Man they are so close. Arceus was great gameplay wise, still needed great improvment and better quest systems, and it feels like this game downgraded on that unique take on pokemon combat but improved on story and objectives giving me way more drive to finish it which I haven't been able to on many previous pokemon games. I think gamefreak are still learning what makes their games special to this day, this was a step in the right direction, but hopefully one day they'll hit the mark. Graphics are GOD awful though.

Zelda series is one very close to me. Although through previous titles I wouldn't rate them extreamly highly each for different reasons, mainly story game with typically boring drawn out writing. But Tears of the Kingdom improved on BOTW tremendously in almost all aspects. Gameplay with building constructs, combat with new items, new abilities making exploring so much easier, everything 1-10 up'd. But I don't agree with how its possible to stumble upon the biggest twist less than halfway through your gameplay. That being said, the story is more abundant and fleshed out than BOTW, which is a plus, but still feels it suffers in direction being tied to its complete open world nature, a balance I think could be explored but difficult to master. But with the main issue I have out the way I cannot understate how much I enjoyed playing this game and the ending was truly epic. GOOD GAME