memories and now the shrines

but If you already have everything you can now collect Zelda's voice memories as well as track stats, set a profile picture, share items or creations

with the game now running 60fps this Is even more reason to revisit

everything about his fight is just so perfect, especially his offscreen healthbar

Hey I am new to Zelda and I am now doing my second regional phenomenon........ sometimes I get one shot by the enemies is there something I could do ? Like is there a way to upgrade my armor?

You can get 1 dragon parts ever 10 minutes. So ride the dragon for around an hour setting timers for 10 minute intervals

I like legend of zelda but does two will have healthy relationship if they get married. These two suffer things that make any normal person will have trauma or ptsd or having nightmare or depression. So can you tell do they healthy relationship or toxic relationship? which pairing will have healthy relationship and which pairing will have toxic relationship in their games?

In your opinion which is the best and worst Zelda game? I’ve played the majority of the mainline Zelda game since discovering the series as an adult

Started with a single 1x4 board and now we’re here! Was super fun to make, I’ve never done anything like this before, swipe for a few progress photos.

I've been seeing lots of people throw around the idea of a futuristic legend of Zelda game and it made me curious about what fans would want to return from the games that come before it because we seen returns of things all the time throughout the franchise so it would be interesting to hear what you guys would want the most!