For a long time now, new open-world games have competed to see which would have the biggest map. However, as time passed, players slowly realized that the content on those maps is still more important than the size of the surface itself. 2017’s The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild map was one of the best yet, with the legendary world of Hyrule finally looking like a real place and like a massive Zelda dungeon full of mysteries and secrets to uncover.
Now, many years later, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom returns us to the same world, albeit a little changed, but also brings a couple of completely new layers to the well-known map. So, let’s compare The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild maps.
How Big is the Tears of the Kingdom Map vs Breath of the Wild?
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild map contains only surface-level Hyrule clearly divided into territories ruled by different races. This Hyrule map is 168 miles long and 198 miles wide. This is an area of 33,268 square miles (or 86,163 square kilometers) when these dimensions are added together.
Related: How is Zelda Tears of the Kingdom’s Performance on Switch? – Answered
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom uses the same map as Breath of the Wild, but although the geography is somewhat similar, a lot has been changed – since the game is taking place in a different period in time. However, you will recognize some of the most important landmarks such as Hyrule Castle, which is now floating above the ground, while some locations from the last game are gone – they have been demolished, and in some places, the climate has changed.
However, the biggest difference in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the addition of two completely new map layers. There is also a Sky map, full of small floating islands ready for exploration…
…as well as an underground Depths map where a light source is required and where slightly different rules apply. With two new map layers and a reworked Surface world, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom definitely has a much larger area where the game takes place, overall.
Did you know that Monolith Soft, the creators of Xenoblade Chronicles, helped develop the geography of the original map for Breath of the Wild? If you need another example of an exceptionally good open-world map on Switch – check out Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as well.
For more The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom here on Prima Games, click the tag below.
