Ever since it was announced, fans have been comparing Pokémon Legends: Arceus to Breath of the Wild, and both of them have a mechanic that allows players to fly through the air. BOTW's paraglider lets Link gently glide through the skies of Hyrule, while Legends: Arceus' players can soar through Hisui on the back of the Ride Pokémon, Hisuian Braviary. The two are very similar, especially so, due to both games' open worlds and focus on exploration.
The paraglider is a key aspect of BOTW. It's obtained early on in the game, right before the main story starts, and is put to generous use throughout. It's crucial during the battle with the Divine Beast Vah Medoh, and without it, players' traversal would be much more limited than it is. Inversely, Legends: Arceus' Hisuian Braviary comes very late in the game, even if it does make Legends: Arceus feel like a Pokémon safari. The other Ride Pokémon such as Wyrdeer and Basculegion mean that players can still get around the wilds of Hisui with relative ease, but flying isn't an option until the late game.
BOTW's paraglider and Legends: Arceus' Hisuian Braviary both have their similarities and differences. Aside from being obtained at very different points in their games' stories, their ease of use and specific mechanics also differ in ways that make them each distinct from one another. They are also similar enough to each other to be comparable, however, especially when it comes to how and when players can use them. It's hard to say definitively whether one is truly better than the other since they both have their own upsides and weaknesses, but one wins out above the other for a very simple reason. Future Pokémon games should improve on Legends: Arceus' features and mechanics, flight included.
BOTW's Paraglider & Pokémon Legends: Arceus' Hisuian Braviary
Although they were often compared to each other in the months leading up to its release, the fact remains that Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a much different game than BOTW. Their flying mechanics are also very different, and one of the main differences between the two is that players can much more easily use Braviary than the paraglider. In BOTW, Link needs a high vantage point from which he can descend unless using Revali's Gale, which he can only do every so often, but in Legends: Arceus, the player will automatically be lifted into the air when they use Hisuian Braviary. Even if they're standing on level ground without so much as a hill in sight, they can still fly high across Hisui.
Another big difference is that BOTW's paraglider requires stamina in order to use. Getting stamina heart containers in Breath of the Wild isn't hard, but it can be a bit tedious, so players will have to grind a bit if they want to stay airborne for any extended period of time. If Link's stamina meter runs out while he's still in the air, then he'll plummet uncontrollably, perhaps to his doom depending on how high up he is. Legends: Arceus has no such restriction; players can fly with Braviary for as long as they like without fear of falling out of the sky. They also don't descend over time while they're doing so, unlike the paraglider, which means that they won't hit the ground unless they want to (or press a button by mistake). The longevity and the stages at which the two are obtained both make flying with Braviary a distinct experience from the paraglider.
How BOTW's Paraglider & Legends: Arceus' Braviary Are Similar
As different as the paraglider is from Braviary, however, they also share many similarities. Pokémon Legends: Arceus' mechanics don't go far enough from BOTW to be fully removed from it. The biggest is that they both only allow players to glide instead of truly flying. They can steer and direct themselves as desired, but neither will allow one to ascend at all. The lack of ascending abilities is what separates Legends: Arceus' flying mechanic from true flight that would let the player move in three dimensions, and is therefore perhaps the most important similarity between it and BOTW. Controlled diving is possible, unlike with the paraglider, but it's not possible to climb back up again, so it's best used with care.
Another similarity is that players can activate both Braviary and the paraglider while in the air. One of the most entertaining ways for Link to die in BOTW is to fall off a cliff, but it doesn't usually happen if players are careful. If they're in a free-fall, whether it's due to a wrong button press, accidentally walking off of a cliff, or if they just wanted to take their character for a skydive, then they can slow their descent as simply as they'd like. It may not be a big feature in either, but it's a literal lifesaver for returning Pokémon fans who continuously forget that the game has fall damage. Although in BOTW, it also requires enough stamina for players to use the paraglider in order to save themselves from a nasty fall mid-air, it still is very helpful as well. Both games allow fans to dive from the highest heights and save themselves just before they hit the ground, although it may be funnier if they don't. Improvements on BOTW's exploration in BOTW 2 hopefully won't take that away.
Is BOTW's Paraglider Or Pokémon's Hisuian Braviary Better?
Both BOTW's paraglider and Legends: Arceus' Hisuian Braviary have their pros and cons. The paraglider, for example, takes up much less of the screen, allowing players to better appreciate Hyrule's beautiful scenery. It is, however, painfully slow and ill-suited for anything besides a leisurely glide, which can be frustrating when one is trying to reach a Star Fragment that's fallen in the distance. With Hisuian Braviary, players can get around the map quickly and easily, giving them the most freedom out of any Ride Pokémon. However, just like with every other Ride Pokémon aside from Basculegion, they cannot capture wild Pokémon on the way, which can stymie progress on the ultimate goal of creating Hisui's first-ever Pokédex.
In the end, the winner between the paraglider and Braviary is the paraglider. BOTW's music and scenery create a peacefulness while gliding that Legends: Arceus just can't match. The reason the paraglider wins is that it's obtained at a much earlier point in the game than Hisuian Braviary, which is the last Ride Pokémon obtained by players in Legends: Arceus. They simply don't get to enjoy it as much as they could have, whereas BOTW fans spend almost the entirety of the game gliding through Hyrule. In addition, BOTW was made for the paraglider; there are plenty of tall and rolling hills, mountain slopes, and sheer cliffs to soar off of, which are lacking in all but Legends: Arceus' final areas. Pokémon Legends: Arceus may lose to Breath of the Wild, but its success and the fact that it's an experimental title mean that it will hopefully improve vastly on flight in future games.