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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePlay The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild first if you are new to this version of Zelda. It establishes the Hyrule, exploration habits, survival systems and story context that make Tears of the Kingdom feel like a meaningful sequel rather than simply another open-world adventure. You can start with Tears of the Kingdom—Nintendo designed it to welcome newcomers—but its larger set of systems is easier to understand after the first game.
Choose Tears of the Kingdom first only if you value the most elaborate creative sandbox, sky-based exploration and building experimentation more than release-order context. Neither game is objectively “better” for every player; the right starting point depends on whether clarity or possibility matters more to you.
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Quick verdict
| If you are… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New to open-world Zelda | Breath of the Wild | It teaches the core exploration and survival loop with fewer overlapping systems. |
| Most interested in building, experimentation and vertical exploration | Tears of the Kingdom | Its expanded abilities, sky islands and broader sandbox deliver more creative freedom immediately. |
| Most interested in the cleanest story progression | Breath of the Wild | It introduces the setting and characters before the direct sequel revisits them. |
| Already familiar with Breath of the Wild | Tears of the Kingdom | You already understand the world, controls and basic survival rhythm, so the sequel’s additions can take center stage. |
Why Breath of the Wild is the best first game for most newcomers
It is the beginning of this two-game story
Breath of the Wild released on March 3, 2017. Tears of the Kingdom followed on May 12, 2023, and Nintendo describes it as a sequel. That sequence matters even though the second game is playable on its own.
In Breath of the Wild, Link awakens after a 100-year slumber in a Hyrule he no longer remembers. The opening premise gives you the same reason to explore that Link has: the world is unfamiliar, damaged and full of clues. You learn what happened by moving through the landscape, meeting survivors and recovering pieces of the past rather than by receiving a long chronological explanation.
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Starting there lets you encounter Hyrule’s history in the order the games were built to present it. Tears of the Kingdom returns to that world and includes references that have more weight when you know what came before. You do not need the first game to follow the sequel’s immediate plot, but playing it first provides the cleanest context for the setting, recurring characters and changes to the world.
It teaches the foundational loop without as much system overlap
The first game introduces the modern open-world Zelda formula in a relatively focused way:
- Travel across a broad surface world using landmarks, towers and environmental clues.
- Find and solve more than 100 shrines, each offering a compact challenge or puzzle.
- Scavenge equipment and materials from ruins, enemies and the environment.
- Cook gathered ingredients into meals and elixirs that support exploration.
- Use weapons that wear out, forcing you to adapt rather than rely on one permanent blade.
These systems are not side activities. They are the game’s language. Climbing, gliding, cooking, changing equipment and improvising around weapon wear become routine decisions. Once those habits are familiar, the sequel can spend more time adding possibilities instead of teaching every foundational idea from zero.
Its progression is easier to read
Breath of the Wild gives you substantial freedom, but its main tools and objectives are introduced in a comparatively direct sequence. You can leave the opening area and pursue the wider world in almost any direction, yet the game steadily teaches what each activity is for. Towers reveal terrain, shrines provide challenges and fast-travel points, and settlements offer practical reasons to return from the wilderness.
That structure makes it a strong first open-world game even if you have never played a Zelda title. You can experiment without needing to understand several interacting construction or traversal systems at the same time.
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Can you start with Tears of the Kingdom?
Yes. Tears of the Kingdom is accessible as a first Zelda game, and Nintendo’s developers have said they deliberately designed it that way. Series producer Eiji Aonuma said, “the new gameplay ideas we packed into this title are all things that can be solved intuitively, so I think first-time players can rest assured that this game is easy to get into.” Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi likewise said the team “put in some effort to make sure that it feels comfortable for both first-time players and those with experience of the previous game.”
Those statements describe accessibility, not identical understanding. A new player can learn the controls and solve the sequel’s challenges without prior experience. What you may miss is the contrast between the two games: changes to familiar locations are less striking, returning characters have less history, and the sequel’s expanded systems arrive before you have experienced the simpler baseline they build on.
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Tears of the Kingdom returns to Hyrule but broadens the setting into multiple layers. Nintendo’s product description presents it as a sequel in which you choose your own path through Hyrule and mysterious islands floating in the skies above. The game adds sky-island exploration, a mystery surrounding a new cataclysm and new abilities that support more elaborate experimentation.
That makes the sequel especially attractive if your priority is possibility. You can approach obstacles from more directions, test unusual solutions and spend substantial time creating ways to move through or interact with the environment. The trade-off is cognitive load: there are more systems, more ways to combine them and more opportunities to lose track of the simple objective in front of you.
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom compared
| Category | Breath of the Wild | Tears of the Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Release | March 3, 2017 | May 12, 2023 |
| Series position | Starting point for this open-world Hyrule | Direct sequel |
| Story context | Introduces Link’s 100-year awakening and an unfamiliar Hyrule | Builds on that world and includes sequel references |
| Primary exploration emphasis | Surface-world traversal, towers, shrines and environmental discovery | Surface exploration expanded with sky islands and a broader vertical structure |
| Core learning experience | Teaches the open-world survival loop with fewer overlapping systems | Assumes no prior knowledge but layers in more mechanics and possibilities |
| Creative focus | Improvisation through equipment, environment, cooking and traversal | More elaborate ability experimentation and construction |
| Best first-game quality | Clearer introduction and progression | More ambitious sandbox for players who enjoy complexity |
Exploration: focused discovery versus a larger vertical sandbox
Breath of the Wild: learn to read the surface world
The first game’s exploration is built around noticing. A distant tower, unusual rock formation, smoke column or shrine glow can become your next destination. Climbing and environmental traversal let you reach places in an order that feels personal, while towers help you understand the shape of each region.
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Shrines provide a steady supply of short challenges and more than 100 opportunities to practice the game’s physics, movement and problem-solving. Cooking and scavenging connect exploration to preparation: the ingredients you collect can determine how confidently you approach cold areas, long climbs or dangerous fights. Because the systems are relatively legible, new players can concentrate on learning how Hyrule communicates with them.
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Tears of the Kingdom: add the sky and more ways to interact
The sequel keeps the freedom to choose your own route but extends discovery above the surface. Sky islands add a second major environment, and the cataclysm mystery gives the altered world a new layer of narrative purpose. The result is a denser map with more vertical relationships between locations.
Its new abilities make experimentation a central activity. Instead of asking only, “How do I reach that place?” you are more often asking, “What can I make or combine to reach it, cross it or solve this problem?” That is exhilarating for players who enjoy systems and tinkering. It can feel less clear for someone still learning basic movement, combat, inventory management and resource gathering.
Learning curve and moment-to-moment play
Why the first game feels clearer
Breath of the Wild has plenty of freedom, but its early lessons are easier to isolate. You learn to survive cold and heat, manage stamina, choose when to fight, cook useful food and replace worn equipment. Each lesson supports the next, and mistakes are usually understandable: you ran out of stamina, entered an area unprepared or used a fragile weapon too long.
This does not make the game simple. It makes its complexity progressive. Players who are new to open-world design can establish a reliable routine before deciding how much optional content to pursue.
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Why the sequel can feel busier
Tears of the Kingdom retains the freedom and survival vocabulary of its predecessor while adding more tools and more possible solutions. Experienced players often appreciate that density because familiar problems can now be approached in unfamiliar ways. Newcomers may encounter several valid answers before they have developed a sense of which approach is simplest.
If you start with the sequel, give yourself permission to use straightforward solutions. You do not need to build elaborate contraptions or master every possibility immediately. Follow the introductory objectives, learn one ability at a time and treat experiments that fail as part of the game rather than evidence that you missed a required trick.
Story continuity and spoiler risk
You do not need to complete Breath of the Wild to understand the basic objective in Tears of the Kingdom. The sequel explains its immediate crisis and gives new players enough direction to begin. However, it assumes that Hyrule is a place with a known recent history. Returning locations, changed circumstances and familiar faces are designed to resonate with players who remember the first game.
Playing in release order also protects the first game’s discoveries. Starting with the sequel can reveal that the world and its characters have changed, which may reduce the impact of seeing those changes in the intended sequence. This is not a plot-breaking spoiler for most players, but it is a contextual one.
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Start with Breath of the Wild when clarity matters most
- This is your first open-world Zelda game.
- You want to understand the setting and character history in release order.
- You prefer learning a focused set of mechanics before adding more systems.
- You enjoy discovering a world primarily through landmarks, towers, shrines and environmental clues.
- You plan to play both games and want the sequel’s changes to feel significant.
Start with Tears of the Kingdom when experimentation matters most
- You already know Breath of the Wild and want a larger set of possibilities.
- Building, improvisation and unusual solutions are more appealing than a clean introduction.
- Sky-island exploration and a more vertically layered Hyrule are your main reasons to play.
- You are comfortable learning several interconnected systems at once.
- You do not mind encountering sequel references without the first game’s full context.
Start with neither if you want a traditional linear Zelda structure
Both games are open-ended adventures rather than tightly ordered dungeon campaigns. If your ideal Zelda experience is a mostly linear sequence of regions and tools, the freedom in either title may require an adjustment. Between these two, Breath of the Wild is the gentler introduction because its systems are less crowded, but it still expects you to set your own goals and route.
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If you buy both, use this order
- Play Breath of the Wild first. Learn the surface world, shrines, cooking, scavenging and equipment cycle without rushing to finish every optional activity.
- Take a break. A pause helps the sequel’s altered locations and expanded mechanics feel fresh rather than like one very long campaign.
- Continue with Tears of the Kingdom. Your existing understanding of Hyrule lets you focus on the new sky regions, cataclysm mystery and creative abilities.
You do not have to complete every shrine, side quest or collectible before moving on. The value of the first game as preparation comes from understanding its vocabulary, not from reaching a particular completion percentage.
Buying and hardware considerations in 2026
Both games are Nintendo Switch products, and Nintendo released Switch 2 Editions for each on June 5, 2025. Those editions add enhanced graphics and gameplay features. Owners of the original Switch versions can buy upgrade packs, subject to the terms for their edition and region.
| Question | What is established | What to verify before purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Can I play either game on Switch? | Both were released as Nintendo Switch games. | Confirm the exact edition and whether you are buying a Switch or Switch 2 product. |
| Are Switch 2 Editions available? | Both launched on June 5, 2025 with enhanced graphics and gameplay features. | Check current stock, regional packaging and retailer listing details. |
| Can an existing owner upgrade? | Owners of the Switch versions can purchase upgrade packs. | Verify the upgrade-pack price, account region and which features the pack includes. |
| Which game should I buy first? | Breath of the Wild is the recommended starting point for most newcomers. | Choose Tears of the Kingdom first if its creative and vertical sandbox is your overriding priority. |
Prices, stock, regional SKU differences and upgrade-pack terms can change. Check the current Nintendo listing and the retailer’s details immediately before paying rather than assuming that a Switch 2 Edition or upgrade is available in every market.
The bottom line
For most people asking which Zelda to play first, the answer is Breath of the Wild. It establishes the story, world and core systems in the clearest order, and it gives Tears of the Kingdom something to build on. Tears of the Kingdom is a valid first game—and may be the better personal choice for players who mainly want the biggest creative toolkit—but starting there trades away some narrative context and the satisfaction of seeing the sequel’s expansion from its foundation.
Quick Recap
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