The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis one of my favourite games of all time and a true titan ofNintendo’s first-party releases. Ever since I first started Link’s genre-defining adventure on theWii Ubefore eventually moving my progress to theSwitch, I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into clambering around Hyrule, cooking up Dubious Food, and failing to reflect more Guardian lasers than I care to count.
I even liked the weapon durability,despite how much people whinged about it.
As much as I love Breath of the Wild, I’d be lying if I said it was perfect. Korok Seeds are a pain,the Shrines get samey, and the story is pretty forgettable overall. These are all complaints I’m sure you’ve heard and may not agree with, but the one thing most agree on is thatBOTW was held back by the Switch’s technical capabilities.
Hyrule is humongous and full of detail in Breath of the Wild and, while the game is still impressive thanks to its great art direction, the low resolution and choppy framerate hold it back. I’ve always wondered what Breath of the Wild (and to a lesser extent, the great-but-not-for-meTears of the Kingdom) would look like if Nintendo went all in on a powerful console.
That oddly specific wish of mine has finally been granted thanks to theNintendo Switch 2 and its enhanced port of Breath of the Wild: a true showcase for what theSwitch 2can do with older games. After playing it at a recent preview, I’m ready to dive back into Hyrule for yet another console generation.
Breath Of The Wild At Its Best-Looking And Smoothest-Playing
Tears Of The Kingdom Too, But BOTW Is The One That Blew Me Away
My all-too-brief preview was split into two halves meant to show the improvements in a few different scenarios. The first, which I played in handheld mode, took me back to where it all began as Link wakes up in the Shrine of Resurrection. This meant a lot of watching cutscenes I’ve seen a dozen times already, but I didn’t mind since the colours popped like never before.
The Shrine of Resurrection intro and the iconic moment when Link steps out to the Great Plateau has always been a fantastic introduction to Breath of the Wilds’ adventurous spirit, but it’s even more impressive now hat the world looks so damn good. Even in handheld mode, with the resolution dialled down, it’s an impressive transformation.
As much as I would have loved the Switch 2 to have an OLED screen, Breath of the Wild and everything else I played in handheld still looked great thanks to the more powerful tech and HDR capability.
As soon as I started controlling Link, the original Switch version’s shortcomings really stood out, and I knew I could never go back. Breath of the Wild’s framerate has always felt choppy and been one of the more noticeable technical hiccups for me, so seeing it with a smooth 60fps almost felt like experiencing it for the first time. At least, it was more than enough for me to know that I’ll be replaying it for the umpteenth time just to see it at its best.
After the opening’s lengthy cutscenes, I only had a few minutes of sprinting around before the handheld demo ended and I moved over to the second half of the preview in docked mode. This is where the bumped-up resolution and framerate sparkled even more, but I was also given access to a few save files that let me explore a bit more of the world to see even more improvements.
Zelda’s Switch 2 Ports Are The Best Way To Play, As Long As You Don’t Pay Full Price
$80 Is Too Much, But The Smaller Upgrade Fee Is More Than Worth It
Another issue with the original Switch release of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom is the long load times, which added up if you liked to fast-travel a lot. Now, though, they’re barely there at all, with the teleporting cutscene taking longer than the fast-travel itself. It’s another minor upgrade, but one that’s appreciated for someone who has already spent so much time in Hyrule.
Beyond marvelling at just how different Breath of the Wild feels with something as simple as a stabilised framerate, I spent the rest of my short demo just running around, dreading the moment the clock ran out. When it did, I knew that my fate was sealed and I was doomed to dive back in and extend my already stacked playtime for the third console generation in a row.
Breath of the Wild benefits massively from the Switch 2 changes and seems worthy of the upgrade fee,even if the full retail price is a step even I’m not willing to take. My overall positive impressions are just based on the more obvious changes too, as I didn’t get to fiddle around with some of the other features like Zelda Notes.
The upgrade for both Zelda games are free for Nintendo Switch Online members if they own the base game, which is a nice addition. I wish upgrades had never become a paid thing in the first place, but such is the gaming industry.
Sadly, I didn’t get the time to see Tears of the Kingdom’s enhanced Switch 2 release, but considering how much that game pushed the original Switch, I’m betting that it benefits even more from a smoother framerate and faster load times. It also seems like a greater fit for Zelda Notes thanks to the creation-sharing tools, which might be enough to encourage a replay out of me.
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are both good signs for what Nintendo can do with these enhanced editions. I hope more games get the same treatment, even if none of them can benefit quite as much as this iconic pair.
