The gaming community is waiting with bated breath to see what Nintendo will accomplish with the mysteriousNintendo Switch 2. Of course, it will be exciting to see howNintendo sands down the original Switch’s rougher edgeswhile providing more power and therefore more visually impressive games, but what those games will be is anyone’s guess at this stage.
That said, looking at the usual suspects seems like a safe bet. It’s fair to say that Nintendo will want to push out a newMarioorZeldagame within the first year or so of theSwitch 2’s life, as these franchises are the most easily-recognizable signifiers of the company’s cultural value and prominence; a new 3DMarioorZeldagame is virtually guaranteed to review and sell well. This would echo Nintendo’s strategy during previous console launches, including the Switch in 2017, which launched alongsideZelda: Breath of the Wildand was chased bySuper Mario Odysseylater that year. But while both of these franchises sit on Nintendo’s Mount Rushmore,Zeldais shrouded in a particular prestige, which opens the door to a great opportunity during the Switch 2’s launch window.
The Switch 2 Would Be the Perfect Venue for a TOTK and BOTW Remaster Bundle
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Could Benefit the Most from a Switch 2 Boost
TOTKandBOTWare among the best-looking games on the Switch, but unlike something likeSuper Mario Odyssey, they don’t have consistently stellar performance. Indeed, when it comes to Nintendo’s first-party output during the Switch era, it feels like the mainlineZeldagames are the ones that are most held back by the console’s rapidly aging hardware.
Frame inconsistency and long loading times are among the greatest offenders, betraying modernZeldaas a franchise locked to a less-powerful device. These elements are exacerbated inTOTK, where it feels like the Switch is performing a Herculean feat of strength to keep everything together, straining itself far beyond its means to uphold the game’s technical and visual complexity. EnhancingTOTKorBOTWwith a Switch 2 re-releasewould allow them to reach their full potential, unshackled from the limitations of Nintendo’s first, ambitious swing at a hybrid console.
How the Switch 2 Could Offer the Definitive Versions of Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild
By remastering both these titles for the Switch 2 and getting them out the door straight away, Nintendo could not only solve thenotorious performance issues ofTOTKandBOTW, but also prove the power of the successor console early on. Vast open-world games are often the best platform to show off a new system’s power, as they promise the fantasy of inhabiting a lifelike fantasy world.TOTKandBOTWwould obviously still have their cel-shaded art style in these hypothetical remasters, but features like better FPS, denser VFX, more robust lighting, and a higher resolution would allow this art style to shine ever brighter.
Nintendo has a habit ofremastering and porting games to the Switch, so there’s plenty of precedent for a remastered bundle of the console’s best-sellingZeldareleases.
As for releasing both enhanced games together, that would just be a nice, logical touch.Tears of the Kingdomis one of theZeldafranchise’s few direct sequels, and the way that it builds on the foundation ofBreath of the Wildmakes it feel like a natural extension of its predecessor, like a player could just keep playingBOTWand wind up inTOTK. Plus, it would be a great way to hook late adopters who skipped the first Switch, but want to dive head-first into the newZeldagames.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
