New 3DS’s upgrades overshadow the old 3DS systems in Hyrule Warriors Legends

Hyrule Warriors Legends is just over 2 months away now for players in the West, but the game is only a few days away in Japan. As such, Japanese players – and those with Japanese systems by extension – already have access to the game’s demo via the Nintendo e-Shop. A result of the game’s demo being released is early comparison videos between the original 3DS and the New 3DS in terms of graphics and features.

In this gameplay video put together by YouTuber TiLMENDOMiNATiON, the most noticeable change from the original Wii U version of Hyrule Warriors is that all enemy models have been replaced with flattened sprites. This is understandable, as the game would be unable to produce the same quantity of enemy units on screen at any time if they stuck to 3D models. Shadows, textures, and other graphical qualities have been lowered as well to compensate for the hardware’s limitations.

Between the 3DS and New 3DS there are a number of differences as well. While the video focuses on being an FPS comparison – of which we notice that the old 3DS suffers quite a bit from frame drops – there is one major difference that isn’t touched upon: the New 3DS has much more enemies on screen at any given time. This, when complemented by higher frame rates, points out just how much more powerful the New 3DS is when compared to its predecessor.

This image taken from another of TiLMENDOMiNATiON highlights just how much of a difference there is between the 3 systems Hyrule Warriors has been ported to, with the New 3DS serving as a middle ground

The difference in graphical and gameplay quality has owners of the old 3DS system questioning whether or not they will pick up the game at all. Considering that Hyrule Warriors usually requires players to pick off a certain number of enemies, it may also suggest that the New 3DS may be superior in terms of gameplay as well. Should the game’s mission objectives not cater to the old 3DS’s weaker hardware, this may inadvertently cause gameplay to be much more difficult as a result.

What do you think about the difference between the 3DS and New 3DS systems? Do you think that Nintendo should have just released the game on the New 3DS only? Will this difference cause you to second guess your purchase of the game? Leave your opinions in the comments section below!