The upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive game Yoshi and the Mysterious Book has a larger file size than the massive and complicated open world action-adventure game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. With no new Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games releasing in April, May’s Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is the next big Nintendo-published Switch 2 game in the pipeline.
A side-scrolling platformer, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book continues the series’ tradition of featuring a striking, unique art style. This time around, Yoshi looks to emulate the look of a children’s book, but with stop-motion style animation. The combo makes sure Yoshi and the Mysterious Book definitely stands out from a visual standpoint, but the game is also turning heads because of its file size.
The New Yoshi Game Getting a Release Date Might Actually Be a Bad Thing for Switch 2 Gamers
Nintendo reveals the release date for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, but the announcement might be bad news for Switch 2 owners.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book File Size Confirmed
As revealed by the game’s official eShop page, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book‘s file size is 20.6 GB. What makes this especially surprising is the fact that Yoshi and the Mysterious Book has a bigger file size than something like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is 16.5 GB on the Switch 1 and 20.1 GB on the Switch 2. While there isn’t a massive gulf between the two games’ file sizes, Tears of the Kingdom is a gigantic open world with complex systems, whereas Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a comparatively much simpler game. It’s effectively a 2.5 side-scroller and will almost certainly be something that can be completed within 10-20 hours. Considering this, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book having a larger file size than Tears of the Kingdom is surprising.
It’s also surprising that Yoshi and the Mysterious Book‘s file size is much larger than that of fellow Switch 2 exclusive game Donkey Kong Bananza. Donkey Kong Bananza is a full-scale 3D platformer with a world filled with destructible objects, yet it only requires 9 GB on the Switch 2. The reason why Yoshi and the Mysterious Book has a larger file size than these games has yet to be revealed, but perhaps it has something to do with its animation and demands of its art choices. Nintendo itself hasn’t commented on the matter, and so all fans can do is speculate.
When Yoshi and the Mysterious Book‘s eShop page first went live, there were those that assumed that the listed file size was in error, but the page has since been updated and the listed file size has remained, so it seems to be the real deal. Beyond the file size, we also now know that Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will cost $59.99 digitally, but $69.99 physically. That might prove to be a little too steep an asking price for some Nintendo Switch 2 owners, so it will be interesting to see how the game performs sales-wise.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Based on what’s been shown of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book gameplay so far, the game definitely seems like it has potential. The Yoshi series has never been the most beloved out of Nintendo’s various franchises, but Yoshi and the Mysterious Book looks like it will at the very least appeal to fans of games like Yoshi’s Island.
Luckily, the wait to play the game is nearly at an end. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book has locked in a May 21 release date, so fans only have to wait a couple more months to play the game for themselves. There’s also a non-zero chance that Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will be available to play ahead of schedule as well, whether through a demo or via store kiosk, as we have seen with other Nintendo games in the past.
- Released
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May 21, 2026
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
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May 21, 2026
