We’ve seen a great deal of Ocarina of Time Unreal Engine remasters over the years, and for better or for worse, most of them stick very close the original’s art style, with various graphical upgrades added. Link’s hair might be flopping around and the Spiritual Stones might be glistening as they rotate in the Temple of Time, but the designs themselves remain entirely the same. Grass flutters in the wind and beautiful shadows cascade across Hyrule Field, but what’s missing from many of these efforts is just what makes the original game so special: charm!

Australian 3D artist Yianni Papazis seeks to rectify this with his take on Hyrule Castle Town, employing a whimsical, saturated style not unlike that of the original Fable. With highly stylized character models and brilliantly detailed custom textures, this take on Castle Town elevates the Zelda style in a way we haven’t really seen before. A mixture of Ocarina of Time’s eccentric character designs and Skyward Sword’s painterly environments, Papazis’ work showcases a great eye for visual storytelling and strong artistic sensibilities.

Overlaid with a sterling orchestral rendition of Ocarina of Time’s soundtrack by John Oestmann, this video tour helps to give us all a feel for what a modern graphical upgrade of Ocarina of Time might look like. Beyond this, it’s nice to imagine Nintendo trying out new art styles beyond the Breath of The Wild sequel, deviating from both the cel-shaded and gritty renditions of Hyrule we’ve seen so far.

Though he is finished with this Zelda project for the time being, Papazis will still be uploading new content to his YouTube channel, which you can check out here.

Would you like to see Nintendo revisit Ocarina of Time once again and give it the full HD treatment? Or would they be better off focusing on new titles in the franchise, and maybe even new art styles? Let us know in the comments below!

Tagged With: No tags were found for this entry.