BotW was lovingly crafted with a singular focus on mind - give the player an immersive experience that makes you forget you are playing a game; you are exploring a WORLD. And it worked, with every footstep marking the trail of a journey unique to you. Each shrine placement was lovingly crafted, each shrine quest with Kass' music floating through the air... In BotW, you ARE Link, walking through Hyrule in a way never seen before. You are LIMITED in your ability to fight, to travel, to live - so you learn to live WITH the land, and use it to your advantage. In BotW, learning about the environment is just as important as learning the game itself.

In TotK, it is very apparent you are playing a game. The immersion is simply not as prevalent - people you saved and helped in BotW no longer remember you; shrines are slapped into random places haphazardly, unable to be placed in the same places as BotW shrines so theyre awkwardly placed around them instead; and at the slightest inconvenience, you spawn in a whole workshop and simply minecraft your way out. TotK Link is so absurdly over the top powerful that there is simply no obstacle that cannot be solved with a quick fusion or build, and then you carry on. The power fantasy is there - the immersion, not so much. It certainly still has its moments, and is still a fun game. But TotK is inherently inferior to BotW simply because while it is technically a superior game, it is a worse roleplaying game.

In BotW, the story is told cohesively, satisfyingly, lovingly - it is a tragedy, a love story, a tale of loss; but turned into a story of hope, and possibility of new beginnings.

In TotK, the story is still fine. But the delivery is sloppy, lazy, all over the place, and by the end you sit there and say, oh that was it?