Watch This Incredible Unreal Engine Creation of Kokiri Forest
Posted on March 23 2023 by David Nystrom
For years now, there have been a steady stream of incredible recreations of places and locations in the Zelda universe that make us stop and reexamine just how incredible these memorable spots can be. From incredibly impressive Minecraft builds that appear simple at first, only to discover how detailed and time-consuming they really are, to high-resolution and high-definition billion-pixel remakes that look like real life. The creations are simply astounding, and the people who dedicate their time to making them are a gift to us all.
One such creator, RwanLink, has built some of the most impressive models of Hyrule from Ocarina of Time that the world has ever seen. In the video today, we get a tour of where it all begins… the iconic Kokiri Forest. The video begins with a showcase of some of the building that he did, some of the rendering process of taking actual pictures and transforming them into Hyrule assets, and finally showing him placing some of these little bits. That’s when the video really gets going.
The flyover of the greater Kokiri Forest introduces us to this hidden village in a wonderfully cinematic way. Then we get a great view of the whole area before being taken out in front of a very familiar tree house. Recreating the memorable overhead angle from the game, our green-clad and sleeping hero’s home is shown with incredible detail. Link awakens and sets about his day, taking us into the very living settlement. We’re taken out of the tranquility of the scene to bear witness to the horrors that lurk in the Lost Woods. Finally, returning to the joyous side of the world, we get to meet the Great Deku Tree.
The video continues on, telling the story that anybody who’s played Ocarina of Time would be familiar with. Personally, this is what makes this showcase even better. The entire work is beyond impressive, but it is personally more impactful that he takes the time to not just show off his animation skills, but tell a great story too. The final half of the video follows Link as if in an actual game, exploring the phenomenal world.
To me, this is one of the coolest ongoing things within the Zelda community. What did you think of this video? Would you like to be able to check out the Kokiri Forest like this? Let us know in the comments below or chat about it over in our Discord.
Source: RwanLink
David is an editor at Zelda Dungeon. He’s the author of the ongoing series, The Era Without A Hero, and his favorite Zelda games are Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword. He’s also generally a fan of JRPGs and other major Nintendo titles, such as Smash Bros. and Mario.
