I have been hyped for ToTK since it was teased back in 2019. I got the game the day it came out and have really enjoyed playing the game. I'll quickly go through the things about ToTK that I think are better than BoTW and things that I think BoTW did better than TotK
ToTK: -Exploration in ToTK is literally 3x better than BoTW, because you have an entire underground area to explore as well as the Sky. I'm glad they made that change, because I don't think people would have enjoyed this game half as much if the original map was reused completely with not much added. The expansion of the map allows for people who've explored the BoTW map countless times to find something new around every corner.
-ToTK's Runes are much better than BoTW. The amount of possibilities with Ultra-hand are endless. Fusing weapons is a much better way of having weapons, because in BoTW I never wanted to 'waste' my good weapons on random enemies so I would save them all for boss fights. Now with fusing you're able to create powerful weapons at the click of a few buttons. Rewind and The Ceiling teleport runes are also amazing additions, although I prefer Stasis from BoTW to Rewind.
BoTW: -BotW's Story is way better than TotK. The premise of BoTW is so interesting and amazing that it's really hard to beat. In Totk you don't quite have the sense of wonder that you feel when you start BoTW, because you've never seen the world of BoTW before, and it just seems so vast and huge. Even though TotK has more areas to explore, you're already familiar with most of the map, so it isn't quite as daunting as exploring BoTW for the First time.
-Totk is an easy game. I did not once struggle with a single boss. While BotW may not necessarily be a hard game either, there were at least a few times I struggled with a main story boss (waterblight Gannon took me forever to defeat when I was 13). The Minibosses in Totk are harder though, especially with the addition of the Gleeok. For a game as vast as TotK I wish it would have been a little harder.
Overall, ToTk is one of the best games to have coke out this year, and I definitely think it deserves GotY. I recommend to anyone who played BoTW and is skeptical about the new game! 9/10 from me.
ToTK: -Exploration in ToTK is literally 3x better than BoTW, because you have an entire underground area to explore as well as the Sky. I'm glad they made that change, because I don't think people would have enjoyed this game half as much if the original map was reused completely with not much added. The expansion of the map allows for people who've explored the BoTW map countless times to find something new around every corner.
-ToTK's Runes are much better than BoTW. The amount of possibilities with Ultra-hand are endless. Fusing weapons is a much better way of having weapons, because in BoTW I never wanted to 'waste' my good weapons on random enemies so I would save them all for boss fights. Now with fusing you're able to create powerful weapons at the click of a few buttons. Rewind and The Ceiling teleport runes are also amazing additions, although I prefer Stasis from BoTW to Rewind.
- Totk adds a few quality of life changes, such as being able to toss a weapon after opening a chest when you have a full inventory. Small things like that make the game a lot better
BoTW: -BotW's Story is way better than TotK. The premise of BoTW is so interesting and amazing that it's really hard to beat. In Totk you don't quite have the sense of wonder that you feel when you start BoTW, because you've never seen the world of BoTW before, and it just seems so vast and huge. Even though TotK has more areas to explore, you're already familiar with most of the map, so it isn't quite as daunting as exploring BoTW for the First time.
- BotW's soundtrack is better. You may think, "well isn't ToTK's soundtrack the same thing with more songs?" And yes, you'd be right, but Totk simply doesn't have enough new music. TotK re-uses almost every song for towns and areas. As much as I love those songs, I was hoping for something new. Nothing will be able to beat entering Hyrule Castle in BoTW and hearing the orchestral masterpiece playing.
-Totk is an easy game. I did not once struggle with a single boss. While BotW may not necessarily be a hard game either, there were at least a few times I struggled with a main story boss (waterblight Gannon took me forever to defeat when I was 13). The Minibosses in Totk are harder though, especially with the addition of the Gleeok. For a game as vast as TotK I wish it would have been a little harder.
Overall, ToTk is one of the best games to have coke out this year, and I definitely think it deserves GotY. I recommend to anyone who played BoTW and is skeptical about the new game! 9/10 from me.