The announcement of a paid Switch 2 upgrade to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom initially made me dubious. I would rather have seen a version that included the DLC for Breath of the Wild, though that would have certainly increased the price point. The small handful of improvements it advertised didn’t appear to justify a paid upgrade, but what did intrigue me was the Nintendo Switch app functionality, called Zelda Notes. After playing around with the features in both Zelda games, I can see how it will be a great tool for those who want to use the Switch 2 upgrade as an excuse to jump back into each game and sweep up all the stuff they missed the first time — and boy, I really underestimated those graphical improvements.
I never seriously thought I’d go back to the Zelda games on Switch 2. Listen, I played both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom just as obsessively as the next Zelda nut when they came out. I happily poured hundreds of hours into each of them. To this day, I staunchly defend them from labels like overrated and overhyped, because despite the flaws you might find in either game, they are undoubtedly iconic.
“Boy, I really underestimated those graphical improvements.”
But I still thought I’d never go back to them, because they follow a trend that has been brewing in the triple-A video gaming space for years: having an overwhelming amount of content. 900 koroks, well over 100 shrines each, and hundreds of various points of interest to find — especially in TOTK with its sky and underground map — eventually exhausted me. Both times, when I put the games down the final time, I had intended to go back to them after ‘a bit of a break’, but I never did. And eventually, I accepted that I never would. And now, whenever I toy with the idea of coming back to them, of finding those missing gear sets and koroks and caves and chasms and lightroots and shrines, that feeling of exhaustion is what sticks out in my mind, and I think to myself… nah. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Going on a guided tour of Hyrule Kingdom
Zelda Notes, the companion app to both Zelda Switch 2 editions accessed via the Nintendo Switch app, is a match in the dark for anyone whose passing fancy to return to the games has been quashed by the mere thought of how much stuff is left to find. It comes with a handful of functions, some of which are not worth glancing at twice, such as an underwhelming photo editor and a daily spin that gives you things like a free meal or a full recovery. The real value comes from the Navigation screen, which syncs with your game in real-time to track Link’s whereabouts, just like a minimap. It’s honestly pretty impressive: it can be customised to show or exclude any category of map feature, such as koroks, shrines, bosses, stables, and all number of other landmarks, and mark them off once they’ve been discovered.
I tested the navigation on my old BOTW save file, which was freshly transferred over from my old Switch. After spending a few seconds syncing, the map was flooded with undiscovered korok seeds and shrines, and accurately pinpointed my location, right down to the direction I was facing. Heading over to where the app said I would find the nearest Korok, I found it was exactly correct, although the app only zooms in so far, so I did have to keep my eyes peeled for it. Next, I tried the built-in voice navigation feature, which guided me like it was a car GPS. This was even more accurate, telling me which direction to go, and even whether or not what I was looking for was above or below me. It occurred to me that the fiction is a glorified walkthrough, that the information is all available only via countless guides, but it is certainly a far easier and faster way to quickly mop up a few straggling collectables.
The Zelda Notes app adds one more brand new feature to both Switch 2 Editions, and that is the voice memories that will activate if you visit some notable handmarks while having the app open. After a notification chime, it will play a recording voicing Zelda’s (and also King Rauru’s in TOTK) feelings and thoughts. They don’t add anything other than some nice lore, but listening to them makes me feel like I’m on an audio tour of some great works of art, which is a nice feeling. You can listen to them again anytime, and they can be added to the Navigation screen for easier discovery.
One of the stated benefits of buying the Switch 2 Editions is faster load times and reduced frame rates, but that alone isn’t a compelling reason to shell out for the upgrade, since just playing your original edition on the Switch 2’s hardware will show an improvement in both areas. The original edition of Breath of the Wild ran at a capped 30 FPS at roughly 900p, but commonly dropped frames during combat and areas with a lot of NPCs and particle effects like Kokiri Forest and various towns. I don’t have the tools to test the frame rate on the Switch 2 edition, but my eyes are enough to tell me that the same areas are now running as smoothly as butter.
The upgrade does bring with it an increased resolution, but this is a bit of a double-edged sword. Now that the resolution is no longer limited, the clearer picture reveals things like muddy textures and objects popping in when Link draws close. One of Nintendo’s major accomplishments with both games was making them look so gorgeous with a limited resolution. This stuff is just what happens when a game designed for a lower resolution is played at a higher one, but it is a rude awakening to the fact that BOTW is an eight-year-old game already.
The upgraded Switch 2 Editions are undoubtedly better games than the originals, so if you’ve never played either game, it’s the perfect time to start. If you do, I definitely recommend reserving the use of the Navigation function for after you’ve already had your fill of treasure hunting.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Editions are available now. Those with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription can upgrade their existing copies of the games at no further cost.
About the Author
Edie W-K
she/her
If it isn't video games, Edie doesn't care about it. She's been playing games since the N64 era, and only spent enough time away from her 3DS to earn a Bachelor in Games Design from RMIT.
