The Nintendo Switch released over six years ago now, and it's starting to show its age. While the OLED revision has helped the Switch look a little more powerful, its hardware still pales in comparison to the competition, already being outdone by the Xbox One and PS4 on launch and now drastically overpowered by the Xbox Series X and PS5. But despite recent controversies surrounding games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the Nintendo Switch isn't done just yet, at least not if The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has anything to say about it.
For the last year or so, the industry has seen a multitude of reports and leaks suggesting that Nintendo is working on some kind of Nintendo Switch 2 or Nintendo Switch Pro console, and that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would be released alongside it as a launch title. But with a release date now just around the corner, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is definitely 100% coming to the Nintendo Switch, not a successor.
Nintendo Switch 2 Can't Rely on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Anymore
When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's first gameplay trailer dropped, a big portion of the fan base agreed that it looked simply too impressive to be running on the basic 2017 Nintendo Switch model. The colors seemed more vibrant than those in Breath of the Wild, the framerate looked more consistent, and the draw distance seemed much greater. And naturally, this discussion led to the theory that Nintendo was going to use Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as a launch-day exclusive for its next Nintendo Switch model, a theory which was still believed up until just a few months ago.
With Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom now just a few weeks out, it seems pretty much confirmed that isn't going to launch with some kind of advanced Nintendo Switch model. Instead, it simply seems as though Nintendo has actually done what it's always been best at and managed to optimize every inch of Tears of the Kingdom so that it'll work well on a base Nintendo Switch. Much like Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom's cel-shaded art style is a great way to make the game look visually impressive while hiding its rougher patches, and the use of clouds and fog seems to allow Tears of the Kingdom to retain a high draw distance while not needing to fully render everything in frame.
While Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's performance on the base Nintendo Switch is still a little unclear at this point, there's no denying that it's set quite a high bar for when the Nintendo Switch 2 or Nintendo Switch Pro does eventually release. Though Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched on the Wii U as well, Nintendo heavily marketed the game alongside the Nintendo Switch, essentially implying that in order to best experience the game, fans needed to buy the shiny new console. And it worked, Breath of the Wild is still one of the Switch's best-selling games, and it's still cited as the reason behind many fans' early purchases of the console.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom seemed like the perfect natural selling point for the Nintendo Switch 2. Much like its predecessor, fans expected Nintendo to show off the power of its new technology with Tears of the Kingdom and all of its impressive technical features. Instead, Tears of the Kingdom is releasing on the standard Switch, and depending on how well it runs, it could end up showing the industry that the Switch still has some life in it yet, which will only make a hypothetical Nintendo Switch 2 a harder sell for the masses.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches May 12 2023 for Nintendo Switch.