Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Switch 2 Edition review - the GOAT gets an upgrade

Metro

7 days ago

The most successful Legend Of Zelda game of all time is remastered for the Nintendo Switch 2 and gains a significant performance boost.
Nintendo may be the most inscrutable video games company in the world, but you didn't need any insider information to know that there was going to be a remaster of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild for the Switch 2. Not even they would ignore such an obvious idea and so it is that both Breath Of The Wild and its sequel Tears Of The Kingdom have been given special Nintendo Switch 2 Editions.
Considering we spent literally hundreds of hours playing the original versions of both games, there's no way we, or anyone else, is going to be able to replay the whole thing in a reasonable amount of time, thanks to Nintendo not sending review units ahead of time. But the important thing to note about the Switch 2 version of Breath Of The Wild is that it doesn't contain any new content.
There's a multitude of technical improvements, and a mobile app with new features, but the actual gameplay, game world, and story are exactly the same as they were back in 2017. This means that despite concerns about Mario Kart World, the Switch 2 does launch with one of the best video games ever made.
Breath Of The Wild is an incredible game. Not just in its own right but as an example of perhaps the most thorough and successful reboot of any media property ever. It's still a Zelda game but the open world gameplay and the lack of traditional dungeons transforms the formula into a freeform adventure that no other game, beyond its own sequel, has come close to emulating.
It's an incredible achievement and absolutely deserves to retain the 10/10 score we originally gave it. And that's before we start to get into the changes for the Switch 2 Edition. Naturally, the first thing you notice is the graphics, which despite no obvious changes to the textures or 3D models do look noticeably better. The higher resolution helps a lot but you can also see changes to the lighting, in part thanks to HDR support, and draw distance.
We'd also swear the game was using ray tracing at times, especially the way the light glints off metal shields, but Nintendo has made no mention of that, even though the Switch 2 does support the technology.
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Whatever's going on the game looks fantastic, although because nothing substantial has changed in terms of the graphics themselves the simplistic textures do stand out at times, since this is still essentially a Wii U game. The desaturated colour scheme is also something we were never too enamoured with the first time around, although we've long since accepted that as part of the game's aesthetic.
The most important graphical change is that the whole game now runs at a steady 60fps. When originally released there was some notable frame rate issues but while the most serious instances, such as in Korok Forest, were dealt with via a patch the game could still run into trouble at times, especially when there was a lot of enemies or explosions on screen.
Now everything is silky smooth no matter where you go and what you do, which makes a big difference. The Switch 2 also ensures faster loading times and while they're not instantaneous, when you warp from one place to the next, it's now only around a five second wait.
Plus, using the Master Cycle Zero motorbike, which you get from completing The Champions' Ballad DLC, is no longer inhibited by juddery performance, as the game struggles to load in new areas of the map quickly enough, for the faster moving vehicle. Although none of the DLC is included with the Switch 2 Edition, so you have to buy that separately.
There're no other changes to the game than that, beyond a second save file if you want to start again from scratch, but there is the Zelda Notes mobile app, which is filled with little extras but only one of any real significance.
The most useful feature is the ability to link the app with your save and have it direct you, via a map and a GPS style voiceover, to any Koroks or shrines you missed. We 100%-ed the game the first time round, except for all the Koroks, so this is super handy for those that want to catch 'em all.
Technically, the only new content in the whole remaster is commentary from Princess Zelda, which kicks in whenever you visit certain areas. None of it is particularly interesting though, and if there's one thing we didn't want more of from Breath Of The Wild, it's the Zelda actress' awful voice-acting.
And that's it really, apart from the ability to share items with other players, edit photos, and check your play data and that of other players around the world. Although you can also get a free random item every day and more out of using an amiibo, but as far as we're concerned that's cheating.
Despite the understandable concerns about the price of games on Switch 2, this new edition of Breath Of The Wild 2 is quite reasonably priced, at least in terms of the upgrade. It's just £8 or completely free if you're subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. The changes on offer are very clear and if you want to go back to the game and 100% it this is a great excuse, as the performance improvement is very noticeable, even to the non-technically minded. More Trending
And if you've never played the game before, and have just got a Switch 2 and want to check out the many classics released for its predecessor, then this is the perfect opportunity. The only problem is that if this was any other eight-year-old game its price would've shrunk considerably over the last few years, but it hasn't – because it's Nintendo and their prices rarely ever decrease.
That's unfortunate but the simple reason as to why, is that people are willing to pay that much to play great games, and there are very few, if any, that are greater than Breath Of The Wild.
In Short: One of the best video games ever made gets a substantial performance boost on the Switch 2 and provides the perfect opportunity for new players to jump in or for veterans to hoover up every last Korok.
Pros: A stone cold classic that has lost absolutely none of its allure over the course of the last eight years. The graphical upgrade is significant and the navigation feature on the mobile app is very useful.
Cons: Some of the texture work is beginning to show its age. Not including the DLC is a bit cheap and we still resent not being able to change Link's name.
Score: 10/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch 2Price: £66.99 or £7.99 upgrade pack*Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Nintendo EPDRelease Date: 5th June 2025
Age Rating: 12
*free with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack
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