The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - DF Tech Review - Is It Really 'Too Big for Switch'...?

[@gruby360]

Always love that John highlights the sounds and scores of games

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

Linneman's videos are always top tier

[@wiLdchiLd2k]

Cause sounds and score are the best part of visual quality...

[@falconeagle3655]

Audio is extremely important.

[@mega77]

Though 2 exemples he used are straight up musics from BOTW (Hateno village theme and Bird Village theme)

[@ivand5699]

@@mega77 Doesnt sound exactly the same as BOTW.

[@astrea555]

Just goes to show just how much "game" you can achieve even on such a low power system if you have a strong art direction and have strong optimization.

[@Drstrange3000]

Exactly

[@alyzaabal33]

Or it makes you wonder what the team could achieve on better hardware.

[@thorocomments]

@@alyzaabal33 we’ll see soon enough.

[@dwaynethemineraljohnson412]

​@@alyzaabal33 60fps and a higer resolution probably

[@TyEats2200]

Makes Pokémon look even more like garbage on the switch.

[@oak8194]

I'm still amazed by how much they expanded on the original game, not just on the scale but the complexity of the gameplay mechanics that work seamlessly within the vast world on the ageing Switch. It's great to see a more detailed break down on the performance and various techniques used to maintain this game - makes me excited what the future will hold for the series with even better hardwares down the line, as Nintendo and Monolith Soft have proven that they can work magic even with limited capacity.

[@Davemate]

The amazing physics, scale, lighting etc, all of it is amazing. And it also makes Pokemon Violet and Scarlet look completely amateur in comparison.

[@NobleVagabond2552]

That’s because GameFreak is amateur in comparison, actually amateur is still not really the right word bcuz at least amateurs give a fuck about what they’re doing lol

[@_MegaMind_]

@@NobleVagabond2552 u said it!

[@AlbireoOkami]

Gamefreak refuses to hire up to meet the headcount a AAA studio requires when working on the pokemon games.

[@halcyonacoustic7366]

More like amateur management. I bet the average worker there is very competent. It's the impossible development schedule and tiny team that is the problem.

[@MarkHogan994]

Pokemon is a shameful and disgraceful franchise now. Makes me sad.

[@KarlRock]

It’s incredible that it runs on the hardware it does. It’s amazing work by Nintendo devs. You summed it up well at the end too John!

[@wakilnerd]

Love your videos bro ❤

[@Shukulo]

Ahahaha one of my favorite KZbinrs also on a switch channel CRAZY :) didnt expect you here.

[@donkeyy8331]

Monolith technical team are beasts for pulling this up

[@BroHazeman]

It's crazy how Nintendo can make excellent Zelda TOTK game using 2015 off the shelf Nvidia Tegra X1 SOC ! That's 8 years ago !!!

[@ThisisCitrus]

Just imagine if it was on current hardware and not limited to a 10 year old mobile phone.

[@DashieSim]

Regarding the physical version not having having the latest performance patch: Nintendo regularly updates the game versions printed on their cartridges. Early copies may not have the latest patch, but copies being printed moving forward should

[@Psilomyde]

would early copies not receive the patch in an update?

[@DashieSim]

@@Psilomyde It would, but it wouldn't be on the cartridge, just in the Switch's storage. Worse for collecting purposes

[@Psilomyde]

@@DashieSim ahhh gotcha.

[@tektight]

Problem with this is most people buy the first iteration of the game not the later pre-patched versions. So the point it moot.

[@zubochonk9205]

@@tektightthat is how it worked ever since. Nothing is perfect, online patches are cheaper than recalling the game.

[@venomr6rider]

Dude... Nobody does an intro like John... He always finds a way to make anything interesting and gets you pumped! The pacing, delivery and information are all top notch!!

[@Sveakungen]

He is amazing 😊

[@rtt4163]

@@Sveakungen He's not

[@Lloyal23]

“Let’s dive in” with Link actually diving

[@FelipeCotti]

"Paul Key" Mon hurts.

[@bugrakaradeniz9151]

Looks as good as one can look on the Switch

[@evilcab]

true, but every time I look at any gameplay video of TOTK, can't help to think that it will be much better on a more powerful machine. I'm pretty sure a remastered/HD version of this game will be day 1 on their next console.

[@Mirage475]

@@evilcab The rumor is the next console will be more powerful than a ps4 pro (which is more powerful than the steam deck). Really hope it’s true. I couldn’t care less about having 8K. I just want 60 fps bare minimum

[@jaroslavmrazek5752]

@@Mirage475 Well PS4 pro is below midrange hardware now so it better. It will always run better on PC tho if you want a better experience.

[@Chipmunkboy]

Well perhaps you havent seen Metroid Prime: Remastered. ... Okay, fine, for an open world its as best at it looks

[@The_MEMEphis]

​@@Mirage475 PS4 pro has a weaker CPU than the steam deck and an older architecture it just beats the steam deck in raw GPU power it's not really an even match up

[@igodreamer7096]

The Sound Direction in this game is so amazing and pleasing to heard! Great work there! 👍

[@godminnette2]

Didn't even know the embargo was lifted yet! Glad to see you guys got a review code.

[@eman6254]

The game is out in New Zealand.

[@ForceInEvHorizon]

@@eman6254 the game has been out for 2-3 weeks now in piracy community (Yes the whole game has been leaked and can be played for free)

[@alaa341g]

@@ForceInEvHorizon in reality i already finished it 4 days ago XD

[@bend.7590]

Bro it comes out in a matter of hours, of course the review embargo is lifted already.

[@JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe]

I already beat it on PC at 4k60fps.

[@ScottAhearnShipbuilder]

Super Mario Odyssey uses a resolution dip during camera pans to keep the framerate up and it works very well, looks like they brought that over.

[@max_the_german4989]

No, Odyssey uses vertical interlacing, i.e. every frame only renders even columns or odd columns, which is completely different from what we see here in Tears.

[@kittenburger_prime]

@@max_the_german4989 The actual tech used is not relevant, the fact that ANY tech was used to boost framerate is what's relevant.

[@max_the_german4989]

@@kittenburger_prime Yes, it is. Because the tech from Odyssey only works satisfactory for 60 fps. For 30 fps, it would be very distracting.

[@jamesmiles3341]

@@max_the_german4989 🤓 🤓 🤓

[@kittenburger_prime]

@@max_the_german4989 sounds like an opinion not a fact. I hate when game nerds parrot stuff they can’t possibly know firsthand. How about this: The game is already riddled with insanely close texture mipmap thresholds with no filtering, delayed rendering when you stop moving for a bit, huge high contrast jaggies because N just had to make the foliage yellow with dark shadows. Some patches of ground are just gross pixel smears. I don’t care honestly what they do to image quality. The framerate is such a freaking headache, on a large screen especially. I just want to move the camera and craft without getting a headache and I don’t care if they run it at 480p.

[@Christos_Angelis]

They managed to pull off all is incredible huge and detailed game into a 6 year old tablet, while improving on BotWs performance! This game deserves a spot among Transport Tycoon/Rollercoster Tycoon and Shadow of the Colossus at the all of fame of video game optimization.

[@tektight]

@@RikoFlex67 Not really.

[@Synkhan]

@@tektight Yes really.

[@blu6]

@@tektightif you take in consideration of the technology at use then use

[@b4bnik]

more of a 10 - 11 year old

[@athlonzero]

Finally a game where the publisher don't need to say sorry.

[@buckcherryy]

finally after all those pokemon fuck ups, where they also didnt say sorry lol

[@jeremybrown9611]

Wait when has Nintendo ever said sorry?

[@DRex45]

Not like they would anyway lol. Since when does Nintendo apologize

[@Kaztrofy]

Nintendo fans never expect to get one either, they love their master no matter what, just like dogs.

[@lightdarksoul2097]

​@@buckcherryyGamefreak not Nintendo the two company run the franchises differently

[@waywardlaser]

Zelda always has an incredible amount of polish. The series has long been a textbook example of how great art direction and optimization can make up for any technical shortcomings.

[@Mynipplesmychoice]

Sorry but this is a game for babies. Link Ana Mario are the new Burt and Ernie. The vehicle building is fisher price. Sorry I don’t play easy games. Our ancestors lived tough and terrible lives and to play an easy game is an insult to them.. try a dark soul game you wouldn’t last a second!

[@Bahamut998]

@@Mynipplesmychoicei played all souls games and your comment just sucks 😂 . Zelda games are on another level, they stimulate your imagination in ways souls games never do. But you’re probably too much of a caveman to get it.

[@HealyHQ]

@@Mynipplesmychoice There's no way you're a real person. Nobody is that stupid, surely.

[@ForeverMasterless]

@@Mynipplesmychoice What a weirrrrddddd elitism you got going there. Does someone like me break your brain? I've beaten every Dark Souls (got every achievement in DS1 twice), got the platinum in bloodborne, beat Sekiro with the demon bell on the entire time, and I'm still excited as hell to play this. Not everything has to be a challenge my guy.

[@C0ZYL4ZY]

@@Mynipplesmychoiceancestors? Yes, your ancestors will be disappointed in you sitting on YT and posting dumb ass comments instead of doing something with your life.

[@Михаил-м4у6л]

God bless 4IFIR for smooth 720p 60fps experience.

[@Lachesis3D]

If someone is not in the know, 4IFIR is a software solution to increase performance per watt for Switch. In TotK, for example, you can play at 60fps / 720p even on Lite, in a portable.

[@PennyweiserTheDrunkenClown]

how?

[@PennyweiserTheDrunkenClown]

i have a day one switch. how can i possibly get 60 fps, let alone a clean 30.??

[@autograph199]

​@@PennyweiserTheDrunkenClown4ifir

[@autograph199]

​@@PennyweiserTheDrunkenClown4ifir

[@noobicorn_gamer]

DF’s production quality is just… top notch now that I watch it more than regular game review sites lol damn

[@monkfishy6348]

The reason the patch improves performance so much is because it made FSR dynamic resolution more aggressive and also drops LOD quality drastically compared to v1.0, among other things.

[@obi-wan3916]

Shh we don't talk about that. Only really playable in docked mode so having a switch is practically pointless as an xbox/ps port would be superior by default. But ye.

[@lotus2001]

Digital Foundry seems to really be losing its edge recently, reviews have lacked the nuance DF is known for

[@mjc0961]

Still, better this version than the unpatched constantly 20fps version. Nintendo really needs new hardware though

[@Kalnaur]

@@obi-wan3916 . . . why would a Nintendo exclusive property ever be on a different console? And I think I've used the Switch in handheld maybe 5 times the entire time I've had it. There's just no reason for me not to play docked basically all the time.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

​@@lotus2001 it's becoming apparent that they are being influenced by large publishers

[@FlameLFH]

So far the frame rate has only dropped for me either when there's a lot of fire, many enemies on screen, or while fighting a Battle Talus. It can also drop a ton when attaching many objects using Ultrahand

[@jousis_]

And when climbing on trees (

[@louiepikmin3184]

​@jousis_ So... You're telling me you think the game doesn't even deserve a 5... Because it has some lag? Literally every open world game has spots where the framerate gets rough

[@jousis_]

@@louiepikmin3184 Not only because of that (although it's more than "some lag"). 30fps for an action adventure is not ok (2023) no A/A, FSR are very distracting when panning 90% same visually, *looks* like a DLC Too many compromises to make this game run on switch imo. They should have waited for the next gen console. So, 5/10 for nintendo exclusive game. That's my opinion, I'm not bashing any1 that can ignore the above and see a 9/10 game. Happy for them, awesome.

[@louiepikmin3184]

@jousis_ Bro doesn't know that it's a sequel and that it's on an underpowered device that's chip is 8 years old

[@g-fourgaming8657]

But the freaking cartridge is still pre patched which sucks

[@GTXDash]

1:28 I love the pixelated transition to Link to the Past which was a very common effect used on the SNES.

[@MoonlitSlime]

Hearing that you had the same kind of experience with BotW that I did really piqued my interest. I am much less of a "make my own fun in big open world" kind of guy. I much prefer more compact and crafted games so hearing that they pumped some time into that aspect has me more prone to check this out eventually

[@notthegoatseguy]

Yeah this is why I'm more into Spider-Man style open world games in that while you can go anywhere, it definitely leads you in certain directions. Whenever I play like GTA, I just end up stealing cars, shooting people ,and then either crash or get killed by the 5-O. It gives me no direction so I just create anarchy, die, and then end up frustrated and just move on.

[@Lynkk]

@@notthegoatseguy How come you say GTA gives you no direction while there are big Icons telling where the next missions are...!?

[@sneakytrip6594]

I'm of the same mind, but this is exactly why I feel Breath of the Wild was the exception (Along with Elden Ring) - There is so much developer intention in the moment-to-moment gameplay, even in the open world. There's always something to do and discover. Now, I haven't played Tears of the Kingdom yet, but when John was describing his issue with Breath of the Wild and comparing it to Tears of the Kingdom and describing the improvements of TotK over BotW, it sounded like either he just played BotW at the wrong time (sometimes you're just not in the mood for a certain game), or TotK is just so densely packed with stuff to do, that there is a marked difference between the two. Either way, I'm fuckin' hyped, man.

[@SpectorEuro4]

@@notthegoatseguy GTA gives you so many things to do outside of missions my man.

[@davemeredith6964]

Don't be fooled...it's still very similar to BOTW...and this puts me off a bit too.

[@Alex_Logan22]

MGSV had similar levels of interaction and physics simulation within an open world, just in a very different genre, setting and premise. The level of interplay in its systems, with the AI and everything was pretty absurd.

[@anasshahid224]

That game was a masterpiece 👏👏👏

[@SimonM7TV]

Yeah it's cruel irony that MGS at that point felt so played out, everyone involved wanted to move on and Konami barely let it be finished, but then MGS5 felt like a truly thrilling new chapter for those games, and was immediately abandoned. A lot of mechanics were lifted out of that game and added into BOTW though, so in a way I suppose new Zelda picked up the baton.

[@stankbuddha]

another one that released prior to BOTW was GR:Wildlands that game slaps its botw with ubis "polish" and online coop and guns even has the do the campaign in any structure you want but not EXACTLY like BOTW is

[@shuttzi9878]

And the optimization was top tier. Its locked 60fps on Steam deck at 800p(max res)

[@unnoticedhero1]

@@shuttzi9878 That's because it was also on PS3/360 so they really had to optimize for those old consoles. It is a shame we didn't get more AAA Fox Engine games (I'm not counting those soccer games) because it may not look as good as Decima but IMO it still holds up and runs on just about anything.

[@TheXeroLink]

I can’t say how relieved I am that this game is finally coming out and is this polished and ready for release 😀

[@CNM3]

Wow I'm impressed with those physics interactions. Bravo devs.

[@ELTABULLO]

imagine if they didn't polish them as much as they did, even on BOTW I never saw physics glitches in more than a hundred hours, you KNOW horses would be flying, bombs would make you clip through the floor and models would be contorted if it were another AAA company behind it

[@secondchance6603]

@@ELTABULLO "you KNOW horses would be flying, bombs would make you clip through the floor and models would be contorted if it were another AAA company behind it" In some cases that's after the patches.

[@skins4thewin]

The one thing I was hoping was improved the most was object pop in. Aka things like wildlife, monsters, chests, etc. I hate how when flying thru the air half the time enemies, wildife & chests and such don't appear til you're fairly close, which makes it hard to scope out areas from a distance for loot. I hope that has been improved significantly, as well as the distance you can travel before objects despawn such as dropped enemy loot and such.

[@anasshahid224]

It’s been much improved

[@hamzabeg6882]

from my experience it's much improved. I feel like enemies spawn in WAY earlier now. there's also a very noticeable difference in how far you can move from objects before they despawn

[@ReGo001]

It’s been improved on objects but if you start looking closely you’ll see a lot of environmental texture pop in

[@skins4thewin]

@@ReGo001 Ya, I did notice that for sure. Is it not the same for things like chests and such? Or even rocks that Koroks are under? More than once I've scouted out areas in the 1st game thinking nothing was there only to come back later & discover a rock that a Korok was under but didnt see because it only spawns in when you get rather close. Just wondering what makes you say that this in particular was improved? Have you actually observed this?

[@hamzabeg6882]

@@ReGo001 yeah, that's still there. idk, i mind it a lot less when the resolution is what it is. it always becomes a lot more noticeable to me on an emulator when everything's clearer

[@VxHokage007]

I am absolutely pumped for this game. Hearing you breakdown the performance put any doubts I had with it to rest. Tomorrow is going to be a great day :DDD

[@Hughesburner]

My gamestop is releasing tonight at 9pm.

[@JmMateo933]

Cool

[@helplmchoking]

Im in NZ so it's been out 10 hours. Ultrahand can be tough on the framerate and there are very occasional low fps moments but in general it's smooth and steady - and miles more detailed and I'd wager at least twice the size of BoTW

[@roundearthshill248]

Yes yes there will be copious masturbation this time tomorrow. Cannot wait

[@Timbermannetje]

Hah I want to sleep now but I cant, I am just too hyped 😅

[@arnab9933]

This feels like a proper send off game for the Nintendo Switch, much like how God of War Ragnarok was the quintessential send off title for the PlayStation 4, squeezing out every ounce of performance from that age old hardware to deliver a breathtaking experience.

[@JoshuaGlock]

I gotta ask what was the send off for Xbox?

[@ivand5699]

@@JoshuaGlockhalo? I know Xbox games lack the competition quality.

[@BroHazeman]

Yup, I'm still believed holiday 2023 is the release of Switch 2 with several months from now an announcement

[@abnerradu3426]

@@BroHazeman They already announced no hardware this fiscal year, with ends march 2024 I think, so I wouldnt get my hopes up.

[@SteelKreel]

@@JoshuaGlock we don’t talk about the Xbox One

[@JamesGowan]

When DF’s John Linneman is pleasantly surprised by a game’s performance, THAT’S saying something! Great video!

[@bananaphone3754]

Well he must’ve completely ignored the handheld version of this game then because it’s competing for “worst handheld mode on the switch” for me

[@JobbyFraggle]

@@bananaphone3754 he also hand waved the drops to 20 fps as nostalgic, likening it to old school games dropping frames during intense moments. That’s a baffling one to me coming from anyone at Digital Foundry. Just goes to show how strong the Nintendo goggles are for some people when it comes to childhood favorites.

[@bananaphone3754]

@@JobbyFraggle very un-john of him honestly. Feeling extremely burned by this review. They’ve never misled me like this before.

[@qwerty6789x]

@@bananaphone3754ep they intentionally not highlighted that this is a docked mode to hide the handheld flaws.

[@bananaphone3754]

@@qwerty6789x yeah, been playing LA noire on my switch in handheld. It came out in 2011 and looks better than this does.

[@SirIzike]

This was EXACTLY the kind of review I was looking for, from technical performance to a succinct discussion of the game's open-world feel. Thank you very much, DF and John!

[@HauntingPeace]

Succinct my ass

[@matthewmorton6462]

The fact that the Zelda team pulled this off is a miracle given the platform limitations, feels real bad that the pokemon team never show this kind of love or effort to their games

[@Mr.ClimateChange]

The fact that Pokémon released DLC before making the game playable is such an insane slap in the face too.

[@jesuschrystler777]

The fact that Pokemon fans keep buying their games regardless tells you a lot about Pokemon fans.

[@Fabio-lq7wb]

The thing about GF is that, they put themselves in a terrible situation with the Pokemon franchise. They kinda need to release new Pokemon games much faster than most Nintendo IPs, so with a tight schedule they really don't have time to polish their games enough for the release. The GF situation sucks, and they COULD find different ways to circumvent their situation, but I am not sure if they want to.

[@JorisJoestar]

The Pokemon team also doesn't get to work on one game for 6 years.

[@OZEEtube]

They just can’t. They have 1/3 of development time for their games and bo head-room for delays. The Pokemon Company as a whole is at fault, not GameFreak.

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

This is amazing to see. I won't be playing it, but there's just something so exciting about a new Zelda, and I can't actually believe they managed to make it look and run as good as this with how insanely deep and large the game is. Just the game the world of gaming needed with all the current rubbish going on!

[@bubkabu]

Why aren't you going to play it?

[@Ninjabladeyokotofufu]

@@bubkabu possibly no switch?

[@bubkabu]

@@Ninjabladeyokotofufu yeah. they could emulate. it works surprisingly well and is extremely easy to set up

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

Hey, yeah unfortunately I don't have a Switch, or a PC that could emulate. I also don't tend to have much time to play games any more (fatherhood!) but still like to keep up with new releases and news etc 👍

[@pferreira1983]

It doesn't look exciting to me at all.

[@Tyler-hs9eu]

Some performance issues aside this game is another masterpiece. The environments/locations, the new mechanics, the timeless music. I do kinda wish this was on new hardware to truly appreciate the world, regardless, a great showing

[@lightdarksoul2097]

Likely whatever next Hardware comes out next tears will be on there with dlc added in a master collection

[@june_o9]

Day one patch might fix performance issue. I hope so at least.

[@ninopwns]

Wow, didn't expect you guys to have this ready to go already. Hype

[@nathanwhite704]

Why? All the reviewers get sent copies weeks in advance.

[@Jason_P]

They got an early copy, and in exchange they shill for the game. Just more ass-kissing in exchange for access. Disappointing.

[@Dynasty1818]

@@nathanwhite704 Embargo got lifted 21 mins ago (1pm GMT)

[@nathanwhite704]

@@Dynasty1818 Yeah and they could've made the video a week ago uploaded it and set it up to publish when the embargo lifted.

[@ricksanchez6766]

@@Jason_P Digital Foundry don’t do ass kissing lol, if it has bad performance they’ll say it has bad performance. Just because you hate the popular thing doesn’t make everyone else an ass kisser.

[@arc789]

How have John missed to mention that every time you climb a tree and the leafs become transparent the framerate tanks to 20fps?

[@orpheus0108]

The game has serious performance issues nobody wants to talk about

[@trixniisama]

It was the exact same in BOTW and has been a huge issue for any game using such techniques for tree rendering.

[@arc789]

@@trixniisama it is nowhere near this bad in botw.

[@krisridge1985]

This is the true review people ignore

[@scaw-j]

Frankly this whole video is really strange, the game has MASSIVE performance problems for me. Any time there are more than 2 enemies on screen the frame rate is cut by almost 30%. I also get huge frame drops in towns where things range from 18-30 fps depending on the camera direction. When people say the performance is consistent I feel like I’m being gaslit lol

[@alexsnow5]

Ladies and Gentlemen nobody better suited for a Zelda analysis then JOOOOOOHNNNN Linneman ! I am so DAMN ready for this .

[@masteroflight7296]

I think it’s important to note that BotW was a WiiU game ported to switch while TotK was built for the switch

[@GenerationZ313]

I am curious as to whether the next game is going to be a cross gen title, though considering it took 6 years to make this game, I'm willing to bet the next game will be exclusively released on Nintendo' next system.

[@WillParker322]

that makes this release even more pathetic. lower lod, looks worse and they didnt even showcase the portable non docked mode.

[@642BigT]

@@WillParker322I think you are confused pal

[@cthomas025]

@@GenerationZ313 Sincerely doubtful that the next Zelda game would be cross gen, can't see another Zelda title hitting the Switch. Feels like if anything it would be the next Mario game that is the one to do that.

[@Klust413]

​@@642BigT I don't think they are. A cross gen game should have worked incredibly well on the better platform with the optimizations for an even weaker platform being available.

[@goxy287]

Aside from technical stuff I'm glad you mentioned how you felt about the game compared to botw because I also didn't like it as much as older titles, but hearing this gives me hopes for this one.

[@sinisis_sinisis]

you wont like it, if u didnt like botw, you will likely wont llike this one, at its core its main selling point is world exploratiomn, same as botw

[@DiddyBohlen]

@@sinisis_sinisis you are probably right but this game has way more world interaction. One of the criticisms many had about BOTW was that the world didn’t have much to actually do in the world. That seems to be improved.

[@lobstrosity7163]

Yeah, BotW was a major disappointment for me. This one seems a bit better.

[@goxy287]

@@sinisis_sinisis I still have some issues with it but i'd say its way more interesting. I'm enjoying it

[@SilverSpireZ]

⁠​⁠@@sinisis_sinisisNot necessarily true. I didn’t like BOTW, but I’m having a lot of fun with TOTK. Nearly every issue I had before had been fixed or at least improved to the point where it’s tolerable, and the new mechanics really add to the fun factor. Granted, I paid $50 instead of $70 for it, so that may help, but it’s still a significant improvement regardless.

[@alexandernilssonmusic]

This can be done; with the right amount of time and talent. I can’t imagine what this team could do with the power of something like the PS5. So, so happy TotK doesn’t fall behind BotW technically ❤

[@SuperboyCK]

Your final words about Tears of the Kingdom being a more "crafted" experience made me more interested than any of the marketing and social chatter to this point. I never found Breath of the Wild all that compelling. I've bounced off it a handful of times after 10-20 hours, never getting all that far or feeling like much progression has been made. Never found it that much fun and ran into situations where the game's systems made it frustrating, tedious, and repetitive. I'll probably still wait for a price dip for TotK or a next gen release, but I hope it's as good as everyone who is anticipating it wants it to be

[@makemelaughyouants]

Waiting isn't a bad idea. Knowing Nintendo they will release the switch 2 in a few months and you can play this game "the way it was meant to be played." That's exactly how they released Breath of the Wild.

[@alondite215]

Doubt TotK will go down in price anytime soon. If you don't "get" what makes BotW such a revelatory gameplay experience, then you should probably skip TotK, too, because it's the same things that make both games good.

[@Fabio-ql5yf]

@@alondite215 It won’t though. Switch games very rarely drop in price. And when they do, it’s like 50€ instead of 70€ and not like other platforms where it’s 20€ instead of 70€ after a year.

[@adams3560]

If you didn’t enjoy Breath of the Wild, you won’t enjoy this. It’s more of the same really.

[@SuperboyCK]

@@Fabio-ql5yf I'm aware of Nintendo's maddening pricing model, but occasionally Switch games end up on BOGO/B2GO Amazon or Target sales around the holidays 🤷

[@MegaPsycho84]

This shows you just how much developers matter. Talent, time, effort, and no DLC in sight. Just our beautiful gaming, the way it use to be.

[@TROBassGuitar]

Apparently there will be a dlc but I think it'll be awhile especially considering how much there is to do I'm making awesome discoveries every day

[@theorangecandle]

DLC will almost definitely be coming mate. But at least it's genuinely new content, and not featured withheld at launch for a fee.

[@8304u]

>no DLC in sight

[@deathpiggy101]

@theorangecandle You had to pay $20 for a hard mode in Botw lmao how is that not a feature withheld at launch for a fee.

[@clouds-rb9xt]

DLC is fine. It's not ideal but they will release some I guarantee.

[@DunnCarnage]

Yes Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is an amazing technical achievement on dated hardware, but does it have maybe 20 vampires in it? Exactly, Redfall had to try and simulate vampires, an impossible task.

[@lightdarksoul2097]

​@@gerboogmaybe trying to defend redfall?

[@ConcavePgons]

It's cool they were able to stimulate so many of them, but I think Castlevania is on the NES is more impressive. The NES was so underpowered!

[@gerboog]

Skyrim even did a much better job on the vampires and the game is way older. Dont even get me started with Vampire Bloodlines , etc. Redfall is just an embarrassment.

[@GETNAKD]

@@lightdarksoul2097 Bro, do you know the meaning of the word "sarcasm"? :d

[@DunnCarnage]

@@gerboog (it's a joke don't worry)

[@eugkra33]

FSR1 actually really fits well with this game. That naturally turns things cartoony, and is great for GPUs with limited resources, because it's so light.

[@dante19890]

It's really bad. A lot of artifacts and shimmering shadows. Would be better if they removed it. Literally gives me headaches looking at the shrine walls. It's such unstable image . Who actually thought this was a good idea

[@田中健太-q8i]

If only it isFSR2 instead of FSR1...！ I have no idea why Nintendo chose FSR1

[@dante19890]

@@田中健太-q8i fsr2 actually has a performance cost. Fsr1 is basically free

[@田中健太-q8i]

@@dante19890 surely FSR1 is lighter, but FSR2 offers more quality with lower res than FSR1 while FPS is almost same as FSR1 (for example, please refer to DEATHLOOP)

[@harrasika]

​@@dante19890 Fsr1 8s basically free but it also has basically no good visual improvements. I don't notice a single difference between 720p and that upscaled to 1080p on my PC. Fsr2 on the other hand is super great.

[@PrettyBlueThings]

100% spot on. Not a bug to be found and an extremely high level of polish on this release, an unfortunate stark contrast to most other AAA releases.. which is just sad. If all games were made with this care and attention we would have some incredible titles to play across all platforms. Sony seem to be one of the only other developers that take this much pride in their work

[@quibquiberton4184]

I've found a good number of bugs in my run.

[@nicolemonrue]

​@quibquiberton4184 me too...once I couldn't exit a cave. I was climbing up the entrance lol

[@quibquiberton4184]

@@nicolemonrue The most common one for me is glowing cave fish spawning out of nowhere a few minutes after I climb down into wells.

[@sebb923]

Capcom

[@rifatbobos]

The Zelda team is just on another level. Props to Monolith Soft as well being able to display such detailed, gorgeous visuals on a hardware like the Switch. Let us enjoy our adventure once again!

[@adams3560]

This game isn’t gorgeous by any metric. Watching this video I was thinking “yikes” at times.

[@tafarimakonnan1763]

​@@adams3560 the game looks amazing In my opinion and I have a pretty decent pc.

[@FelixS.]

@@adams3560 Your subjective point of view is clearly within the scope of a tiny minority and by no means any indication of any "metric" whatsoever. Please begin to understand the concept of subjectivity.

[@MysterioTGN]

@@tafarimakonnan1763 The game is gorgeous, but has the graphics of a 2017 handheld game, because it does. Imagine what this game would look like if it wasn't limited by a console as fast as an old budget android phone.

[@GGRC]

Primarily, as a docked player, I'm disappointed by the performance. Sure, it looks good on the smaller OLED screen, but I really want to enjoy this on a bigger screen and the resolution changes and shadow popping (not sure what you would call it) in the first area are very distracting and it already breaks the immersion for me. I like everything else that is going on in this game so far, I just kind of wish this game was saved for their next console.

[@tears2040]

Enjoy this amazing game, stop focusing on the wrong things. This is GOTY

[@bevinkacon4099]

@@tears2040 Shill comment lmfao

[@MaisistkeinGemuese]

I want to love this game and play through all of it. But the Sharp edges, constant flickering and blurry picture give me headaches after a few minutes. It's really sad since this is an amazing game! I never had those issues on botw since it looks much softer and easier on the eyes. Sadly it seems Nintendo abandoned this game. Last patch was done around 9 or 10 months ago.

[@martinaee]

I feel like I’m in a physical, or maybe “actual” is the better word, place in this game. Physically it has so much feel to everything and the look is so unbelievably gorgeous.

[@tizical]

Game makers like Nintendo should be cherished, it's games like this which are the reason I started in the first place. I can't wait to see all the new puzzles they've come up with and how they've changed the langdscape.

[@ebridgewater]

07:44 Jon strikes again, putting older games on the right. No one does that in comparisons.

[@Lost_Kappa]

Nintendo are wizards and artists at the same time, bravo

[@АртемСтебенев]

Where's 4ifir?

[@heygoogle367]

These 4ifir comments are mass upvoted by bots. Don’t fall for these people! Here’s a comment where it CORRUPTED someone’s switch: “I didn't get convinced by 4IFIR just quite yet 😡 my switch got corrupted after installing this, thank god I backed up all the folders except nintendo, jksv and emummc before doing this. the error message was about "nosigchk" or something. 👎”

[@JeffYPbPr]

There is a little Grove. In the western part north of guerdo valley. It is at the top of small mtn range. It's filled with apple trees and a camp site. When you get there the origina zelda theme slowly starts playing via piano and a violin. What a moment. I've played about 10 hrs so far and that was the only time that happened. What an experience.

[@GuitarSlayer136]

My switch has been running1080p at a solid 60fps. The 32gb of Ram, i5 11600kf, 1080ti, and solid state upgrades I installed really helped.

[@colemin2]

Lol

[@Archivist42]

Thanks for getting this out so fast. I’m so relieved to hear about the frame rate, the pre-release footage looked honestly quite bad but it sounds they’ve applied some magic to fix it. I can’t take another Pokémon Violet situation lol

[@Drstrange3000]

I think this is why Nintendo was so adamant on shutting down leaks because people started running with the narrative that this game ran shitty due to the leaks. It does hurt the reception of the games. YouTibers and their clickbait is awful. I think Nintendo went a bit far, but I understand why.

[@obi-wan3916]

​@@Drstrange3000 it does run like trash in portable mode, people have played the game for weeks now.

[@victorl5402]

@@obi-wan3916 Yeah… a hacked or Nintendo given pre-patch version… of course it’s not going to be running as well as it should. 🤦

[@obi-wan3916]

@Victor L sorry to say that they achieved improvements by massively nerfing draw distance and other graphical settings. Even DF admit the game looks nothing like the trailers.

[@buggy946]

It doesn’t matter what console you own, you will always wish for your favorite game to be played on more superior hardware. I’m excited for Tears of the Kingdom because I know that it’s using the Nintendo Switch hardware to maximum capacity!

[@nashdash6404]

"I sure would have loved experiencing this on a more powerful machine" My feelings with Nintendo games since 2006.

[@dukeminty]

Nintendo systems are marketed to be cheap; if they sold stronger hardware and had to compete with Sony and Microsoft in prices, these systems wouldn’t sell the same

[@ziegfeld4131]

PC my friend play it on emulator

[@athena9029]

@@dukeminty The Xbox Series S says Hi. TONS more much powerful than a Switch, sold for the same price or less if compared to the OLED.

[@KrisGadventures]

​@@dukeminty but they aren't cheap. They are 300-350. So only 50-100 less than a PS5 and it's over 6 years old. And their games almost never go on sale.

[@labroomes]

It's great to see the Nintendo seal of quality still exists! I haven't even finished BOTW yet, but already looking forward to playing this when I'm done.

[@HakaishinCat]

this is funny considering botw came out with tons of technical issues that people seem to forget

[@pixeljauntvr7774]

​@@HakaishinCat No it didn't. Go hate somewhere else.

[@mariokart8054]

@@HakaishinCat the worst I can think of was choppy frames when there was a lot of grass around on switch, but that’s really it

[@stevenc2149]

you'll burn yourself out haha

[@oozly9291]

@@HakaishinCat nope

[@Slashingthrough]

Great to see it performs, hopefully they will improve further with updates.

[@ens0246]

If not then the emulator scene will 😂

[@Slashingthrough]

@@ens0246 that is for sure look at what they did with the previous game

[@HitokiriShin]

No, it's hardware limited af - optimization is key here. Still excited for it though, can't wait to play it on CEMU in the future. Having played Breath of the Wild in 2017 several times it still felt like a completely different game in 4K60FPS.

[@flanfrfx]

@@HitokiriShin considering its not a wii u game you arent likely to play it on CEMU... the switch emulation scene is pretty good though so hopefully it'll get good with time for this game

[@HitokiriShin]

@@flanfrfx I meant Emulation in general. Totally forgot CEMU was specifically for Wii U, you are right :^)

[@morpheus517]

Majora's Mask didn't "follow the steps" of Ocarina of Time. It reused its engine and assets for the sake of a faster development but the whole world map was built new from scratch, as well as the characters, the story, the overall theme and most of the main mechanics apart from basic gameplay (3 days interconnected arcs periodicity, mask/character transformations, etc). I wouldn't say it's the same case as BOTW and TOTK.

[@kittenburger_prime]

DF on Elden Ring Poor Optimization: OMG BAD GAME DF on Switch Poor Optimization: Poor nintendo it's just too hard!

[@alumlovescake]

20fps on a Switch is better and more acceptable then 20fps on a 4090

[@kittenburger_prime]

@@alumlovescake not really. You aren’t appreciating the nuance of game design. It’s not about the hardware, it’s about what the devs try to do with it. These devs decided to push too hard and not focus enough on performance. 20 fps is unacceptable on ANY hardware because it shows the devs weren’t motivated enough to respect the users comfort. The low frame rates while trying to craft make me physically ill. This isn’t a situation where they had no choices, they chose to focus on other things and performance suffered. There is no rule that it is impossible to make a game like this run above 30, the devs have a choice with how much performance they sacrifice to achieve other goals.

[@alumlovescake]

@@kittenburger_prime You are right but my point was ER is worse. The switch can run this game better but the Switch is still quite weak on the other hand seeing Elden Ring stutter like hell while also having frame drops to 40fps even on the highest end machines is a complete joke. I was not saying 20fps is good I personally think even 30fps is subpar. Performance is something no one seems to understand anymore. FromSoft can not set a 30fps cap without breaking something. Gothham knights at launch was something... I do not think optimization is part of anyones to do list anymore. its a shame because many people defend this with "its a good game so its fine" but its not because its the experience a lot more then people realise.

[@kittenburger_prime]

@@alumlovescake I agree with your 2nd paragraph. However, I think it is most accurate to quantify the problem as "too little value put on performance during development" and hand out the blame that way. 1st thing to get out of the way: Switch is a console with standardized hardware. It sounds like you are comparing ER on PC to Zelda on Switch. This kind of comparison has been frequently answered with the wisdom that games developed for console have a huge advantage. Do you accept that or would you like me to go into the details? Example: a lot of the micro-stuttering in ER has been attributed to shader compilation, and on consoles this is simply not a problem because the games ship with the shaders pre-compiled. It sounds like you are saying that Switch runs better on console than ER runs on PC and if that's your argument then I say you're comparing apples to oranges. If you want to get into comparing zelda on console to ER on console, I assure that on XSX the game stays very smooth on performance mode, silky smooth in many areas, at 4k HDR. If I am misunderstanding you please let me know. Edit: micro stuttering is more of a recent issue and not my favorite example. Generally the wisdom is that the amount of optimization and bug fixing work required on PC is exponentially higher than on console. Edit2: I also don't agree with "switch can run this game better" I'm not sure what you are basing that off of. I own ER on PC and Console and I've experienced pretty bad stuttering but that stuttering is close to the normal frame rate of TOTK when crafting or pulling out an explosive arrow. I run ER in a window with a desktop full of junk on a 1080ti at 2560x1440 with most settings high or maximum so it's not like I'm on a monster rig, and the performance is not nearly as dire as you are making it out to be, and even if it is, it's not CONSTANT like with zelda.

[@MichaelKingJunior]

Your reviews set the bar for professionalism, thoroughness and reminding us all why we play games in the first place: a sense of wonder and delight. Thank you for taking the time to highlight the soundscape and music. It’s simply a pleasure to watch Digital Foundry reviews. Beyond even the excellent technical analysis, your eye for detail and appreciation of game development always surprise me in some way. Thank you for another fantastic review.

[@lotus2001]

recently professionalism has been ignored by this youtube channel, in favor of clickbaity videos that don’t actually inform the user

[@gurglemurgle5]

One of my favorite improvements in TotK has to be the dark areas. In BotW, dark areas sucked, and lighting there was horrible. Dark areas in TotK have much better lighting, and much better ways of lighting them up.

[@sergadrenalin]

Together with OFW 4IFIR Zelda TOTK goes to 60 fps at 720 resolution, which solves the problems with drawdowns. 🤪🦀

[@Lachesis3D]

With perfectly smooth frame time.

[@foster4241]

Is there a guide for this? Do I need to mod my switch?

[@asuchachigusa1222]

Only custom firmware switch

[@heygoogle367]

These 4ifir comments are mass upvoted by bots. Don’t fall for these people! Here’s a comment where it CORRUPTED someone’s switch: “I didn't get convinced by 4IFIR just quite yet 😡 my switch got corrupted after installing this, thank god I backed up all the folders except nintendo, jksv and emummc before doing this. the error message was about "nosigchk" or something. 👎”

[@MerLew]

Nintendo may not always land where they’re audiences expectations are, but when they do they do it so well.

[@Traverswoodward1]

I feel like the ultra hand drops are more hampering than you imply. Ultra hand is one of the biggest features of this game, so I assume you are using it a lot. Constantly dropping to 20 every time you pull it out kinda sucks

[@ckoerner]

In my experience, the game is so fun you just don't care. Or notice really. :)

[@shadowmosesisland2255]

Its not only with ultrahand, also when you climb a tree for example , the framerate drops below 20. Seriously, John finds eldenring unplayable on ps5 but he exepts 20 fps on switch? This is such bs. I really like TOTK but the performance is such a letdown. Weird for Digital foundry to find this exeptable

[@TheAbvsyork]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like docked the fps Is worse. In handheld, it wasn't as bad.

[@destroyermcw626]

@@shadowmosesisland2255 WELP then you now you know who the Shill is ect.

[@krispaiton6425]

​@@shadowmosesisland2255 cry harder ps fanboi. I can barely hear you. 🤌😬

[@Justin-op8us]

It's very impressive that the Switch is capable of graphics like these, even if the game suffers from some mildly annoying framerate issues. Can't imagine how incredibly painstaking and stressful it must be to develop and optimize modern games for stone age hardware like this.

[@filiplaskovski9993]

How about instead of praising them, we push them to bring out new hardware they’re selling games and demanding full price on dated technology

[@MadX8]

@@filiplaskovski9993 I'd rather pay 70 euros for this Zelda than 80 euros for Horizon Forbidden West (I have both). People should learn what's important in a video game... We would all want a more powerful Nintendo system but it doesn't mean Zelda BotW/TotK or Mario Odyssey don't worth your money. Actually they do more than many games today

[@mkiller1001]

Stone age? My guy how old are you?

[@ColpoRosso]

Game slows down to 20 fps: people picking up pitchforks Nintendo game slows down to 20 fps: incredible performance

[@destroyermcw626]

Yep as years pass More Smarter people like you will rise and tell the real truth thats not being told

[@MadX8]

Depends of the Hardware. Driving at 100 KPH is ok in a Renault Clio, it is not in a Lamborghini. Know what I mean ?

[@usergk71]

Yeah games that play on 20 fps on a fucking ps5 or a series x is unacceptable, because the hardware is way more powerful than a switch. The switch is simply too weak. What do you want the devs to do?

[@lameritos]

4ifir дает возможность играть в 1080p

[@Lachesis3D]

Полагаю, их больше удивит 60fps в 720p на 4IFIR-е, доступные буквально в любой игре.

[@FauciGroyper]

$70 for botw 2, there's still no story here. A zelda like Ocarina of time is never coming back.

[@bevinkacon4099]

The people who claimed this was just going to be BOTW DLC were absolutely correct. Nintendo printing money selling sandbox garbage with the Zelda name tacked on.

[@kyleharder3654]

A polished game at release, truly something to celebrate!

[@kungfuudennis3290]

That runs at 20 fps lmao

[@IWantToStayAtYourHouse]

@@kungfuudennis3290 Running at 30fps on an ancient hardware like the switch*** context matters bro

[@kori7795]

​@@kungfuudennis3290 bro is delusional 😭

[@brandonthaxton8830]

It’s incredible what Nintendo can do on this hardware. Wish other developers had this kind of passion

[@Silphwave]

Wish Game Freak took note

[@MerQrialLP]

Looking at you Game Freak

[@andrewnicholls4667]

@@Silphwave Nintendo don’t give them enough time or money to make something on this scale. We just get half arsed Pokémon games now and it’s sad when a Pokémon game on this scale would be mind blowing

[@Dragonsamuari]

@@andrewnicholls4667 It's not Nintendo, it's the Pokemon Company; they're the ones that want the games to coincide with the releases of merch, the anime, and everything else.

[@GuY-ExE]

​@@Dragonsamuari nintendo owns 33% of the pokemon company

[@garymoon6230]

An amazing achievement, Nintendo never seem to disappoint with Zelda or Mario.

[@christopherbaxter434]

Thanks John I was speculating pre-ordering my copy, but after watching this review, I have no hesitation in purchasing.

[@killdano]

@01:43 "cannot be understated" -- you mean 'overstated'. Understing something big and important is easy.

[@DJIronChef]

Love it. I figured the abilities would do like the last game and cause slight issues, but i'm glad a patch has fixed major performance issues.

[@RedfalconX]

How come so many people are willing to ignore the frame rate issues from Zelda but another game has similar issues and they are okay. I definitely can feel the frame rate issues. Just like other games.

[@sanp3135]

Given the hardware, and the scope of the game, it makes sense Xbox series/PS5 have more power than the switch(hell PS4 had more power than the switch). On top of that both of them touted how much power/performance they are able to put into each game. So when a game underperforms in those consoles despite both having a lot of power. It gets noticed more

[@peppermentholwho]

Your dig at Jedi Survivor is funny because that's a game that graphically looks like it came out in 2023 and it has stutter issues that'll get patched just like the last game... while everyone plays it at 1080p/1440p/4k. Meanwhile Zelda, while having a great artstyle, graphically looks like it's from 2007 while running 24-30fps at 720p with some stutters too... but this is apparently a good thing and we're ok with it running like that forever. Really makes you think.

[@ssj6mysticboy]

Stop capping. The issues in JS are FAR worse and not even in the same realm as the ones in ToTK. One is an outright hindrance that actually disrupts you're gameplay experience, while the other is a less than minor and negligible inconvenience. The two aren't comparable.

[@WillParker322]

​@@ssj6mysticboy your all cap ong. Both games stutter when using core gameplay mechanics. Stay complacent.

[@ssj6mysticboy]

@@WillParker322 and JS stutters when you boot it up.

[@nocfox3050]

​@@WillParker322 The only thing people with common sense would think; "This guy knows that Jedi Survivor runs on consoles that directly plug into the wall and Tears runs on a little tablet with much less power consumption, right?" If that didn't cross your mind, I can safely say you're just bone from the neck up lol

[@LiamKennedy-nc1wn]

Honestly insane how it's running as well as it is, they are pushing the switch to it's damn knees And yet even with the few performance issues it's somehow able to hold up better than other platforms games (looking at you Jedi and Redfall)

[@WickedlNl]

its 30 fps....reason why most new games get shit on but since its a Zelda then nobody talsk about it. Every other third person MUST have a 60fps option but somehow this crap gets away with 6 year old tech.

[@LiamKennedy-nc1wn]

@@WickedlNl yes.. that's why it's pretty much fine, 30fps on the switch with a game of this scale is insane Games on top of the line PC's and next gen consoles have no excuse not to be 60, thats the difference

[@asteria9963]

​@@WickedlNl it depends on the game. zelda simply does not require 60 fps. 40 would have been nice though

[@ciabatta55]

@@asteria9963 im sorry nope. This is Nintendo fans sucking off Nintendo for doing the bare minimum. Bayonet 3 frames per second, hyrule warrior calamity frame rate, Pokémon dropped and Pokémon frames. Tears of the 30 frames per second. Any other company would have been destroyed by people for this.

[@bevinkacon4099]

@@ciabatta55 If it could maintain 30 throughout then I'd be legitimately impressed but this game dips to 15 regularly. Only the biggest shills give this a pass.

[@Ice_2192]

Thank goodness it was just the emulation issue with the framerates. I'm playing it right now and having a blast with the shrines testing you how to pass their tests by building things. Once you get a hang of how to build things together, the possibilities on how to complete certain menial tasks becomes endless.

[@Wizard_Pikachu]

Exactly. I also stopped with emulating after finishing Death Mountain, due to FPS issues and wanting to play it on my TV.

[@Edog1337]

So you are pirating this?? A game a group of humans put their blood sweat and tears for years?? There certainly is evil in the world….

[@Ice_2192]

@@Edog1337 No I have no intention of continuing playing on an emulator. I have already pre ordered the game on amazon. I just wanted to play the game early. Don't be so triggered. Due to the leaks many people have already played the game. Piracy isn't a new thing these days. Calm down. Also Nintendo shutdown the eshop stores for 3ds an wii u recently and some of those games are exclusive to those stores (cannot be found at amazon, best buy, costco, steam, etc.) where "a group of humans put their blood sweat and tears for years" is, at this time, gone without emulation. Nintendo removing access to games that cannot be found anywhere besides the shop they just closed? "There certainly is evil in the world". Not all emulation is bad. Your argument isn't valid anymore in today's gaming industry.

[@ImGonnaFudgeThatFish]

​​@@Edog1337 imagine thinking it's evil to want to play these beautiful games with wonderful art design at an acceptable resolution and framerate

[@omensoffate]

@@Edog1337 lol you a funny guy

[@Somewhere_sometime_somehow]

This for me is the definitive review of TotK. And I dont even care about performance nearly as much as a lot of gamers. You really know how to describe the game and its qualties without spoiling the content. Something Eurogamer can learn from. But... I dont agree about newer tech, I think its a huge plus this is released on hw people already own and there is just one version. Especially since it measures up.

[@MadX8]

You should care about performance though. Unless you don't pay for your games, you should get what you paid for, and optimisation is part of what you're buying. TotK is well optimised overall (considering the hardware) but still, you should care for that. Games are expensive.

[@GhostOfSparta305]

Man, as much as I love Nintendo's game design, I simply can't stomach settling for 30fps. I waited till BotW was available on CEMU to get a proper framerate, and I guess I'll also wait for a PC emulator to properly play this one. Nintendo should really, REALLY consider releasing their games on PC. I can't think of two more non-competing markets than Nintendo consoles and PC.

[@dr_sax1479]

The game is super responsive even at 30 fps honestly.

[@Technoko]

I wake up everyday and thank Christ I’m not a person like you

[@l.vanhielf6174]

Bro 30 fps is not the problem, the problem is the constant resolution drops and aliasing flickering. It kills your eyes.

[@athena9029]

Everyone: OMG, Nintendo made this game with 2015 tech! Meanwhile: GTAV (2013), Red Dead Redemption (2010), Red Faction Guerrilla (2009), Far Cry 2 (2008), GTAIV (2008) -and many more- were made for a console released in 2005 with way better physics, more vivid living worlds. Fully voiced characters and so on and so on... Credit where credit is due, but stop acting like Nintendo is the only one doing it when others did better with way less.

[@jordanfry2899]

Great video - One suggestion though, if you could add image quality options of 1440p or 4K that would be really appreciated. I know this game is 1080p but KZbin's bitrate at 1080p is very low. It does spoil an otherwise great video for me as I just have to believe you as the visuals as shown aren't accurate to how it looks.

[@VampireNoblesse]

this is why you don't announce game release dates till its 120% ready

[@sourceeee]

what Nintendo did with TOTK on the Switch reminds me a lot of what Rockstar did with GTA 5 on the 360, absolutely insane levels of detail and optimization on absolutely ancient/slow hardware. Its a technical masterpiece that has to be applauded.

[@kittenburger_prime]

They didn't do a very good job, they should have made cuts until performance was better, but they chose not to because people like you let them.

[@sourceeee]

@@kittenburger_prime cry more

[@sourceeee]

​@@kittenburger_prime your comment also shows me you seem to know absolutely nothing about hardware or game optimization, that is hilarious

[@kittenburger_prime]

@@sourceeee you probably want to erase that embarrassing “cry more” response. There, little Nintendo fanboy, I’m doing you a favor. What do you think optimization is? 🤡 it’s a balance. They could have made the game run at 60 fps if they had the will to make the cuts. Example: in the opening sky island the lod of medium distance geometry is far higher than necessary. They could make the background geometry simpler so the entire game doesn’t suffer. They had options to design the game with better performance but they didn’t. Then they do stuff like use high contrast yellow foliage in the opening area, which accentuates the jagged edges and upscaling artifacts. They’re just delusional at this point, not even adapting the art style to the system limitations.

[@jousis_]

@@kittenburger_prime The game does not look good even at 30fps (with 15fps drops ffs). Switch can only do 60 in small games, or arena fighters (splatoon for ex.). But they SHOULD have made more compromises, game is not a masterpiece. It does not run well.

[@Grapefruit5000]

The amazing interactivity and dynamic of the world. I love that and I much prefer something like that with simpler graphics over a static world with ray tracing. Dynamic systems are what makes me come back to a game because they never get old. That's why I love GTA, Skyrim, Fallout and the earlier Battlefield for instance with their destruction.

[@jamesmiles3341]

Skyrim and fallout really?

[@kamiotamega5317]

@@jamesmiles3341 I don't remember being able to destroy the environment in bethesda games (do love permakilling npcs though)

[@jamesmiles3341]

@@kamiotamega5317 ikr maybe he played it with mods

[@xNSHD]

It amazes me how it can have performance drops like this yet still 10\10 simply because Nintendo and zelda.

[@cheke_hs]

@RedPillRahim Or maybe, just maybe, the game is incredible and the frame drops don’t detract from the experience at all?

[@fancyjoey9102]

70$ for a game that drops down to 20 fps using a basic building mechanic lol idk man... might get this for the next system nintendo comes out with.

[@thecultofcaged]

Don't support this crap pirate it or don't play it at all

[@MrDs7777]

@@thecultofcaged Go play your pc master race games that stutter on a $2,000 GPU

[@thecultofcaged]

@@MrDs7777 I know that the game is good I mean don't support Nintendo at all they are just a scummy company Also if the game on switch is also dropping frames your argument is a moot point

[@ddud4966]

Everyone says this game has traditional Zelda dungeons but it doesn't? The temples are basically just the divine beasts again except they don't move around and they have more distinct visuals from one another. But the structure is literally the same. They're shallow "open world" dungeons where you can just bypass puzzles, basically 4-5 shrines stitched together.

[@SE-fq4gf]

Exactly what I thought, each one takes around 20-30 mins, I was hoping they would have more Ocarina/Wind Waker dungeons.

[@Fmakegeo6]

Constant resolution changes and texture pop ins are quite a distraction. I wish they sorted this issue out since this game does not have a very high fidelity. Is there anyway to fix these issues in docked?

[@bananaphone3754]

Have you tried to play in handheld mode? The game is borderline unplayable. It’s insulting how bad it looks and runs.

[@Fmakegeo6]

@@bananaphone3754 i feel the game is meant to be played in handheld thats why these issues seem prevalent. I just don't understand why these tech reviews or reviewers are not critical enough. I understand that the hardware tech is not up to the scope but still

[@bananaphone3754]

@@Fmakegeo6 no you misunderstand, I’m saying it’s EVEN WORSE in handheld mode. The resolution is dynamic 720p upscaled using FSR 1. Emphasis on DYNAMIC. Every time you move even slightly the resolution drops and the FSR cranks up making the aliasing so bad that it hurts my eyes. I literally refuse to play the game in handheld mode because of how much worse it looks.

[@destroyermcw626]

@@bananaphone3754 Eww Botw in Handheld Sounds like it did a better job when i used that in hand held

[@senorsnipey1595]

The game looks amazing at the end of the day

[@boredstudent]

This was a game I was looking forward to playing since it was announced. I even started Breath of the Wild all over again.

[@The-One-and-Only]

glad you mentioned the lower resolution when the camera moves, thought I was imagining it.

[@tallperson117]

Can't wait until I can play this in 4K 120fps without dynamic resolution scaling on my PC via Yuzu.

[@dude14377]

literally

[@KrisGadventures]

So using one of the main new mechanics drops frames into the 20s and yet the community says how impressive Nintendo is. Other games drop below 60 on PC and Ps5 and everyone complains and says they are "unplayable." Gaming standards are weird

[@louwashe]

hardware expectations. games that look as bad (for the standard) as, say, Survivor and not being able to get a stable framerate in even low-intensity scenes is worth complaint. a game that looks as good as is as complex as totk running as it does on the switch (literal potato) is worth praise.

[@nodstarted]

​@@louwashe I don't know what expectations are you talking about. It's not like they have to achieve some arbitrary level of graphics when developing the game. If that is the only platform your game exists, than you should ensure that it runs well on that platform. Like if a certain effect drops the performance, replace or remove the effect completely. You cannot tell that resolution and stable fps matters and then make excuses like "you know this game is so good that you can look past its performance". Because it's a rabbit hole. Today it's fine that a game drops to 20 and runs at half the native res, tomorrow you will get the game that runs like 15fps.

[@AstaIsAMonster]

That’s what I’m saying because these guy/team got mad that DMC5 wasn’t a stable 60ps but they are in awe with this game that can’t even hit a stable 720p 30FPS(dips to 10-15fps at time.) 😂 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@KrisGadventures]

@@AstaIsAMonster Right! They often imply that a lot of next-gen games are barely even playable when they don't have a solid 60 fps. It just feels like a double standard. I for one am fine with a locked 30 for more cinematic single player games. But 20's is unplayable.

[@VoiceofFox]

1:42 "The weight of expectation and historical importance cannot be OVERstated" is what I think you meant.

[@bananaphone3754]

Not gonna lie, this review has made me VERY skeptical of John’s future reviews. I bought this following his praise and I’m extremely disappointed. Like WOW it looks horrible. Not the art. The art is fine. The style looks good. But holy SHIT the FSR implementation in this game is unforgivable. The handheld version especially. It’s the worst upscaling I have EVER seen in a game, no exaggeration. The first drop out of the cave I think it went as low as 360p and looked like a garbled, confused mess with FSR trying to up scale it. If you play on handheld or have a switch lite DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. I’ve always held Digital Foundry in extremely high regards considering they have the balls to admit when a new game is a technical mess, and now I’m scratching my head wondering how you let this one slide through without admitting that it’s fucking TERRIBLE in handheld mode.

[@bananaphone3754]

After about 30 minutes of playing this game in handheld I’m calling bullshit. Nintendo has to be putting money in your pockets for you to not lambast the handheld mode in this game. It’s literally the worst looking game in the last 10 years and it runs like shit.

[@jackyvanmarsenille8547]

Yes, when they completely ignored the hand held analysis, I knew something was up.

[@spence6195]

Tears of the Kingdom should have launched with a new more powerful Switch hardware

[@igorthelight]

Or just launch it on old Switch, wait for sales, then release it with Switch 2 ;-)

[@spence6195]

@@igorthelight As if I would buy it a second time, Nintendo can fuck right off

[@Nanomaroni]

09:50 after playing the digital Version (internal storage) for two hours now, I feel like this statement is a bit generous. Every time I climb a tree, take the bow out and aim or do other small things, the game dips in the framerate. I feel like it's a very stuttery experience overall compared to BOTW. Also the Resolution reminds me more of XC2 than BOTW. The game looks very unsharp, in Docked and Handheld Mode (Oled Switch). It's like if I take my Glasses off and I see everything blurred yet still have rough and sharp edges on objects. Don't get me wrong, the scale is impressive and the game still plays great! But I feel like Reviewers are a bit too kind for issues the game clearly has.

[@MB-hq3rv]

Totally agree, my experience has been identical.

[@clementcardonnel3219]

Their code must be so good to achieve such an incredible result!

[@EbefrenRevo]

They simply do their job at the best they can. Most of the "AAA" studios nowdays should watch and learn.

[@apoclypse]

@@EbefrenRevo Most AAA studios especially on PC just brute force everything and if it doesn't run then get better hardware. I'm hoping with the death of the mid tier graphics card and the rise of the APU (and handhelds like Steam Deck), we will see more optimization taking place but I'm not holding my breath.

[@RikoFlex67]

yes unreal

[@ChipHaven_Dan]

more info on the handheld performance would have been great

[@adams3560]

Yes, they didn’t really look at handheld performance vs docked performance.

[@8XN72Hw_xK]

While I like the graphics, and don’t care for ultra hand slow downs, I have problems with the shadow quality. The hq shadow looks good like 5 meters in front of Link, but then there are totally noisy. Especially together with leaf shadows. Sadly this makes the image look „nervous“ imho

[@Pkapa]

I listen the review like a podcast because I wanted to know but didn't want any visual spoilers. Great review