The TotK NSP is a marvel of data compression, squeezing a world with three distinct layers (Sky, Surface, Depths) into just 16GB. But as the saying goes in the homebrew community: Just because you can run the NSP, doesn't mean you shouldn't buy the game.
Hyrule is worth the admission price. Have you attempted to dump your copy of Tears of the Kingdom? What format do you prefer: XCI or NSP? Let us know in the comments below. zelda: tears of the kingdom nsp
Nintendo has been notoriously aggressive regarding TotK. In the weeks leading up to its May 2023 launch, they issued thousands of DMCA takedowns for NSP links. The reason? TotK was the most pirated Switch game of the year, largely because the NSP was leaked two weeks before the street date. The TotK NSP is a marvel of data
Dumping your own Tears of the Kingdom NSP from a cartridge you purchased is legally grey (depending on your country's DMCA exemptions) but generally considered "fair use" for backup purposes. Have you attempted to dump your copy of Tears of the Kingdom
If you are a collector, backing up your physical copy to an NSP via a homebrewed Switch (using tools like nxdumptool) is the only "clean" way to get this file. If you own a physical copy of Tears of the Kingdom and want the convenience of not swapping cartridges, converting your game to an NSP is a neat project. However, for the average player, sticking to the eShop download or the cart is vastly simpler.
Why does this matter? The Nintendo Switch officially supports microSD cards up to 2TB, but the console has a hard limit on usable game data. 16GB pushes the Switch hardware to its absolute limit. To put it in perspective, Breath of the Wild was roughly 13.4GB. That extra 3GB in TotK is packed with the physics engine for Fuse, the verticality of the Sky Islands, and the procedural nature of the Depths.