The new Legend of Zelda has arrived! Tears of the Kingdom, the long-awaited sequel to one of the most popular games ever, is finally here. Many fans expected Nintendo to time the release of such a major title with the rumored Switch hardware upgrade, but this does not appear to be the case. The regular Switch will have to do.
So, following some poorly optimized games (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, we’re looking at you!) and the fact that Breath of the Wild itself didn’t always work well on Switch, many wonder how Tears of the Kingdom, an even bigger game, performs on Switch. Let us look into it.
How is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Performance on Switch?
When Breath of the Wild was published in 2017, it was a title that was released simultaneously for the Wii U and the then-new Switch. Remember the Wii U? Sad, I know. Of course, the original open-world Zelda performed far better on the Switch than it did on the Wii U. However, there were still substantial frame rate drops in some more demanding situations and in the handful of villages known as FPS killer locations. A lot of time has passed between 2017 and today. The Nintendo Switch has matured as a system, with many fantastically optimized titles and a few infamous examples of poor optimization. So, how did Nintendo fare for its biggest title on this now quite old hardware?
Related: Do I Need to Play Breath of the Wild Before Zelda Tears of the Kingdom? – Answered
Well, after many hours spent in the game, I can safely say that Tears of the Kingdom works quite solidly on Switch, much better than Breath of the Wild! There’s no doubt that Nintendo used all the new optimization methods they’ve discovered in the meantime to make this title look and perform better than the last.
However, your performance and visual quality will depend on how you intend to play. Playing on a regular Switch model and the Switch Lite is fine, but the Switch OLED, with its larger screen and more vibrant colors, adds a distinctive touch to the Tears of the Kingdom’s graphics.
Also, many gamers will play the new Zelda in docked mode on various TVs and monitors. Graphic flaws and optimization shortcuts are considerably more visible in this mode, and the framerate appears to be worse, especially if your TV is set to GAME MODE. Many new image processing and framerate-boosing technologies on newer TVs, like complex interpolation algorithms, can be extremely useful in this situation and give you more fluid gameplay. A good OLED TV or monitor that can display striking colors similar to the Switch OLED screen can help too.
Related: How Big is The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom? File Size Guide
Our #1 suggestion is to play on the Switch OLED model in portable mode for the best experience, but all other options are far from bad! So, you don’t have to worry about Tears of the Kigdom’s performance on Switch – Nintendo has somehow pulled it off, but we still can’t wait for that souped-up “Switch Pro” hardware to finally materialize.
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