The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a rare direct sequel in the Seldom series, and the only one so far to re-use the majority of the previous game’s world – but the returning characters and story elements from Breath of the wild Also bring with them some noticeable plot.
Other games in the Seldom Series are usually more like separate parts of an anthology than continuous pieces of the same story, so the series has rarely had to worry much about keeping a strict continuity, but that approach can backfire when it comes to TOTK. Although each main line Seldom The game stars a hero named Link (or, in most games before BOTWwhatever the player named him), different games in the series will rarely disturb the same “link” – and even those that do, like Ocarina of Time And Majora’s MaskTend not to re-use the same game world.
BOTW’s link can explain one TOTC plothole
The NPC plot of TOTK has several possible explanations
In the transition of Breath of the wild to Tears of the kingdomHowever, using the same protagonist, the same Hyrule, and many of the same characters will have some players wondering about one noticeable plot. Despite most letters of BOTW Back in the sequel, Many of the NPCs don’t recognize Link in Tears of the kingdomSometimes in spite of being side search givers in the previous game.
An easy, but potentially unsatisfying, explanation is simply that Nintendo wanted to minimize confusion for players who skipped the previous game, and so only carried Link’s relationship with a select few important NPCs – but another way to reconcile the inconsistency is to assume That TOTK Go up on BOTWs main story without acknowledging its side content.
Most of the NPCs that don’t recognize link in TOTK are primarily associated with relatively minor side quests in BOTWSo the assumption that Link just canonically didn’t bother with many of the side quests is one way to make Zelda: Totcs plot makes more sense. Alternatively, it is relatively easy to rationalize that, in the years that have passed between the end of BOTW And TOTK, Many of the NPCs that Link interacted with may have simply forgotten the man who once did a relatively minor job for them.
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The forgetfulness of some NPCs is harder to reconcile than others, though – Bolson, for example, does not recognize link in TOTK Nothing, despite the fact that he was sold a house Which later becomes known as Zelda’s house in TOTK. And since buying the house in BOTW is a prerequisite to helping Rhondson (who remembers link in TOTK) build Tarrey Town, the discrepancies between the two games can make even less sense to players who pay attention to the smaller details.
TOTK’s plotholes can detract from the game’s appeal
TOTK’s plotholes are relatively minor, but can still hurt the experience
Of course, the relatively small discrepancies between BOTW And TOTK Are not the main game-ruining details. But as one of the very few direct sequels in the Seldom series, It can feel like a missed opportunity for TOTK To not build more on the history of its predecessor.
Even though many of its plots, like NPCs that don’t recognize Link, or the absence of relationship structures from the first game, can be easily rationalized, explained or even ignored. TOTK Can make it feel like Many of BOTWSmaller details don’t matter. And it can hurt a player’s connection to the world.
Although critically acclaimed and widely agreed upon as one of the best games of 2023, TOTK Sometimes fails to build on BOTW In important ways. NPCs not recognizing Link is relatively easy to rationalize or explain after-the-fact, but at this point, the seeming lack of continuity can be jarring for many players, taking away from the feeling that TOTK Takes place in a world left over from the end of the previous game.
Although TOTK is a direct continuation of BOTWSome details from the first game are noticeably left out. Thinking of BOTWs side content as mostly non-canon, or rationalizing that NPCs might just have forgotten about a person they didn’t have much interaction with, are easy ways to reconcile the plot. However, the extra effort to preserve continuity could have been made The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom A more satisfying experience.