Nintendo finally showcased The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake, and the Internet has met its graphics with near-unanimous bafflement. Is the public right about lambasting this new take on what many still consider the pinnacle of the gaming experience?
When Nintendo first showed a few screenshots to announce the Ocarina of Time remake, I felt worried. Nintendo, a company once known for following its artistic vision even when players advised against it —see the original reactions to Wind Waker— had seemingly jumped on the Unreal Engine bandwagon and tried to make a game that looked like everything else. That would’ve sucked, because when people play a Nintendo game, they expect to be immersed in something completely fresh. This didn’t seem to be the case. Worse yet, the realistic new graphics just didn’t seem to match the cute models of the original.
The gameplay reveal makes it look like Nintendo has doubled down on this more realistic take, and the Internet hasn’t forgiven Nintendo for not using the previous months to course-correct.
As I’d previously theorized, Nintendo was risking having Ocarina of Time compared to a viral spoof about classic game series that lost all of their spark for chasing that Unreal Engine 5 AAA feel.
And it’s currently happening.
In all honesty, I do not like the new looks. The more realistic environments kill a lot of the original’s whimsy. The models also look off, like small Chimeras resulting from an ill-advised attempt to blend realism and organic artistry.
One of the biggest criticisms is that Link looks too shiny. Meaning he doesn’t even look like a product of Unreal Engine 5, but rather one of Unreal Engine 3; you know, from back when every character looked like they were both made out of rubber and drenched in baby oil.
And he sure does look too shiny there, but that’s because he’s literally still wet from getting out of the water. Let’s not believe every piece of criticism we see on the Internet, and, in good OOT tradition, let’s be more lenient with whatever bad stuff takes place in the water temple.
Luckily, there’s more interesting discourse taking place, as well. As this BlueSky user put out in a rather constructive post, the biggest problem seems to be Link himself. The other characters, by virtue of featuring less detailed models, end up working much better as Zelda characters.
In any case, times are tough, so in case you’re not weaponizing them to harass devs or fans, it’s completely fine to find solace in some memes.
Especially when they’re this good.
