To be fair that's a reasonable thing. Actually aiming for a smooth framerate is essential, rather than going for stupid visuals that will make the game chug. Likely due to the Wii U release, as indicated, the Switch version should surely show a greater visual fidelity?

I can't say either way, not seen a comparison.

Its above par for a cell shaded game in 2017 on a nintendo console...

That being said,

Its below par graphically when stacked against its competitors. For a game to only look slightly better than the wiiu version from hardware 5 years old is laughable at best.

What is with the intrusive GUI elements in Zelda? I have it here unopened (still finishing HZD). I watched a few of the gameplay vids and the circular green thing in the middle of the screen looks very out of place. Can that be turned off?

See the following (4:08 minute mark):
https://youtu.be/IweIZOQ7W9...

You wouldn't have had to be that selective had you released a console with modern hardware! we could've had both !! imagine a zelda game that looks on par with modern games and plays well !!!

yet, you get fps drops playing on the dock, so much for Prioritizing

Personally love the art style, the epic vistas, amazing game. Let's be honest haven't truly seen what the switch can do yet. Mario odyssey looks incredible oozing with colour and atmosphere.

I mean...was there really a graphics downgrade? From what I've seen, the game looks better than the initial reveal

Well the Switch doesn't have much power, dont think they could do a lot anyway. Still looks good, but imagine this on a base ps4 or Pro. Its a dumb statement but I'm not worried about the graphics, I am worried about them having games outsidebof Mario Zelda etc , especially games more for adults. Im not into Smash Bros or Splatoon, give me more Xeno style games , mature Rpgs or adventure games, even sidescroller Castlevania or Metroids.

When you're as big as Nintendo, you shouldn't have to choose between the 2. And lets be honest, it wasn't about "priority", the game can barely hold 30fps on Switch, you didn't make it prettier because your hardware was a limiting factor.

I love my PS4 but this is hilarious. A bunch of fanboys bragging about how their sub 30 fps system is so much better.

PS4 has plenty of games that run like crap. That's why I multiplat on PC. Don't lecture about how other people crap stinks when yours does to. At least BoTW is a launch game. The last guardian has been in development for years and still runs like junk. At least I get a solid 30fps on my Pro, sometimes even 60! Sad the thing has to interlace everything to do it.

aka "we have really weak hardware to work with, and thats why it looks the way that it does"

Even if the final game doesn't quite look like it did in the original reveal, I'm still absolutely in love with the art style. So much, in fact, that it's now become my favorite art style I've ever seen in a video game. Before that, Zelda Wind Waker was my favorite art style... lol.

If they had specs that were actually up to date, they would have been able to do both.

The downgrade was a bummer, but the end game is so great :)

Thats cool with me.I would like other games to do the same.

@eddieNX, your comments are starting to become repulsive

"Nintendo: We Prioritized Improved Response Over Making Zelda: Breath of the Wild Prettier"

Translation: "We know that our gaming hardware is weak, so we stuck with a simple cartoony style with minimal effects (but still couldn't get it to a locked 30fps). Please understand."

What a load.

One is CONFIRMED to be 900p/30fps. The other is CONFIRMED to be 720p/30fps.

They had more time to work an improved frame rate into Breath of the Wild when going from Wii U to Switch but chose to increase visuals.

Nintendo however has become famous for releasing content then labeling it a tech demo when their console can't cut it, namely using Zelda. Downgrades are the only thing you can be sure occur during development of a Zelda title from time of a teaser video.

Lol. I'm all about optimization and response, and yes. BOTW is Pretty, but they are talking like they had room to make it any prettier... This game is pretty because of its Art Direction... Not its technical prowess in hardware... The game suffers from inconsistent frame pacing and frame rate drops and screen tearing...

Ninty Please don't kid yourself, you didnt give the devs much to work with, the Switch only had the power to focus on response times because your system can't play with PS4 or XBO on Raw power...

Game's heavily flawed.

Once again so many salty comments mentioning Horizon in a Zelda article

Maybe prioritize console power next time over half assed gimmicks.

If they'd had decent hardware in the first place this wouldn't be an issue

always cutting corners to make a quick profit

well they did it
the game doesn't look pretty

Yet the game still experiences frame drops.
Limited hardware?

After playing Horizon I can't help but wonder what Nintendo could do with proper hardware. The last time they had that advantage was when the Gamecube released and was more powerful than it's primary competitors. Never to be repeated again. While the WiiU gets poor attention, it does have some great games. That said..and back on topic, Horizon is breath taking in it's beauty. Zelda on the PS4 Pro....hmmm man that would be sweet. Don't think we will ever see 3rd party Nintendo, but one can dream. They have some fantastic developers. Imagine what they could do with proper hardware.

because its not a console exclusive

Literally every dev does this once they get down to around 30FPS (or 60, depending on their target). How's this a story? Yes...you must start chucking out visual fidelity for framerate at some point. Every game ever.

The bummer with BotW is even with its graphics tuned back this far, it still struggles to chug along at some points. But still, the devs did a great job working within the hardware constraints that had no say in.

F**k f***ing me! Anybody, and I mean any mother****er griping, nitpicking and generally trolling ABOTW either hasn't played it or is so jaded with videogames no title in existence would appease them. What we have here is one of the finest videogames ever created and (for me) the best in its genre.

Just warp to Korok forest and feast your eyes on the amazing framerate drops. Beautiful game, shitty optimization.

So what happened? The final product looks crap compared to the original demo

you should also made the map smaller since most of the map are empty, it couldv made the game run smoother and actually managing to put different enemy types, god you can put the whole story on one area of the map.

We used cell shading to hide limitations

That has to be a lie. I experienced multiple slowdowns and even freezes that lasted for 5 seconds during my playthrough. Great game Nintendo but don't BS us.