Why would you want to?! If I could go back in time and play BotW again for the first time I would

It would be totally fine from like a plot standpoint, but personally I would play BotW first. Or at the very least get like 50% of the way through. I think that game does a better job of introducing the open world Zelda concept and it's a really fun experience the first time.

This game obviously has the same open world but it's not introduced in quite such a spectacular way (probably because they know most people have already played it).

I started playing a week ago, though I’m not super far in.

You could, but I’d definitely suggest playing Breath of the Wild first if possible. TotK is a sequel, so characters already know you, part of the fun is seeing how the map changed, etc.

Also, they’ve added quite a few conveniences that would make it hard to play in the reverse order.

Yes, there's a recap on Nintendo YouTube. Zelda games aren't know for the story.

And....no. BotW is still arguably the best game ever. Missing it might not be a great idea. Tough choice :)

If you didn't play BotW, then by all means, play one of the best-reviewed games of all time, which is probably a little bit cheaper by now. It's not like you'd be going back to 8-bit era and the technological whiplash would ruin the experience - they're basically the same in terms of quality, scope, and tech experience.

It probably would be fine but you should consider just playing BOTW. I don’t think this game will be a huge technical leap ahead given it’s a switch title anyway. BOTW holds up very well imo so you would be doing yourself a disservice to skip it.

Any reason not to try it?

It’s actually excellent and if you have a kid it’s great to play with them on a rainy day.

I handle the monsters and Yiga, and heckle during the puzzles.

Probably even better, as the overworld will be completely new.

Playing TOTK it's a drastic improvement over BotW.