If you happened to watch the latest trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you might have noticed some exciting new features, such as Link’s new abilities and a magical lawnmower. However, some fans are particularly interested in a blurry screenshot that suggests there may be an improvement in graphics coming in the sequel to Breath of the Wild.
Breath of the Wild is a massive open-world game that allows players to explore and interact with the world in a thrilling and beautiful way. However, one downside is that objects in the distance lack detail and are often not rendered until the player approaches them. This issue can cause objects, such as foliage, to pop in and out of the scene, which can be jarring for some players.
A comparison of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom from a Looygibros breakdown, as reported by Gamesradar, indicates that the draw distance in Tears of the Kingdom may be noticeably better. In other words, objects that are farther away may look more detailed. This improvement is expected in a sequel to a six-year-old game that no longer has to run on the Wii U.
Although the differences may be subtle, eagle-eyed Zelda fans have noticed that the Tears of the Kingdom screenshot contains more tree and rock formation details in the distance than the Breath of the Wild screenshot. This improvement is a cause for excitement among fans.
It’s possible that the improved graphics in the trailer may be a result of Nintendo enhancing things for the pre-release trailer. It’s also possible that Tears of the Kingdom is better optimized for the hardware than its predecessor, and may have a few extra tricks up its sleeve. Fans are also hoping for improvements in the framerate, which occasionally lags in Breath of the Wild, especially in handheld mode and in busy locations.
Tears of the Kingdom will likely push the limits of the Nintendo Switch hardware, as seen in other impressive games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3. However, as Tears of the Kingdom is being compared against a six-year-old benchmark, hopefully there will be noticeable progress in graphics and not just the density of far-off blurs.