New Ocarina of Time 3D Hands-On Detail Reports

It sounds like a number of gaming sites got a chance to get their hands on an early debug copy of Ocarina of Time 3D recently in order to build up hype for the game’s release (speaking of which – where was our invite, Nintendo?), and so we now know a lot more about just how deep the graphical updates go. One big example is the updated Castle Town, which is now rendered in full 3D, with actual 3D models rather than the flat background textures used initially. Yes, it still uses the same central camera angle, but it sounds like the updated models have done a lot to flesh out the city as an actual city and not as a roughly-finished area in a 90s video game. Of course, that’s not all we found out. Check the list of new details below.

• The ugly flat “tree walls” and “mountain walls” that used to border gameplay areas have been done away with and replaced with actual 3D trees and mountains. (Check out the Fishing Pond screenshot for a good example of this)
• Water effects have been greatly improved – wonder if they come close to what Twilight Princess could achieve?
• The fishing pond has gotten a major overhaul and looks almost as detailed as the Twilight Princess iteration – although of course it remains faithful to the original
• The Temple of Time has been given a nice finish, complete with an actual ceiling (it didn’t have one in the original) and, of course, full 3D rendering from the outside
• 2D background images have been replaced with actual 3D models – for example, Death Mountain is an actual 3D model, and the entrance to Castle Town shows actual buildings in the distance, not just a flat texture depicting houses
• The sweeping landscape of Hyrule Field looks great in 3D
• No StreetPass features (although I expect no one is going to miss them)
• You can access your song list directly while playing the ocarina
• No updated script (that we know of), music, or sound effects
• Master Quest is implemented as a “second quest,” and you will have to complete the game to unlock it

Source: Gamexplain