The latest update for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild added a new VR mode that pairs with the newly released Labo VR kit. While the update added the VR functionality, it has also improved the game’s loading times.
First spotted by Polygon, Alexis de Champris, a speedrunner, tweeted out some evidence of the faster loading times on Friday. Take a look at the shared clips below loading in and out of shrines in Breath of the Wild.
Oh my. The update DID improve Shrine loading times, pog! pic.twitter.com/Mdr3onYudk
— Alexis de Champris (@Pikastroff) April 26, 2019
Before the update was applied, loading out of a shrine too about 17 seconds. After the update, loading out of a shrine takes a little over 11 seconds. On top of that, the time to enter a shrine also decreased from 13 seconds to 10 seconds.
Shrine entry is also faster with the update, which makes sense. pic.twitter.com/KUq9tYtqgB
— Alexis de Champris (@Pikastroff) April 26, 2019
The tests you saw above were done using a cartridge copy of the game instead of a digital copy. Before the update, the Wii U was actually faster then the Switch version. Due to this, the preffered version for speedrunners was the Wii U version instead of the Switch. After the update, I would assume many speedrunners will begin to switch to the handheld hybrid.
On top of this, data miners and modders, reported on by Gearnuke, have noticed that the recent update added a “Boost mode.” This isn’t in the Switch firmware 8.0 patch notes and also isn’t confirmed by Nintendo, but some of the data miners believe this boost mode is why the game is loading faster.
Since the “Boost Mode” was added, other users believe that Super Mario Odyssey is loading faster as well.
To note, this “Boost Mode” hasn’t been officially confirmed, but since the latest update, games have certainly been loading much faster and I am sure we will see evidence of other titles showing the same improvements.
The post A Labo VR Update Makes Breath of the Wild Load Much Faster by Grant Huff appeared first on DualShockers.