Summary
- Zelda: Breath of the Wild set the standard for Switch games, but Tears of the Kingdom is a hit too.
- Nintendo Switch remasters are thriving, with Zelda games potentially filling the lineup until its successor.
- A new Zelda remaster on the Switch could be a great way for Nintendo to make some extra cash before the next console launch.
The Nintendo Switch has had an incredibly successful shelf life so far. Between Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 3, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons alone, the Nintendo Switch has no shortage of platform-defining experiences, and The Legend of Zelda series is responsible for two of the biggest and best.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may have also been released simultaneously on the Wii U, but it quickly became the Switch's biggest selling point. That arguably remained the case for six years, with only The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's release last year dethroning it. While the Nintendo Switch may be on its way out, there's still time for more Zelda representation on the console, though that window may be fleeting.
Dragon's Dogma 2's Seeker's Tokens Are Its Version of Zelda's Korok Seeds
Dragon's Dogma 2 features a collectible item known as Seeker Tokens, and some players may instantly connect them to Zelda's Korok Seeds.
Time Is Running Out for Nintendo Switch Zelda Remasters
Remasters Are The Switch's New Bread and Butter
The Nintendo Switch—much like its other console competitors—has received its fair share of remasters and remakes over the years. These remasters and remakes have often been used to fill the gap between major new releases, and it's a practice that Nintendo's been using since the moment the Switch debuted. Over the last few years, there have been a ton of remasters and remakes from across Nintendo's first-party library via franchises like Metroid, Pokemon, and Mario.
But while remasters and remakes have been prevalent on the Nintendo Switch since its launch in 2017, it feels as though they've become the console's new bread and butter, essentially filling the Switch's entire 2024 lineup. In the last few months, there has already been a Super Mario RPG remake and a Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake, and there are a whole lot more on the way, including a Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door remaster and a Luigi's Mansion 2 remaster.
It's abundantly clear that the Nintendo Switch is reaching the final months of its life, and it seems likely that Nintendo is saving all of its heavy hitters for the inevitable imminent launch of whatever console is going to succeed it. At the start of the year, rumors surfaced that the Nintendo Switch's successor could launch as early as Fall 2024, but since then, the prevailing theory is that the console will launch in Q1 2025. If that's true, then the Nintendo Switch still has a little room to fill before then, giving the Legend of Zelda franchise a golden opportunity.
It's The Perfect Time for Some Switch Zelda Remasters
The Nintendo Switch has already seen its fair share of Zelda remakes and remasters, but there's always room for more, and some projects have been churned through the rumor mill for years now. Remasters of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Zelda: The Wind Waker are two of the most common rumored projects that Nintendo allegedly has waiting in the wings, and both would be perfectly suited to capitalize on these last few months of the Switch's life. Ports of the Nintendo 3DS' Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time remakes would also fit the bill nicely.
While simple ports or remasters of these Zelda games probably wouldn't impact the gaming world massively, they wouldn't need to. For Nintendo, these Zelda remasters would be an easy way to earn a bit of extra cash before the Switch 2's launch as these remasters would offer an easy way to access these beloved games, something which is getting increasingly more difficult thanks to the ever-rising price of retro consoles.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Released
- May 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
- ESRB
- Rated E for Everyone 10+ for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Franchise
- The Legend of Zelda
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Action, Open-World
- How Long To Beat
- 59 Hours
- Metascore
- 96
