The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (Wii U) - Lost In Obscurity 

Nice little video. I do wanna add some things tho! - The resolution on the Wii U gamepad is actually 480p and not 720p. So when played on the GamePad, you're playing with a staggering 480p resolution. - The reason why the games needs to load back in after you press the home button on the GamePad, is because the Wii U has some pretty poor RAM with just 2 GB DDR 3 which is equal to a laptop from 2005. The Switch has 4 GB RAM LPDDR 4, so that's like a whole decade difference. The game has to load in all the assets before continuing, kinda like when you move really fast across the map on Switch and the game just freezes to load in props; that's exactly what happens when you pause the game via the home button. - Wii U and Switch both had frame drops in the same locations at launch especially at the start of the game when you walk down from the little hideout where the old man is sitting, Kakariko village, Hateno and random places across the map. Nintendo patched these frame drops on the Switch version the best they could but they didn't bother on the Wii U version lmao - The render distance is also significantly better in the Switch version. Take a look at Death Mountain from where you walk out of the Shrine of Ressurrection. Overall yes, the Switch version is the best way to enjoy the game but the Wii U version deserves a chance imo. I played both versions and think that the experience on the Wii U is just superior because this game was meant to be played on the Wii U and it's the last game for the system so why not give it one last chance to shine and considering that the game is massive and it runs on a system that has specs from the late 2000s, it still is impressive how Nintendo got that game to run.

The funny thing about BOTW on Wii U is that more people have emulated the Wii U version on PC than actually played it on Wii U.

I love how in the wii u version you still get the switch shirt for buying the DLC lmao

I 100% the game on Wii U, and even despite that, as well as knowing the game as "Zelda U" for several years, it just has this identity as a Switch game despite there barely being any differences

Its like remembering the fact that there is a gamecube version of Twilight Princess

I REALLY miss the Wii U intro screens when you boot the game, the botw one gave me chills every time I started it on my Wii U

At launch, the Switch version didn't perform *that* much better.. a few months after launch it got a patch to make performance better. so maybe that's where the disconnect in reception is.

I bought a hacked WiiU only for BOTW back in 2018 and I fucking loved it. Beat the game a few times then put it aside. Until 4 months ago when I discovered how good BOTW was on CEMU, I couldn´t believe my eyes in comparison with the WiiU, and fell in love all over again with BOTW. So I decided to buy a Switch for Tears, dreading that it would be as bad as the Wiiu. I was so surpised to find out that it was WAY better than the WiiU version! By the reviews I always thought they were almost the same. This is the fist video actually telling it like it is.

When I was younger I didnt get a switch at launch, so I ended up getting the Wii U version instead. Despite the significant downgrade in performance, I'll always appreciate the Wii U version of botw. I was only 13 when I first played Botw, and now I'm nearing my 20's, so I'll admit I do feel a bit of nostalgia when thinking about this version of the game lol

I had the Wiiu version first as I haven't bought a Switch quite a long time later. But when I did I traded my Wiiu version for the Switch version and immediately noticed a huge difference. Both in graphics and framerate. It really showed. Nice video. You earned a new subscriber.

3:36 The Wii U only has 2GB of RAM, but only 1GB is reserved for the OS, the other is used for games. However, BotW is the only Wii U game to be able to use an additional 500MB of RAM from the OS to have the game properly running. So when you go to the Home Menu, the OS needs time to refresh as it's being taken by the game. When going back to the game, the game needs time to regain the memory that is being used by the OS. Switch version doesn't need to do this since it has 4GB of RAM, and only 500MB is being used by the OS. Updates: been fixing lots of typos lmao

My first playthrough of BOTW was with my friends WII U, I borrowed it till I beat it, but still brought it to school and hooked it up to an outlet and then played it through the gamepad the day I had to bring it back to him. I loved it, and it felt the same as my 3 playthroughs I did on my switch when I finally got that. I think the most important thing about games is to not take them at their hardware limitations and just still try to get lost in the world being given. Probably just nostalgia goggles speaking but both BOTW and TOTK hit the same chord for just giving a world to be lost in, low frames or bugs be damned.

Very well structured video! i was surprised when i finished the video and realized i wasn't watching a video with 1M+ views from some big youtuber, props to you hope your channel grows!

As a Botw for wii u owner exclusively, I was so confused when getting Totk and the gyro was HORRIBLE. I dont use motion controlls on any other games that I would notice how bad the switch's gryo is.

I remember vividly as I got a wii U to play this game, when my wife came home looked at the screen and said "why does that game look so bad?" lol

I’m surprised you didn’t bring up the load times for the memories. The Sheika Slate had to buffer the memories before they could play. Insane haha.

I have it on the Wii U, it’s honestly great

Tried to play botw on switch but emulating wii u version with graphic packs, 1080p+ res and 60+ fps is far superior. But switch version is portable tho

Great dive into this version of the game. Keep it up! I got this recommended to me so heres hoping more people find this.

I was so used to playing BoTW on Wii U that by the time I started playing ToTK on Switch I thought it looked a lot better.

I got the WiiU version when it came out and I was in 7th grade. I put about 450 hours into that version alone, but it's easy to forget it was originally Zelda U. Also really wish they did something cool with the gamepad

It's so weird, I never remember it running like this. I'm reinstalling it on my wii u right now anyway to check out my saves and just because I wanted to revisit smash 4, may aswell do zelda aswell. So I'll check this out and see if it's just nostalgia and rose tinted glasses lol.

Cool video man! Would love to see more of this

3:50 I’m a little sad that the Gamepad screen menu elements were removed, given how I enjoyed them for Wind Waker HD & Twilight Princess HD like Item swapping without needing to pause

I remember doing that infamous gyro puzzle on the switch. you know how I solved it - using the gyro? i turned the platform completely upside down - to the flat underbelly. no more gyro maze, just a bit of trial and error to get the target to the finish line. easy. good times.

I initially played the Wii U version and eventually bought the Switch version a few years later, along with the DLC. I noticed the difference in performance right away. Places that lagged on Wii U are fine on Switch, but both versions do have their FPS drops.

You deserve wayyyy more subs my guy

I have literally never seen any of these issues except in this video, I even went back to play the Wii U version since its the one I own and I still didn't notice them.

Congrats on this video blowing up I just subscribed!

I loved the feel of the Wii U game pad and the gyro aiming with it is much better than using the Switch Pro controller IMO.

Man you just have me flashbacks to when i first entered korok forest on the wii u version my first time playing. Those frames were DYING in the forest

Wii U was my first contact with Breath of the Wild, gosh... I remember how excited I was, I almost skipped class just to play, it was such an epic moment to be able to play in day one a game I've been waiting for for so many years, sure, it had its problems like lower resolution and more frequent frame-rate drops, but the game was so magnificent that I just didn't care. I’m currently playing Tears of the Kingdom on Switch but I've never bought Breath of the Wild on it (and I don't intend to, I even played the Switch version at some friends' houses and apart from the resolution and frame-rate I didn't see any difference , even the graphics were identical, so I didn't see any reason to buy the game again ) besides I found the gyro better on the Wii U one of the things I miss is Miiverse, it was really cool to be able to interact with other people who had the game and even asking for help at shrines when I got stuck or just watching the drawings people made, I miss that on Switch Funfact: The Wii U version has a load whenever you press the Home button because BOTW is the only Wii U game that uses more than 1 GB of RAM, normally the Wii U has 1 GB dedicated to games and 1 GB dedicated to system, as BOTW needs more RAM than other Wii U games the console needs to re-allocate the RAM between the game and the system whenever you press Home, this may be a bad optimization as other bigger games like Xenoblade X don't have this problem.

I got the Wii U version because at the time the switch was really hard to find, plus I was 14 and had to wait for Christmas to get a Switch anyway. I really enjoyed playing the Wii U version, plus I feel like in years the Wii U version will be pretty rare because of how little it sold. Weird how its thought of as a switch game was originally a Wii U game

My Wii U is the windwaker edition. I can never get rid of it. My breath of the wild is so nearly complete. Plus there’s also windwaker, twilight princess, hyrule warriors, original Zelda, and link to the past.

Whats that theme towards the end of the video? The song name from the soundtrack?

I remember where I borrowed the Wii U version from my local library but because nobody wanted that version, I was able to borrow it for weeks & weeks at a time. Had to give it back every so often but for the most part it was just at my house.

I got the game on Wii U a few months after release, and I honestly don't mind the differences in visual quality between Switch and Wii U. If there were any differences in the game itself that would change.

You funny as hell bro you need more fame frfr

I dont own a Switch but have a Wii U. So just asking because im not sure can I play this game without a TV? I usually bring my Wii U with me to play on the go (wherever I can find a power outlet) and would like to with this game as well.

DANG THIS TAKES ME BACKKKKK

I have 1500 hours on Wii U BotW, I 100%ed the game and barely noticed any lag.

I’ve only ever played the Wii U version because I couldn’t get a switch on launch day and had to wait a few months but still got BOTW on release I remember playing it at a friends house and then coming home and getting it from my dad…

I played the wiiu version when it came out and got the switch version about a year ago and I couldn’t really tell any significant difference but then again it’s been like 5 years.

This existing on the WiiU feels cursed as hell

Just saying, i hardly experienced any massive frame drops when i played. Pretty sure i only got the ones that were also on switch. I also dont remember any delay on going back in from home menu, pretty sure it was instant for me

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

The home menu waiting is because the game uses extra memory from the system to run. Just like Super Smash Bros and Pokemon Sun on 3DS. I played the Wii U version first on the release and it was also the version that everyone played on Nintendo E3 2016 presentation, so for me, the Wii U version is the one I remember the most.

Why did the gyroscope feel better on Wii u? I also noticed that going from splatoon 1 on Wii u to splatoon 2 on switch

good video. keep it up!

First time I've played, it was on the Emulator, so I'm more familiared with the Wii U layout, it was weird when I saw the switch controlers in the swing version.

after deliding the WiiU processor and changing the thermal paste for better quality, the the framedrops are way less frequent, almost none

The WiiU version could’ve been a genuinely great experience if they kept that touch screen menuing, imagine if you had to heal or change weapons on the fly by choosing your items on the game pad while the action continued on the TV But… the WiiU simply got shafted

2:44 you really do learn something new every day 😂 i own both BOTW and TOTK amd and didn't know you could shield surf until just now. i literally had to boot that shit up and check😅

i originally played botw on my wii u and it's surprising to me that I don't remember the lag being bad, but I was also a child so you know it makes sense.

I played about 100 hours and completed all of the shrines on the Wii U version when the game first released in 2017. My friend got a Switch at launch and he let me borrow his Wii U which my or my not have been jail broken and my or my not have had a copy of this game loaded onto it. I remember wondering around the Korok Forest at a blazing 10fps, good times.

Best comparison video commentary ever. I have subscribed

The Wii U version was the first one I got. Didn't have money for a Switch (but got one for Christmas 3 years later) but I played the hell out of the Wii U version until then. I didn't really notice a lot of differences until I got the Switch version, but looking back on it now the WII U version looked almost like Wind Waker HD compared to the quality of the Switch, haha. Both versions are just as fun and the WII U version has a special place in my heart as a broke college student at the time.

I had thought about holding out a few weeks or months to get a Switch, but when BOTW came out I really had no impulse control and went out that day to buy a used Wii U and a copy. I only ever played it on my friend's Switch after I beat it on my own Wii U. I noticed it was a bit smoother running, but I never saw it docked. I could tell it was a slightly less optimal experience on the Wii U... But it's the difference between seeing Dune in IMAX and seeing it in a regular theater. One is definitely better looking, but all the things that make it absolutely wonderful are present in both.

The reason the game even runs on Wii U as well as it does is thanks to Nintendo pulling a bunch of engine programmers and coders from MonolithSoft, who managed to pull off some sort of unholy wizardry to get Xenoblade Chronicles X (a game that nearly required a second disc due to it nearing 24 GB) running on the dinky Wii U. The game has massive load times while running from disc, but with a bit of homebrew you could easily get the data pack DLC that was offered on the eShop to help the game running better today. I'd highly recommend it as it's a piece of crazy tech engineering that paved the way for BotW's success and also a damn fun game with a lot of funky design choices (and giant robots)!

Holy shit, I spent six years wondering why everyone hated the apparatus shrines considering I had no issues with them - is it because I played the Wii•U version?!

Awesome video bro! I was very deeply engaged lmao

Little correction : the Wii U gamepad was only 480P

I played the Wii U version when it first released. Also, another issue I have with the Wii U version is that it cannot be updated to include Chinese language option.

Well, I don't know what to say, I didn't had a Switch until 2018's Christmas, and I had to wait until March 2019 to play BOTW on Switch (My uncle bought it for me). So, from march 2017 to March 2019, I had to play BOTW on Wii U, and I absolutely adored it, it was one of the best gaming experiences that I have had for a long while, and Several months after I had finished it, I kept playing it because of how awesome the game was

BotW on the Switch has the exclusive v1.6.0 update, which is generally known for adding VR capabilities, but it also allowed the Switch to overclock a bit to improve loading times, which the Wii U version surprisingly did better prior to the 1.6.0 update. The Wii U version has another flaw involving the Pro Controller - Due to the fact that the gyroscope Shrines are strictly motion controls, you have to swap controllers in order to solve these. You couldn't even use Nintendo's janky Wiimote Pro Controller solution that they had for Splatoon. I do have to say though, that the Wii U has more comfortable controllers than the Switch. I'm fine using Joy Cons or the Switch Pro Controller, but that GamePad (despite having to keep it plugged in most of the time) feels extremely comfortable in my hands.

Regarding the loading times after resuming from home button menu: The Wii U has 2 GB of RAM. Initially, it was designed such that 1 GB is reserved for the system and the rest 1 GB is available for games. However, BOTW needed more than 1 GB of RAM to run even in this poor state. So, when the game was released, Nintendo also released a system update which instructed the system to give more RAM to the games if they needed it (I think 512 MB of the reserved 1 GB, but I am not sure). Obviously, BOTW is the only game which was designed to request that amount of RAM and needless to say the game wouldn't start if you wouldn't update the system. So, all good, problem fixed? Yes, almost. The side effect of taking away RAM reserved for the system services was that when you paused the game, some data on the RAM would have to be written temporarily on the storage memory, because things you can do during pause (eShop, Miiverse etc for example) were designed to be run with 1 GB of RAM. So, when you unpause the game, before you can actually play, that data which was written to the storage to make room for home menu services would have to be re-written to the now available RAM. And that is SLOW! And I mean very slow. This is what happens in the background and this explains why you see this loading screen everytime you unpause. This technique Nintendo used to make the Wii U able to play this game is no new thing. Sony had done the exact same thing, in order to make the PS3 run GTA V. But Sony made these changes in a more polished way. They optimized the system services so that they can run on less RAM so there is no delay between pausing and unpausing (because no data had to be written on the HDD of the PS3). Nintendo could (and should) have done this, but the Wii U was dead for them long before BOTW was released. I believe that they released this game just because they had promised it since day 1 of the Wii U. They didn't care at all about this version. I believe the game was ready around 1 year before it was released and they postponed it so that they launch along the Switch. Also, the game would have been better had it been released solely on the Wii U (which would be the case if Wii U's sales weren't that poor) by making use of the gamepad in many more ways: map, waypoints, cooking using the touch screen and god knows what else. All this functionality was stripped just to make the game the same experience on both consoles. Otherwise, we would be talking about a game being a better version on the older system which doesn't make sense from a business perspective. All in all, personally I do consider it a Wii U game even though everyone has associated it with the Switch. The game was designed for the Wii U and Wii U was its only target, until it was decided that they should move on to the next console (this exact same thing had happened with Twilight Princess also which was released both on the Gamecube and the Wii)

i played botw first on wii u since i was able to buy one for 50 bucks and man i loved it. I didnt have switch but after playing through botw the first time it left such an imppression on me that when i finally did get a switch a year later i also bought another copy of botw. Also i think the game still looks great on wii u and ran pretty decently.

I adore your style dude

I got a Wii U for this game in 2018. It was way cheaper to get a "refurbished" wii u and the game than just getting the switch by itself. Plus knowing you can play the game on cemu was awesome.

I wonder how those Switch VS Wii U stats would stack up if there was a way to count how many people pirated the Wii U version and played it on Cemu

I'm playing the Wii U version on the 32 GB Wii U, modded to play as Linkle, and I never noticed any of the performance issues you were talking about. I'm confused. I'm probably blind towards the framerate drops? But quitting in and out of the HOME menu works just fine. It messes up the look of my mods sometimes but it works instantly, no waiting time included. Maybe either your Wii U is the problem or I'm just lucky. Or maybe it's because I downloaded the game from the eShop. I wonder if discs just work way worse for some reason?

The reason it takes a while to get back from the home menu is because the game is the only exception that uses up the Wii U’s 2GB RAM. Normally it’s 1GB (games) + 1GB (OS).

i got the wiiu version on launch day and got my switch in june of 2017, i got it for the switch in mid 2020 and rebought all the dlc etc

Wii U version exist , so you can play on PC , which is indirectly port of PC through CEMu emulator

Once he said horse cock near the beginning it was an immediate subscribe moment.

It was argued they are the same because the switch port wasn’t highly updated yet

I still have my WiiU version, I couldn't afford a switch at the time so I figured get this and it'd be just good and I wasn't wrong.

Bro 4:10 caught me so off guard 💀 this video is awesome

I played Wii u version and beat it .

That’s crazy that I was one of the million to get it for Wii U. The frame rate was bad but I’ve played fallout new vegas on release so there’s nothing that could run or look worst lol

Didnt the switch version have worse framerate drops at launch than the Wii U version?

I actually one time got that weird Home Screen loading on Tears of the Kingdom

I had no loading or frame rate problems when playing on my Wii U so idk what went wrong

I played the wii u version first because i couldnt find a switch, i was 50 hours in when and my wife and i were at target and they just got in 3 switches and 2 sold in seconds, i scoped up the third and a copy of zelda and restarted botw, i then gave my wiiu to my bro so he could play zelda. Funnily the same exact situation happened when twilight princess came out i lucked out and found a wii and restarted twilight princess on wii

I played and beat both versions. I got the wii u one on launch because the switch was sold out. I don't remember it being bad except for the frame rate ofc

I played the wii u version and i loved it. My 11 year old ass didn't care about the framerate hahaha. Thats 6 years ago man thats crazy

I actually played everything that BotW had to offer on my Wii, and yeah there were a lot of hiccups, but the fact that the game is so fun literally ignored the performance issues it had... (also I couldn't find Switch in the early days of it so I had to deal with it. 😅)

The Wii U version was the first game I ever preordered. I was so hyped for it. I guess I was too excited to see any issues like frame rate and the lower quality visuals compared to switch, despite seeing comparisons. Played that version for about 3 months until I got a switch. I didn't notice much of an upgrade, but I did notice the gyro controls being worse like you mentioned.

The Wii U has a more capable GPU than the switch. There's no way in hell the switch could ever hope to run the GPU intensive games that the Wii U had, like Xenoblade X

I finished the wiiu version 100 % good times

Nice video, but I just wanna say it's just amazing that, tbh, the best way to play BoTW it's in the cemu emulator in the Wii U versio. It's ironic

I owned a WiiU but part of me told me to wait until I was able to get a Switch, so I decided to wait and I don't regret that decision now.

I have a switch and Wii U and got the game on both and I didn’t notice a difference

I was a freshman when this dropped, got my first tax return (wasn't much), spent it on the wii u version and dark souls 3 for the ps4...only ever played an hour of ds3, missed numerous hw deadlines because of this game. What a simpler time. (also this game feels MILES better on the wii u gamepad compared to any controller I've used on the switch version)

2 issues in my wii u run. Until several updates, Lurelin village was void of npcs. Sometimes dragons don't properly load, they'll be low res with no hit boxes

I played it for the first time on a Wii U and i was surprised to find that I didn’t enjoy the game very much, and that I was absolute ASS when it came to fighting enemies. Fast forward 4 years (of playing no video games, so it’s not like I could practice) and I get a copy of the switch version. I suddenly don’t suck anymore. Idk wtf was up with the Wii U version, but thankfully I’m much better on the switch 🙌

I beat BOTW on Wii u (and all shrines) and enjoyed it.. TOTK on switch is a pretty big graphical upgrade over it tho - hardly any framerate drops in the built up areas & forest - which was the only time the Wii U version was frustrating. It essentially has the same graphics as BOTW on switch tho - and had some beautiful moments.. prob the best looking game on the console and I was happy to play it on Wii U

Nice video

My sister has somewhere in the range of 700 hours of BotW on Wii U, and she's the only hunan being I know of to actually play that much of the game on that console.

I completed both BotWs on both systems BUT honestly the Wii U was better for navigation. I LOVED having the map on a different screen and could just tap where I wanted to travel to instead of having to pull up a menu and could look at my screen to see where I was heading instead of placing a pin. Really if graphics aren’t the driving force of your enjoyment, Wii U deff delivered a better experience. Both are solid, but navigation this landscape is more convenient on the Wii U even if it means a bit longer of a wait time