Breath of the Wild - WiiU or wait for Switch?

[Stg-Flame]

Recently grabbed a WiiU for dirt cheap with five games. It didn't come with a box, manuals, cables, etc. (basically not as advertised but that's a story for another day) though it did come with a gamepad and four nunchucks and the power cables. Luckily I had the video cable and motion bar from my Wii so I just switched that over.

Been having a blast with it so far on Pikmin 3 but I'm on the fence about Breath of the Wild. I've heard a few people say the frame rate drops and lag is fairly severe on the WiiU and not noticeable on the Switch. The only thing people seem to be in agreement on is that there are no technical differences between the two versions aside from the load times and slightly less lag.

So, is it worth it to wait until I grab a Switch (might not happen for a while since there's only two games I want and I can't justify spending that much money for two games) or should I just suck it up and play on the WiiU? Also, I've heard a lot of people saying you can't play BotW with a controller and it forces you to use a Gamepad. Are they referring to the Pro controller or the nunchucks?

 

[shortylickens]

I bought it for the WiiU and still have not started it.

What is wrong with me?

 

[Red Hawk]

Breath of the Wild is well worth getting if you have a Wii U. You're basically correct about the downsides vs the Switch version: it runs at a moderately lower resolution (720p vs 900p), the frame rate is a bit shakier, and of course you don't get the Switch's portability. But it is feature complete, with all the DLC available.

About the controllers, you can play 99.9% of the game with the pro controller. It's just a handful of shrine puzzles that use the gyroscopes in the tablet controller and can't be completed with the pro controller.

Personally, as a huge Zelda fan, BotW justified purchasing a Switch even though I already had Wii U. I wanted the best (official) way to play the game, plus I was starting a job where I'd be riding a train for a couple hours every weekday, which meant I'd get a lot of use out of the portability. But, if I wasn't going to get a Switch for a long while, I would certainly have bought BOTW on Wii U, and I recommend you do the same.

 

[Stg-Flame]

The portability of the Switch means nothing to me since my gaming time is very limited during my work week and on my week off, if I'm not home, I'm busy and can't dedicate that time to gaming on the go. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to grab it on the Wii U considering by the time I get around to grabbing a Switch, I'm sure I can get the Switch and a new copy of BotW for dirt cheap.

 

[purbeast0]

The portability of the Switch means nothing to me since my gaming time is very limited during my work week and on my week off, if I'm not home, I'm busy and can't dedicate that time to gaming on the go. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to grab it on the Wii U considering by the time I get around to grabbing a Switch, I'm sure I can get the Switch and a new copy of BotW for dirt cheap.

I thought the portability of the Switch would mean nothing to me as well, but the majority of time I use my Switch now is actually when traveling. It makes flights go by super fast too, and it's playing "real" games and not gimped portable games. I used it for a couple long bus rides and a train ride as well.

I actually had mine preordered from when they first stated taking them on Amazon and the week before it came out in March I almost canceled mine along with Zelda since I didn't really care about it. Then I decided to keep it because I was flying out the day after it came out to Aruba and it would give me something to do on the plane. And damn was I happy I kept it lol. I played it till it died on the flight and I only had like an hour left. Time flew by.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'd go for the Wii U version. That's what I did. I've been on the fence about a Switch, but I will literally never use it in portable mode, and the game line up isn't that strong for me. Now if you're going to travel a lot, a Switch might be a smart purchase. Thankfully I only fly a few times per year.

Also I'm secretly hoping for Octopath Traveler to come out on some other system.

 

[gorcorps]

Just play it for Wii U. I'm one of the few that think BotW it a bit overrated anyway... so buying a console just for that game would be a waste IMO. It wasn't bad, just not a lot that other open world games haven't already done before.

That being said, I love my Switch and think you should get one anyway. Playing a console on the couch while the wife can still watch whatever she wants is awesome.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Just play it for Wii U. I'm one of the few that think BotW it a bit overrated anyway... so buying a console just for that game would be a waste IMO. It wasn't bad, just not a lot that other open world games haven't already done before.

That being said, I love my Switch and think you should get one anyway. Playing a console on the couch while the wife can still watch whatever she wants is awesome.

Agree with all of the above.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I travel a lot, but I'm always driving. I drive to work and when I get there, I drive to location. If I work out of town, I drive there too. Portable mode will likely never be used by me. That being said, the answer is clear, so I'm going to look for a copy locally tomorrow.

Thanks for all the input.