108
Do I play Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch 2 or should I wait for Switch 3?
(www.eurogamer.net)
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
108 points (85.5% liked)
Games
18493 readers
200 users here now
Video game news oriented community. No NanoUFO is not a bot :)
Posts.
- News oriented content (general reviews, previews or retrospectives allowed).
- Broad discussion posts (preferably not only about a specific game).
- No humor/memes etc..
- No affiliate links
- No advertising.
- No clickbait, editorialized, sensational titles. State the game in question in the title. No all caps.
- No self promotion.
- No duplicate posts, newer post will be deleted unless there is more discussion in one of the posts.
- No politics.
Comments.
- No personal attacks.
- Obey instance rules.
- No low effort comments(one or two words, emoji etc..)
- Please use spoiler tags for spoilers.
My goal is just to have a community where people can go and see what new game news is out for the day and comment on it.
Other communities:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
On Switch 2 you get only HDR and 4K,no new textures or better graphics. You pay $10 to utilize the console you bought over a game you have.
On Switch 3 you will need to buy it again, only for $ 120.
The flood of remakes and remasters shows how the innovation in large gaming corporations has run dry.
That's a little disingenuous. There are other gameplay features added for the Switch 2 version.
You mean the app guide and building sharing through QR? That's on your phone. I speak for BOTW and TOTK.
What does it being on your phone matter? As I understand it, you cannot do it on the switch 1 version of the game. It is a new feature added to the switch 2 version of the game.
1st, they could made it to Switch too, there is no need for extra console.
2nd, both games had companion apps free from community, so its a minor improvment to that
3rd, jesus christ
This is integrated to the point the app is aware where in the world you are. It’s okay to charge for new things, one reason being that people eat and food costs money.
If you want to pay, go donate to the guys that made the companion apps, not multibillion companies offering trinkets...
Oh, why i even bother, Nintendo fanboys..
Nintendo employs people who eat. Go explain why you want to freeload to someone who believes it ;)
Freeload? I had payed 70€ for TOTK, if i ever buy Switch 2 that's another 450€, and you call that freeloading? So 520€ is freeloading and not the 10€ they ask to run the game. If this was not an anti consumer tactic, you could play the fucking game no matter what in Switch 2, and ask 10€ only for these "upgrades".
I would like to know if even you would pay for this, fanboy.
PS Thanks Playstation fanboys who made this a today norm.
You can play your copy of TOTK on Switch 2 without paying. Upgrade with enhanced graphics and new features is paid. Nobody is taking anything away from you. Nobody promised anything more.
No you can not play ~~any~~ some Switch 1 games without paying for upgrade pack costing 10€. Good morning, welcome to reality. Also there are no new graphics. Its the same game in HDR and 4K, even if you pay.
Source? Switch 2 is backwards compatible. Why would this game not work?
Watch the Nintendo's direct, or just google. Switch 2 is backwards compatible, but they locked the games behind the upgrade packs paywall. Without upgrade pack you can not play any of Switch games to Switch 2. So even if you have the game and the console you need to pay 10€ to work. At least kirby and the forgotten land is getting some in game content in Switch 2 with the upgrade pack.
Can you provide a source behind locking games unless upgrade pack is purchased?
I guess i was wrong, there will be free upgrades for certain games, while others are locked in paid upgrades, according to Gamespot.
That's not what the OP is talking about. Those are "enhanced" Switch 2 versions of games. That is not the same thing as putting your existing Switch game into a Switch 2 and playing it, because it's backwards compatible.
There is not midle way. You must have an upgrade pack to play the games in Switch 2. Some games get it free, others paid.
BOTW and TOTK needs 10€ to be played in Switch 2 and you get some phone assistance app (their excuse to put a paywall behind them). Or you can buy the Switch 2 versions, if you don't have the games at 70€ (lmao 2017 game) and 80€, which is the same thing.
You must download and install the upgrade pack so the system can play the game you own from Switch 1. Free upgrade packs get no enhancements, while paid get some.
I don't know where you have read that. The Switch 2 Enhanced Editions is completely different thing than just playing a backwards compatible title.
https://www.nintendo.com/us/gaming-systems/switch-2/transfer-guide/compatible-games/
I saw their direct. In that video there is no saying that you put your switch 1 game and play it on Switch 2. All that they said is that you can play them with upgrade packs.
Anyways from what i read so far, the games will need patches to utilize Switch 2. Those patches maybe be free, maybe paid. It depends from each publisher and each game. Sony did the same thing with PS5 and now Nintendo follows.
In the Nintendo site for the packs says:
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Release date: June 5, 2025
Upgrade details
Support for the ZELDA NOTES game-specific service via Nintendo Switch App*
Improved frame rates and resolution
Faster load times
HDR support
So without it you don't get these things.
Yes, that's the Switch 2 Enhanced Edition. I don't know how else to explain to you that it's separate from just playing the original game.
The Nintendo direct did talk about backwards compatibility, entirely separately from the announcement of Switch 2 Enhanced Editions.
You can put your TotK cartridge into the Switch 2 and just play it. Or you can even play for digital copy. But you will not get the Enhanced Edition features without paying for it. That's like... The entire point of how this entire comment chain began way back here: https://sh.itjust.works/comment/17902977
I'm not even sure what we're talking about anymore because you just don't seem to understand what is being discussed.
I'm sorry but if the upgrade pack offers higher resolution and frame rates, faster loading times, HDR, you say what? That you can play TOTK in Switch 2 without it?
So you suppose what? Playing it in Switch 2 having the performance of what, Switch 1? Pls explain to me, with what performance is TOTK to be played in your way of thinking? (higher resolution and frame rates, faster loading times, HDR is only with the upgrade pack)
The original post talks about when is the best time to play it. In Switch 2 or 3, gaining better visuals. I just said that you need 10€ to play it in Switch 2 (with better resolution and fps).
Other big companies offer bigger free upgrades for years without demanding more money from who already bought game (Minecraft says hi), indie developers have less sources of revenue and lots of them still offer updates for longer than even a console life cycle - and neither are tying the updates to buying a brand new console.
Someone giving something away for free doesn’t mean other have to. Different companies can think what’s best for them independently. They don’t owe us anything because we live in capitalism.
It's exactly because we live in capitalism that, as consumers, we need to punish greedy behaviour.
That’s fine, avoiding things you dislike is very healthy. I question the actual dislike with the number of people pirating Nintendo stuff though. Not liking business decisions of a luxury toy maker doesn’t really give anyone right to just take it without asking.
I've read this sentence like 10 times, and I just don't get it. What are you saying here?
Some games, not all, like TOTK, will need upgrade packs costing 10€, so you can play the game in Switch 2. They offer some enhancements to justify the paywall.
For example.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Release date: June 5, 2025
Upgrade details
Support for the ZELDA NOTES game-specific service via Nintendo Switch App*
Improved frame rates and resolution
Faster load times
HDR support
Ohhhhh, this is required? You can't just pop it in and play it as-is?
A guy here in the post believes thst you can.
But when the upgrade pack describes that you unlock higher resolution, fps, HDR and faster loading screens, i can not see how.
Furthermore the upgrade pack for the Pokémon AZ says:
Pokémon™ Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Release date: Late 2025
Upgrade details
So how you are suppose to play it in Switch 2 without an upgrade pack? What you gain?
The upgrade pack will act like DLC that modifies the game to load off of internal storage on the console. That'll be faster than loading it off of a switch cartridge. The textures will be enhanced as well, and downloaded from Nintendo servers onto your console.
You just put it in and it runs. Exactly like putting a Game Cube game in a Wii. Or a PS1 game in a PS2. How is this not obvious?
Nothing, except now you can sell your Switch 1 and still play your original Switch games, and not have to have two consoles.
There are no new textures. Only better resolution with upgrade pack. So you gonna play 4k TOTK with the same textures.
What am i saying is this. If the upgrade pack offers 4k and better fps, what would you get without it? Will the game run on 1080p with crapy fps on Switch 2?
The most believe that it won't simply run without installing the uograde pack. Some games get free upgrade packs and some paid.
The console is backward compatible. It will run all Switch 1 games without buying any upgrade packs.
Very likely, yes. The system basically emulates a Switch 1, and emulators must add limits to virtual chips because otherwise there would be bugs.
For instance, when I first started emulating BotW, there was a 60 FPS patch. It made the game unplayable for me. The menu selections moved too fast. If I pressed Up or Down a little too long, it would jump the selection to the top or bottom. I ended up choosing the wrong thing in so many conversations that I got frustrated and turned it off. Eventually the devs released another patch that makes menus work better at 60fps.
Stuff like that is exactly what this upgrade patch will do. It fixes the game to run as if it were a native Switch 2 game, because it's not!
OK, I guess I misunderstood. I still think it'll look fine. The textures are cartoony anyways, and in 4k, the objects will be so sharp. Text will probably be updated if it doesn't already use a vector font, but I'm just guessing on that.
Ok, i understand. So they put the fixing patches behind a paywall for certain games, while other games getting them for free and others maybe not getting one at all. But all will play as you were in Switch 1.
Yeah, that's how it seems to me!