The Legend Of Zelda’s surprise 2025 return has blown me away already

I have close to 500 hours in The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, and around another 200 in its sequel, Tears Of The Kingdom.

I know I must be sick, then; the most exciting reveal from the Nintendo Switch 2 launch lineup for me was that both Zelda games are being enhanced for the new console. But if investing another 500 hours into Breath Of The Wild is wrong, then I don’t ever wanna be right.

During my time at the Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on event last week, I was able to test out both Breath Of The Wilds and Tears Of The Kingdom on the new hardware. I’m not exaggerating when I say they feel like completely different games.

There’s no sneaking around the fact the Nintendo Switch Zelda games - while blessed with breathtaking art direction - struggled on a technical level. Breath Of The Wild could splutter and stutter in areas filled with foliage, while Tears Of The Kingdom could often look downright rough - though I’ll happily concede it’s a small miracle the second game ever ran on Switch at all.

On the Nintendo Switch 2, these technical shortcomings are completely erased. Breath Of The Wild looks crisper, cleaner, and runs beautifully at 60fps, allowing the game’s lush and vibrant world to shine through clearer than ever before. Loading screens are slashed in half, and an already stunning world feels entirely new again.

Tears Of The Kingdom, now completely unshackled from the limitations that held it back, is a revelation. The first thing I did during my demo was to propel myself high into the sky and dive all the way down to the bottom of The Depths. On Switch this would always result in a few understandable stutters or pauses. On Switch 2, Link can leap from the highest point of the map to the very lowest without a single hiccup.

In a world filled with remasters we probably (definitely) didn’t actually need, The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom have been given vital upgrades that feel truly transformative with just a few small adjustments.

It’s a testament to both my unhealthy attachment to the Zelda franchise and the genuine quality of these two games, that a few minor tweaks have turned them into my anticipated releases of 2025.