With Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo managed to follow up the reinvention of the Zelda series with a game that added more to discover and more to play with, and it even throws in a mystical LEGO kit. Link soon discovers Ultrahand, which lets you grab and stick objects, batteries, engines, weapons, food (and more) to other objects. It’s the standout addition compared to its predecessor; a creative toolbox of solutions (or foolish endeavors) to solve every puzzle, fight every beast and explore every part of Tears of the Kingdom.
The Switch 2 edition adds the sort of improvements and upgrades that, arguably, warrant paying to upgrade your Switch edition. To start with, I struggled to make the frame rates choke in my current playthrough. On the original Switch, the gorgeous world of Hyrule would often stutter and slow as you transitioned between sky, surface and underground. The game’s framerates would peak at 30fps, while busy moments (or lots of custom building) could knock those rates severely.
On the Switch 2, ToTK runs at 60fps, locked. It plays smoothly, pretty much all the time, and it’s a big improvement to what is still a beautiful adventure. The new hardware adds HDR to the graphics. This expanded dynamic range comes into its own in the underground depths sections, the low-light areas a little clearer and easier to navigate. No surprise: loading times are also quicker when fast travelling and loading the game initially.
There are also gameplay quality-of-life upgrades, including audio logs you can discover and listen to on the companion smartphone app and the ability to both store and share your items, weapons and ingredients. If your favorite part was crafting spinning laser death machines, et al, with your Ultrahand, the ability to save builds as QR codes and share with friends is a fun addition, if a little limited in utility at the start. You will have to manually scour the internet for creations from people who aren’t on your friends list.
That limitation aside, the Switch 2 edition delivers plenty for that $10 upgrade charge – and Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass subscribers get both ToTK and BoTW upgrades for free. — M.S.
