Tears of the Kingdom takes the world of Breath of the Wild and pushes it to its limits, unrestrained by a linear storyline and allowing its players to go wherever they want post-tutorial mode. With over hundreds of side quests and Link's new abilities, there's no shortage of things to do on a loaded save file or a new game.
Despite this, some players may feel that while Tears of the Kingdom offers more exploration and creative gameplay, the replayability isn't as strong as Breath of the Wild. However, with the increased difficulty from TotK to BotW, there are different methods of making a second playthrough more challenging until a potential Master Mode.
1 Non-Linear Campaign
The prologue and the tutorial (Great Sky Island) are unavoidable, but once players touch down on The Surface, they can go just about anywhere they want. Tears of the Kingdom pushes Link to go to Lookout Landing, and for gameplay's sake, this may be worth it just so players can obtain the Paraglider. After this, they'll receive a quest called "Regional Phenomena" in which Link needs to check up on four regions of Hyrule.
While TotK wants its players to go to Rito Village first, the choice is ultimately up to the players themselves. They can go to Gerudo Region first and save Rito Village for last - anything they want. This potentially makes each new save file different from the last.
2 The Depths
The Depths was, to some fans, unexpected upon playing Tears of the Kingdom. Trailers pre-launch showed off the Sky Islands, but it's The Depths that have more to do. For one, there are powerful enemies below Hyrule, and most of them reek of gloom. The Depths are also pitch black, meaning if Link doesn't bring any Brightbloom Seeds or some other way of lighting up his path, they won't be fun to navigate.
Each Shrine of Light on The Surface corresponds to a Lightroot in The Depths. While players can absolutely activate every Lightroot before confronting the final boss, they're not required for completing the game. They can instead be done on a loaded, postgame save file, or on a new file entirely.
3 Play Without the Sages' Vows
It will be impossible to do the temples without the Sages: Tulin, Yunobo, Sidon, Riju, and Mineru. Every time a temple boss is defeated, Link will receive a Vow. This enables him to call forth an Avatar of the respective Sage and use their Ability.
While Tulin's Gust/Vow of Tulin may be harder to avoid using, players can make a new game more challenging by dismissing the other sages. Doing so potentially forces Link to fight alone, which isn't that different from Breath of the Wild. However, given the threat of minibosses, gloom, and the scourges lying in The Depths, fighting without any help in Tears of the Kingdom could provide some difficulty.
4 Over 100 Side Quests
There are over 130 side quests in Tears of the Kingdom as well as 60 side adventures. Thus, there's no shortage of non-main quests to keep Link busy. In fact, doing specific side adventures will have great payoffs.
Side quests open up when more progress has been made during the "Regional Phenomena" main quest. It's not a bad idea to return to each Sages' respective homes and see what's available. If TotK players want to make things really challenging, they should track down and complete every side quest/side adventure before confronting Ganondorf.
5 The Various Armor Sets
The majority of the armor from Breath of the Wild makes a return in Tears of the Kingdom. In addition to this, players also have access to the BotW DLC and amiibo-exclusive armor, too. Combine this with Tears of the Kingdom's new armor sets, and players will have well-over 30 armor sets and armor pieces to find and upgrade.
Certain armor sets have a Set Bonus when all of its pieces have been raised to 2-stars/level 2 by a Great Fairy. This means players will be spending most of their time farming materials just to upgrade their armor. Players can challenge themselves to upgrade every possible armor piece to their max level on a new playthrough.
6 Find New Solutions to Shrines
The Abilities that Link has in Tears of the Kingdom allow him to build and fuse various items and materials. There's also the Ascend and Recall Ability, and they're both excellent at breezing through Shrine Trials and Temple puzzles.
Shrines all have a way of being solved, but some of their puzzles can be skipped over by using one of LInk's Abilities. Recall and Ascend are good for "crafting" makeshift elevators, which gives Link the lift he needs to step over ladders and high ledges. Try seeing how many Shrines can be solved by just using Link's Abilities alone.
7 Don't Use Fairies
Mipha's Grace was an extremely reliable gameplay mechanic in Breath of the Wild. It would revive Link with full HP as well as grant him a couple Temporary Hearts. So naturally, certain players weren't too thrilled that Tears of the Kingdom didn't have a strong auto-revive. Fortunately, TotK kept in fairies.
Fairies will restore 5 heart containers if Link falls in battle. They're far from as useful as Mipha's Grace, but they don't have a cooldown and Link can hold up to 4-5 Fairies at once. Doing a fairy-less run will raise the stakes against monsters like Gleeoks and force players to be more careful when launching Link from high places.
8 Build New Devices with Ultrahand
It's no surprise that some players have really taken Ultrahand and Auto-Build to make creative devices. Some are great for battling while others are just there to get a laugh out of the audience. Oddly enough, Tears of the Kingdom doesn't force its players to get too creative with building, as most Shrines and Lightroots can be reached with a battery-charged fanplane or something similar.
Get creative by making mechs or tanks using various objects in Hyrule. Players can get different materials from Zonai Dispensers and use the construction materials left by Hudson Construction. Once something's completed, take it out for a spin against a horde of monsters or a miniboss.
9 Find All Collectible Key Items
Players can collect Korok Seeds and Bubbul Gems in Tears of the Kingdom. Korok Seeds are used to expand the weapons inventory while Bubbul Gems can be traded for the Mystic Armor and various monster parts. Finding all the Bubbul Gems will be easier than finding all 1000 Korok Seeds, but it gives something for players to do. The final reward for collecting all of these Key Items is underwhelming, but at least players will have a new set of armor and plenty of space for weapons, shields, and bows.
10 Unique Dialogue
Speaking to every NPC in Tears of the Kingdom would be a challenge in itself. However, some bits of dialogue can only be seen before completing one of the "Regional Phenomena" quests. Some NPCs even have a unique reaction to certain Zonai Devices. In other cases, dialogue and scenes can change depending on if Link has done something in advance. One thing players may want to try is finding Mineru before getting the Vow of Tulin, Yunobo, Sidon, and Riju.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for Nintendo Switch.