I already know I’ll be handing over $10 to upgrade my The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild copy for the Switch 2, but as much as I love the game, I’m unenthusiastic about the whole affair. Despite being originally designed for the Wii U, Breath of the Wild has always struggled against the edges of the Switch’s constraints, achieving a largely incredible feat of optimization with some obvious caveats. Although revisiting Hyrule’s open fields with the Switch 2’s power boost is alluring, the transition is being handled in a way that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I’m not especially offended by the $10 itself, an upgrade price that already became standardized on PlayStation and Xbox before cropping up here. While I have no particular interest in the Zelda Notes app, which is the only particularly major addition to the upgrade, I can accept a $10 investment to play my favorite game of all time in a better way. What’s being left out is more bothersome, especially considering anyone who doesn’t already own Breath of the Wild will have to pay $70 outright for a Switch 2 copy of the game.
Breath Of The Wild Switch 2 Edition Doesn’t Have The DLC
Not Quite A Definitive Version
Nintendo was still relatively new to the world of DLC when Breath of the Wild came out, but the game’s expansion pass reflected the commitment to delivering value that’s characterized in most Nintendo add-ons over the past decade. The first DLC pack simply focused on new challenges, but the second, The Champions’ Ballad, added a major new story quest and a somewhat ridiculous motorcycle. None of that, however, will be available in the Switch 2 Edition of Breath of the Wild without a separate purchase.
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This isn’t the first time that a major game redux has left out significant post-launch additions, and Persona 3 Reload offloading the Episode Aigis -The Answer- epilogue to DLC is a recent controversial example. The approach here feels unusually frustrating, however, especially when compared to most of the market. On PlayStation 5, popular upgrades like the Director’s Cuts of Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima include DLC or add meaningful new in-game content, and Horizon Zero Dawn was repackaged into a Complete Edition that was frequently available for $10-20 not too long after the game’s original launch.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Felt So Much More Worthwhile
Everything Included In One Package
Even within the Nintendo ecosystem, cross-gen games have been done more generously, and Mario Kart 8 provides one of the most relevant examples. The Switch release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe featured all 16 DLC tracks for the original game alongside some new gameplay tweaks. Since you can’t exactly stick a Wii U disc in a Switch, there wasn’t any direct upgrade path for backward compatibility, but that’s not an exhaustive excuse to leave this relative generosity behind.
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I didn’t have much money to spare when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe released, but I did have a physical copy of the original release, which worked perfectly well as a makeshift upgrade path. Since I had never bought the original DLC, selling my Wii U copy and buying the Switch version gave me all the new content for the first time without setting me back much.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe later added its own DLC courses, so the base game has since lost its status as a complete edition.
While I didn’t take the same approach for other Wii U games that held less value,it did make me feel like my money was going to more than switching platforms. In some ways, the new upgrade opportunities are an improvement, and you’re getting a better deal if you already have the DLC or purchased a digital copy of the game than you would with another Mario Kart 8 Deluxe approach. I don’t think fusing these strengths is too much to ask for, though, especially eight years after the original Breath of the Wild release.
Nintendo Game Prices Make Switch 2 Editions Feel Less Fair
MSRPs That Never Fall
Leaving out the Breath of the Wild DLC is an aggressive value retention gambit, and the focus on that concept is what makes everything so unpalatable to begin with. Breath of the Wild was undeniably worth the $60 it cost at launch, and Tears of the Kingdom justified its $70 tag. They’re great enough that I’m not even particularly offended by them holding those prices years later, and that approach presumably helps Nintendo avoid the more aggressive monetization avenues employed by most competitors. Adding on top of that price, however, changes the nature of the discussion.
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Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Games Don’t Do Enough To Justify Paying For The Upgrade
The high price for Switch 2 edition games fail to justify paying for, even with the multitude of benefits they offer to older Switch titles.
The Wii U era was the last gasp of Nintendo Select releases that officially dropped the MSRP of older first-party titles, with a library that included greats like Super Mario 3D World and Pikmin 3. If the Select program never returns after its Switch hiatus, that is what it is, but choosing to actively raise the price of new releases without a complete content suite adds insult to injury. A Switch 2 buyer who’s never played Breath of the Wild shouldn’t be paying a higher price for an incomplete package in 2025 than in 2017.
I don’t want to dismiss the technical work involved in optimizing Breath of the Wild for the Switch 2, and I’m sure the Zelda Notes app took some significant development work of its own. At the same time, I’m more annoyed by the Notes app than enthused by it. I don’t care to follow any additional navigational prompts, but the inclusion of new Voice Memories and some social features are elements that I’d like to see as options within the game, not features stuck on a phone that I really don’t want to be fiddling with while exploring Hyrule.
I’m still excited about the Switch 2, but the caveats to that excitement just keep piling up. Jumping from the Wii U to the original Switch (which remains, to date, the only console I’ve ever purchased at launch) was an experience with very few downsides, and grabbing the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe soon after without worrying about withheld features definitely helped. The aggressive pricing of the Switch 2 system itself is unfortunate but perhaps entirely necessary. When it comes to the Switch 2 Edition upgrade for Breath of the Wild, however, I see no need for this kind of compromise.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5/10
- Released
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March 3, 2017
- ESRB
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E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- Engine
-
Havok
- Cross-Platform Play
-
no
- Cross Save
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no
