It’s a new story inside the same game. Same map, same gameplay loop (find shrines, find Koroks, do side quests). I can’t think of another sequel where the entire game takes place in the same map. Majora’s Mask was a sequel with mostly re-used assets, but it got a new map.
The games that do share a map, like Spider-man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, are largely considered stand-alone expansions.
I really don’t understand the “$70 DLC” comments. Maybe I’m too old, but TotK is the perfect example of what a sequel is.
Maybe expansion is a better term than DLC.
It’s a new story inside the same game. Same map, same gameplay loop (find shrines, find Koroks, do side quests). I can’t think of another sequel where the entire game takes place in the same map. Majora’s Mask was a sequel with mostly re-used assets, but it got a new map.
The games that do share a map, like Spider-man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, are largely considered stand-alone expansions.