Are The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 upgrades worth it?

The Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades for both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are absolutely worth it, even though on paper they are incremental improvements on the original Switch versions.

Breath of the Wild which released in 2017 is quite simply one of the best open world games ever made and Tears of the Kingdom, which released in 2023, is a worthy successor.

Starting with Breath of the Wild, which also released on the Wii-U, the Switch 2 Edition upgrade is definitely worth the $10. For those that haven't played it and own a Switch 2, it's also highly recommended even though it's now eight-years-old.

Tears of the Kingdom is also worth the $10 upgrade, even though the game only released two years ago, and is also recommended to check out if it hasn't been already.

That's because both games feature similar improvements.

Neither Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom noticeably dropped from their targeted 60 fps / Nintendo

Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom run at 4k when docked to a TV, have HDR when connected to a compatible TV and at 1080p handheld. Both games also run at 60 fps and this hasn't noticeably dipped during indy100's time with either so far, even in the more dense sections.

This might only sound like a slight jump in line with modern day expectations but with some of the frame rate issues Breath of the Wild in particular had, and both games running at 30 fps on the original console, seeing Hyrule in both games brought to life even more quite simply needs to be experienced this way.

Tears of the Kingdom had frame rate issues when using Ultrahand but these have been alleviated too.

Some of the textures up close are perhaps not as detailed as they could be, with these upgrades exposing them a little, but that's the only very minor grievance with this upgrade at all.

Aside from these visual upgrades, the games pretty well play the same as they always have done. Having said that, because of the added power of the Switch 2 console, loading times have been reduced drastically across the board.

A second save has been added for both games, meaning players can jump back in with existing saves and also experience the stories of each from the very beginning without losing original progress.

This might seem like a small addition but is incredibly welcome for those that want to experience the game from the start again.

In Tears of the Kingdom, Blueprints made with Ultrahand can be shared with others / Nintendo

The big new addition for both is Zelda Notes.This is a feature that can be accessed in the Nintendo Switch Online app.

Once the app is connected to the games, Zelda Notes has a navigation feature that can give players voice navigation as well as a real-time map.

These are incredibly useful for finding objectives, quest givers and those hidden extras. Voice Memories has been added and they are new collectibles scattered across the map; there are 125 of these and can be found using the app. They add more depth to the world and give backstories to certain characters and regions.

In-game items can be deposited to the Zelda Notes item box, in-game photos can be shared and decorated within the app and detailed play stats can be seen. There are also daily random bonuses. amiibo from The Legend of Zelda series can be used to obtain daily rewards too.

In Tears of the Kingdom, Blueprints made with Ultrahand can be sent to the app and converted into QR codes for other players to use.

By no means are any of the Zelda Notes additions essential but they do offer some added and unique content, along with quality-of-life improvements, to the Switch 2 Editions of each game.

Having said that, the Switch 2 Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are worth it for the performance improvements alone, with the better visuals further convincing that argument and the new Zelda Notes features welcome new additions.

And for those that already own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom on the original Switch, if players are subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, these upgrades come at no additional cost.

Elsewhere from indy100, check out our first impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 and why we miss Grand Prix mode in Mario Kart World having three laps per circuit.

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