Today, I’m adding more games to the list of games that have seen improvements when played on Nintendo Switch 2. Let’s have a look!

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

Genre: Action Brawler

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

In deciding to check out the Hyrule Warriors games on Nintendo Switch 2, I have to admit that I expected the big potential for improvement to come with this game’s sequel, Age of Calamity, if only because there was so much room for improvement. But I was genuinely surprised at what a difference the Nintendo Switch 2 makes for the original Hyrule Warriors.

First, let’s talk about the framerates, which are now a stable 60FPS even in split-screen multiplayer mode, one of the few performance issues I complained about in my original review. It makes this game play much more smoothly all-around, making this extra-nice.

However, what I didn’t expect was the massive improvement to loading times. Loading into the game went from 30 seconds to 4 seconds! Loading into a map went from 28 seconds to 5 seconds! I report on improved loading times a lot, but this may well be the biggest percentage difference I have ever seen moving to Nintendo Switch. Again, the original game’s loading times weren’t especially terrible, but here it feels like you barely have time to register them before they’re gone.

Is any of this transformative? No, this is still pretty much the same game as on Nintendo Switch. But these improvements absolutely make this a better way to play the original Hyrule Warriors. Definitely give it a look!

tl;dr – Hyrule Warriors is a Dynasty Warriors-style Action Brawler with a Zelda setting and characters. It looks a bit dated and has a few issues here and there, but it’s an absolute blast to play in co-op… once you look up online how to actually play in co-op.

Grade: A-

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Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Genre: Action Brawler

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

I think it’s fair to say that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is probably the poster child if you’re looking for a game that best demonstrates Nintendo Switch games struggling with the limitations of the console’s hardware. Some players might point to Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet, but there’s a case to be made that those games suffer largely due to poor optimization. But Age of Calamity is just trying to do so much and the Nintendo Switch just can’t keep up at times. So as you can imagine, a lot of people are looking to this game to see the improvement that the Nintendo Switch 2 can offer to original Nintendo Switch games without a patch.

And if you’ve been paying attention to any of the performance discussions about Nintendo Switch 2, the answer won’t surprise you – the framerate issues that were so prevalent on the original Nintendo Switch are no longer an issue here, with the game running at smooth, stable framerates even when playing in 2-player split-screen.

The loading times are much-improved too – Where the game took 1:38 to start up on Nintendo Switch, playing it on Nintendo Switch 2 loads the game in only 34 seconds. Not as major an improvement percentage-wise as what we saw in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, but still a significant improvement.

There is one note I’ll make here though. As much as the framerates are markedly improved here, I’m a tad disappointed that the overall resolution seems somewhat low compared to what players may expect from Nintendo Switch 2 games, with enemies getting blurry not far into the distance. This isn’t worse than what the game looks like on the original Nintendo Switch, but I still mention it because even with improved framerates I wouldn’t go quite so far as to say this game looks pretty now.

However, Nintendo Switch 2 does indeed address one of this game’s biggest issues, so I can absolutely say that if you can play this game on Nintendo Switch 2, that is definitely the best way to do so. And with this us having just seen the release of game’s direct sequel, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, now is as good a time as any to blast through this game before heading into its successor.

tl;dr – Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, like the first Hyrule Warriors game, is a “musou”-style game in the same vein as the Dynasty Wars series. This time, this game ties directly into the plot of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, exploring the events that preceded that game in some creative ways. What’s more, the presentation, the visuals and music, the style, and numerous gameplay elements all tie back to Breath of the Wild. On top of that, the split-screen co-op here is absolutely phenomenal. Only a few flaws here (like occasionally repetitive combat) keep this game from true greatness, but even with these flaws this is still an outstanding game that most Switch owners would do well to check out.

Grade: A

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I hope you enjoyed this latest batch of Nintendo Switch 2 Difference Mini-Reviews, and found them to be helpful!

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