Breath of the Wild's Switch 2 enhancements have me exploring Hyrule all over again

The Verge

15 hours ago

Last night, I stayed up way too late playing through the Great Plateau section of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and I'm falling in love with the game all over again.
The opening moments of Breath of the Wild are iconic. The wide shot of Hyrule you see after leaving that first cave is breathtaking, showing you the world of possibilities ahead. Solving the puzzles on the Great Plateau requires some real creativity and experimentation, especially to survive the colder parts of the area. All of that magic is still there with the Switch 2 version of the game, which you can get as a $9.99 upgrade if you already own the Switch version or as a standalone $69.99 purchase, but it all plays better.
As far as I could tell, the frame rate stayed at a steady 60fps no matter where I went in my initial explorations, which makes the game feel much smoother and more responsive. That was nice for my skirmishes with the Great Plateau's Bokoblins; they're basic enemies, but I liked sparring with them at the faster frame rate all the same. The game also has a higher resolution on Switch 2, and while the graphics aren't improved too dramatically from the original game, I thought the Switch 2 version looked great on my 4K TV. (I did notice things like grass or rocks popping in as I got close to them, though.)
Best of all, the load times are much faster, which could be the improvement that really makes the Switch 2 version worth it. On the original Switch, the load times weren't too bad, but they would regularly force you to pause as you waited for the next area to load. On the Switch 2, it felt like I was loading into shrines or a fast-travel point with only a brief delay, and over the course of an entire playthrough, those shorter loads will add up.
In my initial testing, the Zelda Notes companion app's navigation tool (found within the Nintendo Switch app) also seems like it could be a big time-saver. The feature functions like a GPS for all sorts of things you can discover, including shrines, towers, enemies, and even Korok seeds. I opened it up, picked a Korok seed that was apparently near me, and the app guided me toward it by showing my position on the map in the app and telling me what direction to go. It even nudged me to climb upward, which was helpful because I happened to pick the Korok that's found on the highest spire of the Temple of Time.
The navigation feature arguably takes away from the self-guided exploration that makes Breath of the Wild so special. Since it's an optional feature, though, I don't think it takes away from the experience too much — especially since it requires booting up an entirely separate app on a separate device, so you have to do some work to get it up and running. If you're playing through the game on the Switch 2 for the first time, I'd recommend that you don't use it. But if you want to find every single Korok seed, it could be a lifesaver.
What surprised me most with my first couple hours with the Switch 2 version of Breath of the Wild was that I was getting into its captivating loop all over again. Even though I've played through the game multiple times on the original Switch, I still found myself darting around the Great Plateau to take on random camps of baddies, diving into a pond to get a Korok that I knew was hidden there, and marking shrines and towers on my map. On the Switch 2, it's all much more refined, making it an excellent way to play one of Nintendo's best games.