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While all of the main Zelda games are said to be part of one universe (with a multitude of timelines), only some of the games have direct sequels. The two sets of sequel games that probably stand out the most are the newest ones in the series (Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom) and the ones that began the 3D Zelda era (Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask).
I have been at least a casual Zelda fan since the early 2000s, and a much more involved Zelda fan these past few years. Breath of the Wild (BOTW) was the reason behind my sudden burst of interest in the franchise again recently, which led me to play its sequel game, Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK) upon release years later.
These games were such a fun and interesting experience. They were not your typical Zelda games, and yet they still had many of the usual Zelda game aspects. As I played these new additions to the franchise though, I noticed a fair amount of the community comparing them to older Zelda games. What came up the most was the popular set of N64 games: Ocarina of Time (OOT) and Majora’s Mask (MM). I was familiar with these games, but I had actually never had the chance to play them before. I felt that this could be a great opportunity to view them without the same nostalgic lens that most of the rest of the community has had on, and perhaps I could provide a different perspective to the conversation.
Now that I have finally completed OOT and MM first hand, right after playing the “Wild era” games, I want to share my thoughts on both of these well known sections of this beloved franchise.
Keep in mind, my main focus here is not “which game is best” but rather to see which sequel enhances upon its predecessor best in each of the following categories. Let’s get started:
TOTK abilities
Game Mechanics
BOTW has great gameplay that TOTK brings up to another level. Being able to connect almost any object in the game together and create a never-ending amount of new machines is pretty revolutionary. You could watch hundreds of different people’s gameplays of this game and I am sure you will see at least one new invention in each one. Don’t forget about the sky aspects too. Yes, TOTK is not the first game to have Link falling out of the sky, but it has never been done to this caliber before. Diving and flying around Hyrule in TOTK is such a smooth and satisfying experience. I could fall with style in that game for hours without being bored.
OOT has decent gameplay mechanics (given the time period) and MM has a very interesting way of bringing back OOT mechanics and intertwining them with new ones. You have to love the continuation of being able to bend time to your will but the added ability to transform into different Zelda species is a dream come true. Other than having the chance to swim as a Zora, roll around as a Goron, and fly as a Deku Scrub, I love how characters will change their demeanor around you (for better or for worse) depending on who’s mask you wear. It’s rather symbolic, is it not?
I might be indecisive here. I love both game set’s mechanics for different reasons, and both sequels do an amazing job at enhancing the gameplay of their previous game.
OOT Shadow Temple
Dungeons
Dungeons are not exciting in BOTW and TOTK only makes them slightly better. BOTW does stand out in the franchise as it is one of the only games where each puzzle can be solved in a multitude of ways. This could make for interesting discussions amongst players as they realize how their puzzle solving skills differentiate. As for dungeon advancements in TotK, the dungeons are a bit more elaborate and visually pleasing. They also have a new(ish) element of including the sages in your dungeon journey. These all improve upon its predecessor, which I look for in a sequel, though I feel like they could have taken these ideas even further.
OOT/MM: The dungeons are similar in both games in how they use their new tools to solve puzzles. The interesting thing about OOT’s sequel though is how time plays a new role. They found a way to not only introduce new tools to the player, but also there is much more urgency to getting everything done in a timely manner. No other Zelda sequel (or Zelda game in general) has that type of added level of challenge.
In my opinion, the dungeons in OOT and MM are overall much more entertaining than BOTW and TOTK, and the ways that MM builds upon OOT is more intriguing than how TOTK builds on BOTW. Yes, some of the things you have to do to move forward in the N64 games are ridiculously difficult to figure out, but for me personally, I welcome some wacky ideas that take some real time to figure out. BOTW and TOTK are interesting in how you can solve each thing in several ways, but sometimes it feels a little too easy with how free it is. Some puzzles you can basically just skip with how far you can cheese the mechanics.
BOTW Champions
Characters
BOTW has great characters that are memorable and vary in personality. The one character that I do wish had more dimension was Ganon, though I do understand that this was just the beast version of him. TOTK does very little to enhance the main characters. There are little to no character arcs for Link and his main companions (except for Zelda, who is shown to have much more involvement in the Hyrule community since the last game). They had the chance to add more depth to their main characters, including their villain. Yet, Ganondorf has very little screen time, and that time is only ever used to remind the audience he is evil… because… reasons?
The side characters are a completely different story. BOTW was revolutionary not only for its wide open world, but also for the large number of NPCs you come across that are just living life. In TOTK, they took a lot of time to take every single BOTW NPC (okay… ALMOST every NPC) and consider how each of their lives have developed between games. It’s amazing the amount of detail the Zelda team put into these character’s backgrounds, especially since you don’t even need to interact with roughly 90% in order to complete the game’s main mission. It just makes the world feel all the more real.
OOT also has fun diverse characters. The OOT team made loving characters, but they were also not afraid to have side characters that are just straight up rude or even awful people in general; I believe it adds a bit of reality to this game world. Unfortunately, OOT also has the problem of a bland villain. This is the first game to introduce Ganondorf, the most well-known villain of the series, and yet, there is not much to him and the reason he is evil.
MM did something I would argue is rather risky for a sequel. They took all of the characters we came to know in OOT and presented them as new people in a new environment. While this was probably done to speed up the game’s development, the overall theme of the game has caused theorists to believe Termina (where the sequel takes place) is some sort of alternative universe or a dream world of some sort. The idea of alternate versions of characters is rather interesting, and a great way to make the most out of production limitations. They also introduce a new villain that has more depth than Ganondorf. The idea of someone being lonely and giving into an evil force is nothing revolutionary, but it is a step up from the last villain in my opinion. All of this does make comparing these characters' relationships to those around them between games rather difficult though, since they are not really the same people.
Overall I believe OOT and MM have some of the most interesting characters I have seen in a Zelda game, and it’s fun to see how they change up the characters between games, but I have to give the point to BOTW/TOTK. While I wish more was done with the main NPCs, you have to respect the amount of detail they put into all of the members of Hyrule. Every traveler, warrior, shopkeeper, little kid, etc. was important to the BOTW team, and given the same amount of attention when building upon those characters in TOTK.
MM Clock Town
Locations/Scenery
I won’t take long here, because OOT/MM easily takes this win. TOTK does attempt to add different locations, as well as change up old locations, but it simply isn’t enough. The depths and the sky islands were just disappointing. There was not enough new exploration to justify creating an entire new game with basically the same map.
MM, on the other hand, brought us a completely new world to explore. Even though most of the character models were reused, we still see everyone in completely new locations. It was so fun to find Gorons in the snow, the complete opposite of their volcano-centric city in OOT. And how about Zora living by the beach instead of a lake? The Gerudo as sea pirates? The discovery of a forgotten kingdom beyond the canyons? The fact that the graphics are far less modern in these games had little to no effect on me while playing. I was busy being amazed by the way the MM team took everything we knew about Hyrule and its species and went “now let’s show you how we can change everything you knew.”
TOTK ending
Story (end game spoilers for both pairs of games)
This might be the most discussed point between these two pairs of Zelda games. Admittedly, I really did consider that the people standing by OOT/MM having the better storyline may just be living on that nostalgia high, but I can now fully understand why many people have that opinion.
Here’s the thing, BOTW has a simple and intriguing story, as does OOT, but this is about which pair of games work together to tell the better overall story. The problem with BOTW to TOTK is they are telling very similar stories: Zelda and Link get separated, Link has to regain his power and also learn about what has happened to Zelda, Zelda has made some big sacrifice in which Link eventually saves her from by defeating the evil.
While TOTK has a fascinating plot twist, which does make it different from BOTW, this plot point is actually less of a sacrifice for Zelda than the one she had to make in BOTW. Think about it: yes, Zelda becomes a dragon and has to wait 10,000 years for Link to free her, but she mentions that as a dragon, she had almost no thoughts and no conception of time. It was more like a dream that eventually woke from. Whereas in BOTW, Zelda makes a sacrifice to hold back Calamity Ganon by using her powers for 100 years. Was that less time than the 10,000 years as a dragon? Yes. But think about how she got to that point. All of the pressure was on her to unlock her powers, and her family and friends died in battle as they waited for her. When she is finally able to awaken her powers, she has to hold back Ganon for an unknown amount of time until Link wakes. We also learn that she is conscious this whole time, watching Hyrule change before her and seeing people she once knew come and go. I will say though, that Zelda’s sacrifice in TOTK was initially rather intense, since she accepted that she may never return to normal and lose herself in dragon form forever, but she didn’t. She came back to her point in time, and it was basically the same as she left it.
OOT and MM work beautifully together, both as individual stories and as one story. Both games, although you technically get a happy ending, leave you with questions and even doubts. There is so much substance behind these stories. In both games, Link saves the world, but is left wondering what else he could have done, and if there was a better solution.
You may be wondering, “If OOT and MM both have Link wondering about if there was a better solution, then how is it any better than BOTW and TOTK having similar messages/themes?” While MM does tackle a similar topic, it goes at it from a completely different angle. Link at the end of OOT is left in a time in which no one remembers what he did to save the world, while at the end of MM, Link is left having saved the world, but at the cost of not being able to help the community with each of their individual problems and tragedies. He knows he could have done something to help each person, and he technically did, but he has to undo that work every time he needs to go back three days, in order to have time to face the bigger threat. It’s truly beautiful storytelling.
Overall
It is probably obvious if you have read everything up to this point, but OOT and MM are the true winners in my book. Are either set of games perfect? No. Each set has their charm and neither is a bad set of games by any means. Zelda games never fail to be wonderful in one way or another, but now I can say for certain that the nostalgia of OOT/MM is not the real reason behind their success. They are excellent games in every category, even if I think BOTW/TOTK beat them in one or two of those categories.
This is all, of course, just my opinion. So, tell me what you think. Are Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom the new champions, or do Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask still stand the test of time?
