rabbity-thing
Member
So, the Switch 2 edition carts are.... confusing.
Here's my experience with the BOTW Switch 2 Edition cart. I wanted to see if it could be played without an internet connection because of preservation purposes. Putting my Switch 2 into Airplane Mode, I got some error telling me that an upgrade was required in order to play the game. Not an update for the Switch 2 itself, btw. My Switch 2 was fully updated. I could not move past the error. It would not let me play the game without first downloading some sort of BOTW update.
Of course, this is problematic. I was worried that the rumors of there only being a Switch 1 version on the cart might be true (And they kind of are, but more on that later). So, a few things to note about my Switch 2. I used the transfer tool and before ever putting in the BOTW S2E cart into my switch, I had already brought over both my save file and the DLC. At least one or both of these things is significant.
So, I did some googling, and I read online that some people did not have an unskippable update prompt (though some did) For some people, the cart worked just fine in Airplane mode. The cart showed the update warning, but still let them launch the software. So, back to theory time. Maybe there were different revisions of the cart and I got the janky one. Or maybe the DLC or save file were creating a conflict.
I asked my wife if I could kindly see if I could load the game on her Switch 2 (since she had never played BOTW nor does she have the DLC on her Switch 2). And whatdya know? In airplane mode, while the game still warns about a download being needed, it launches just fine. I got to the main menu just to make sure it was actually the Swtich 2 Edition and it was.
Also, I can confirm that the cart DOES include the Switch 1 version of the title as well. It seems to include both versions of the game. In my OLED Switch, the BOTW S2E cart is recognized as though it is simply the original cart.
There's clearly other tests that could be interesting, but on the whole, this is weird and has been very poorly explained by Nintendo. A cart that works on both systems could be a gamechanger for cross-gen titles. Honestly, it's kind of amazing.
I wonder if this is consistent with other Switch 2 Editions. If it is, it kind of makes the original carts quite obsolete.
Anyway, TLDR;
Here's my experience with the BOTW Switch 2 Edition cart. I wanted to see if it could be played without an internet connection because of preservation purposes. Putting my Switch 2 into Airplane Mode, I got some error telling me that an upgrade was required in order to play the game. Not an update for the Switch 2 itself, btw. My Switch 2 was fully updated. I could not move past the error. It would not let me play the game without first downloading some sort of BOTW update.
Of course, this is problematic. I was worried that the rumors of there only being a Switch 1 version on the cart might be true (And they kind of are, but more on that later). So, a few things to note about my Switch 2. I used the transfer tool and before ever putting in the BOTW S2E cart into my switch, I had already brought over both my save file and the DLC. At least one or both of these things is significant.
So, I did some googling, and I read online that some people did not have an unskippable update prompt (though some did) For some people, the cart worked just fine in Airplane mode. The cart showed the update warning, but still let them launch the software. So, back to theory time. Maybe there were different revisions of the cart and I got the janky one. Or maybe the DLC or save file were creating a conflict.
I asked my wife if I could kindly see if I could load the game on her Switch 2 (since she had never played BOTW nor does she have the DLC on her Switch 2). And whatdya know? In airplane mode, while the game still warns about a download being needed, it launches just fine. I got to the main menu just to make sure it was actually the Swtich 2 Edition and it was.
Also, I can confirm that the cart DOES include the Switch 1 version of the title as well. It seems to include both versions of the game. In my OLED Switch, the BOTW S2E cart is recognized as though it is simply the original cart.
There's clearly other tests that could be interesting, but on the whole, this is weird and has been very poorly explained by Nintendo. A cart that works on both systems could be a gamechanger for cross-gen titles. Honestly, it's kind of amazing.
I wonder if this is consistent with other Switch 2 Editions. If it is, it kind of makes the original carts quite obsolete.
Anyway, TLDR;
- BOTW S2E cart can NOT launch without an update if the Switch 2 has save data and/or dlc from BOTW (not sure which is the culprit)
- BOTW S2E cart CAN launch without an update if the Switch 2 has no data and/or dlc from the original Switch 1 version of BOTW.
- BOTW S2E cart CAN launch the Switch 1 version of BOTW from a Switch 1.
- Are hybrid carts for Switch 2 Editions the norm going forward? Possibly even for cross-gen?
