Although The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom builds on Breath of the Wild in many ways, there are still a few ways in which it takes something of a step back from its predecessor. As a rare direct sequel in the Zelda series, Tears of the Kingdom reuses much of the foundation laid by Breath of the Wild, taking place in the same Hyrule and starring the same Link, giving the game ample opportunity to build on and improve the exploration and gameplay of Breath of the Wild. However, while TOTK does make significant improvements, BOTW still outdoes its sequel in some aspects.
Despite reusing the same Hyrule as Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom is a drastically larger game, expanding on the map of BOTW in numerous ways. Among other gameplay expansions, Tears of the Kingdom's new features like the sky islands, the Depths, and a number of new underground areas scattered around Hyrule's surface level make for a game that offers even more freeform exploration than its predecessor. This new exploration is further facilitated by Link's new abilities, which combine in interesting ways that allow players to flex their creativity. However, not every change made by TOTK is a positive one.
10 Controls & Interface
While Tears of the Kingdom expands on Breath of the Wild's gameplay in many ways, the game's controls and interface also suffer somewhat from the expanded gameplay options. Additions like being able to pull up a mini-menu of items means that the control scheme of TOTK can be crowded, making it hard to exactly how to perform certain actions in the heat of the moment - especially early on in the game. By comparison, although Breath of the Wild has comparatively fewer options, it also is relatively smoother to control, especially when comparing BOTW's Champion powers to TOTK's Sages.
9 Remote Bombs
Although Tears of the Kingdom gifts Link with an entirely new set of abilities, which are in many ways much more versatile than those of BOTW's Sheikah Slate, the loss of a few select powers from the previous game hurt Link's capabilities somewhat. Remote Bombs, for example, have no equivalent replacement power in TOTK, forcing players to instead rely on Bomb Flowers for their explosive needs. Unlike Remote Bombs, however, Bomb Flowers can be a relatively rare find, especially when compared to how useful explosives are in TOTK, meaning that the lack of Remote Bombs may necessitate farming for resources.
8 Stasis
Additionally, another Breath of the Wild power without a sufficient replacement is Stasis, which allowed players to temporarily freeze any physics-based object. Hitting the object while frozen would then result in a buildup of force, which would be unleashed all at once at the end of the effect's duration. While TOTK's Recall, another time-associated power, is similar, it doesn't quite replicate the same effect as Stasis, meaning that the power and its various applications are essentially missing entirely from the sequel. As what is likely BOTW's most novel power, the complete absence of Stasis in TOTK is a notable missing feature.
7 Wolf Link
While both games have Amiibo functionality, providing different in-game bonuses like food or armor, one unique bonus was lost in the transition to Tears of the Kingdom. In BOTW, using the Wolf Link Amiibo would summon Wolf Link as a unique companion character that would assist in combat and seek out any items that the Sheikah Sensor was set to detect. Moreover, ing the Amiibo with the Cave of Shadows in Twilight Princess HD would carry over that save file's heart containers to BOTW's summonable Wolf Link. In TOTK, however, the Amiibo only serves to provide players with meat, and Wolf Link makes no appearance in the game.
6 Exploits & Techniques
In using the same overarching gameplay systems as Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom also took the opportunity to prevent some of the previous game's exploits - which could be a letdown to players who spent time learning and mastering some of BOTW's unintended mechanics. Whistle sprinting, for example, allowed players effectively sprint with infinite stamina, bying the limited stamina wheel of BOTW's early game - and, as of TOTK, no longer works. Another trick, the Windbomb, made use of Link's Remote Bombs to launch him into the air, and with their removal in TOTK, is no longer possible.
5 Kass
Despite the breakout popularity of Kass and his quest chain in Breath of the Wild, the character doesn't make a return in the sequel, being inexplicably missing despite much of the rest of BOTW's cast returning in Tears of the Kingdom. While his role is replicated somewhat by a new Rito character, Penn, who is similarly a focal character in a quest chain that spans much of Hyrule, the absence of one of BOTW's most popular characters is disappointing to see in a sequel. With certain nods that TOTK makes towards Kass, however, it's possible that the character will make an appearance in a potential Tears of the Kingdom DLC.
4 The Master Cycle Zero
While Breath of the Wild's Master Cycle Zero could be seen as something of a precursor to TOTK's Ultrahand-enabled vehicle building, the previous game's DLC bonus vehicle does have a few distinct advantages. Being essentially a Rune in BOTW, the Master Cycle can be summoned at any time, with only a few restrictions on location, making it quick and easy to bring out when needed. The materials needed to fuel the Master Cycle are also relatively cheap, as even common items like apples can be used as fuel, making it somewhat less of a resource drain than using Tears of the Kingdom's Autobuild to create vehicles from scratch.
3 Farming Dragon Parts
The dragons Farosh, Naydra, and Dinraal make their return in TOTK, with the further addition of the Light Dragon. Like in BOTW, shooting the dragons will provide players with rare dragon part materials that are needed for upgrading armors, certain quests, and in TOTK, fusing powerful weapons. However, Tears of the Kingdom's iteration of the dragons has them unaffected by fast travel or ing time at fires or cooking pots, making their paths harder to keep track of than in BOTW, where they would reliably be at certain places at specific times. With the amount of dragon parts needed for upgrading armor, farming for them in TOTK can be significantly more tedious.
2 Music
Although it's reasonable that, as a direct sequel taking place in the same world, TOTK would reuse much of Breath of the Wild's music, it also means that the reused tracks are less fresh than they were in the earlier game. While some themes get new twists, such as the Stable Trotters' accompaniment to the normal stable theme, much of the music in Tears of the Kingdom will have been heard before by anyone who played BOTW. The reused music can serve to make many of the locations feels more familiar, but more new or remixed themes could have also been a huge benefit to TOTK's atmosphere.
1 Novelty
Finally, although this can't be said to be a fault of Tears of the Kingdom as a game, it's nature as a sequel to Breath of the Wild means that it isn't quite as fresh. While there's plenty to discover in TOTK, it inevitably can't be as fresh or new as BOTW was, coming in as the first truly open-world 3D Zelda game and breaking away from a formula that had grown somewhat stale for many of the franchise's fans. Despite being a massive improvement on Breath of the Wild in a number of ways, Tears of the Kingdom can't quite match up to the novelty of its predecessor.
