The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, taking place in the same Hyrule and using the same engine. As a result, the two games look visually identical, but there are many differences. This includes graphics, which may leave you wondering if Tears of the Kingdom has improved graphics over Breath of the Wild.
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Graphics compared to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
It is safe to assume that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be graphically superior to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While all the footage we have seen has been promotional trailers and likely enhanced or specifically designed for this, it does look visually appealing and improved.
Some fans have recreated shots from the The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer in Breath of the Wild to get a true comparison. However, as stated above, it is hard to get an accurate comparison due to the trailer vs. gameplay. But from what we have seen, we can see slight improvements and more details.
This can be seen with more bubbles and texture in the mud pits, suggesting better water and fluid physics. The lighting seems to be better, though this could be due to the darkness of the trailer's scenes, but it still looks great. It seems that many improvements seem small, like this detail, but all come together to create a greater product.
Overall, we expect slight graphical enhancements and improvements to texture. Tears of the Kingdom is not launching on Wii U, so it can make full use of the Switch's hardware. However, the Switch is lagging behind compared to other next-gen consoles, which is why we are tempering our expectations.
For more information on The Legend of Zelda, check out Does Zelda Tears of the Kingdom take place in the same world as Breath of the Wild? and Who is the villain in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom? on Pro Game Guides.
Justin has been diving into fantasy worlds since he can remember. He is a certified nerd who has a deep love of reading, writing, and hiking. He has been writing since his college days, but specifically in gaming for two years. His favorite games are The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Hollow Knight, Celeste, and Banjo Kazooie.