Three cheers for this man!

i think it would be even better if link looked like he did in the old SNES/NES games, since it's a top-down perspective. that'd be kind of neat to see nintendo make a link to the past games (see what i did there?)

though i doubt that would ever happen in a zelda game, i agree;it would be interesting. there could be a new twist to the final battle with ganon. he's not just fighting the big bad boss for zelda, he's doing it for revenge, that way zelda isnt his main focus. he could have a face-off with dark link (who would have a bigger role in the game as a parallel character to link) to reveal a part of himself he didnt notice before, and that if he did his whole journey for revenge, he would be equivalent to dark link. he not only has to fight ganon, he also has a battle within himself, and the choice he makes effects the whole outcome of defeating ganon;whether he defeats ganon and overcomes his own emotions, or if dies a hero, but because he was mislead by revenge, or if he defeats ganon and becomes the new big bad baddie, lead by his hatred (similar to return of the jedi). that'd be very interesting, and could make for a much darker entry in the series. i'd play it.

i loved that tech demo. you could not only take the hero seriously, but also marvel at the beauty of the graphics. everything looked so shiny and bright. you could see the reflections of the characters and objects on the floor. it was beautiful. even in the nighttime portion of the demo, the fire shimmered so beautifully. i'd love to see that on the wii U. having expressed my passion for those graphics, i'd be pissed if nintendo made it a toon link game. there's nothing wrong with him, it's just i dont imagine he'd look near as beautiful as in the demo.

Yeah. Toon Link's ok, but I'd really like to see this tech demo come true, or at least have the final game have the same graphics as this and Link.

@3Dash
yeah, too bad the tech demo will never be a reality, as is my theory ): still, it's fun to fantasize.

The fantasy part applies to the world itself, not its visual representation. In fact, realistic visuals and fantasy are not really paradoxical in any way, since the whole POINT of fantasy games is to immerse yourself in another world. That's easier if the visuals look "realistic." Unless the fantasy world world really look like a Saturday morning cartoon if we lived in it.

what i thought, but i couldn't put it in words until now

^that^

I get what you're saying I guess, but I don't like the implying that graphical style is what immerses you in a world. It can, especially if it's particularly beautiful, but what should immerse you in a fantasy story should be its characters and story and setting. One of the reasons people love Skyrim is not because of the graphics (because while impressive for such a large game, don't exactly look as good as Crysis 2 let's just say) but because it goes so far into being an utterly complete fantasy world for you to explore, complete with hours and hours of content just from reading the history of the world etc. through books, let alone the insane number of characters are places to explore and findiing interesting stories and quests.

For a Zelda example, look at Wind Waker. While the graphics are highly appealing and help add to the personality of the game, it's still the setting you care about more (since it's Nintendo, you probably care even more about the gameplay but whatever). You don't care about the adventure because it looks so good, you care because of what happened after the events of that beloved OOT game you loved, because your adorable, sweet sister was taken by a giant bird and you want to get her back and because you want to see all the cool characters and get all the cool items on the Great Sea. And even if you aren't a fan of the graphical style, I don't see how it can take you out of the experience, especially considering the effort put into graphical style. It's kinda like me with Rayman Origins, I don't like the style but its done so well that it still looks amazing.

also after epic yarn, i thought the realistic graphics argument was officially declared the dumbest thing ever

OoT isn't a realistic style. It's anime style.

OoT - anime
MM - anime
WW - cartoon
TP - realistic
SS - painting

The art style jumps around a lot, so it's hard to say where it will go next.

^^you're leaving out the handheld games. whatever, with the next game being on a console, it doesnt really matter that much, but the info is helpful.

Honestly, as I said in the other Zelda topic, I suspect the next game will use a more 'realistic' style if only for business reasons, Nintendo would want a game that sells on the level of Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess to promote the HD console that is the Wii U, so they'll go with whatever sells to the masses.

It's not the best art style, nor do I personally care what one they use, it's just the realistic style is the one I foresee Nintendo using next simply to get the game to sell more.

the handheld games don't count because they are more or less sidegames not made with the regular Zelda team.

also in terms of realism, I'm undecided if Twilight Princess was realistic because of modern gaming or because it was trying way too hard to be OOT. Would that technically make OOT realistic for the time? I mean compared to any of the previous games it certainly is but...I mean just saying it's anime style is kinda too general a description to go with the N64 games. I mean, there's pretty clear anime influence in Skyward Sword too.

sidegames?
woah, my brain is going to blow any moment.
surely they count, right(with the exception of the oracle games, maybe)? they have their own spot on the timeline, so maybe calling them sidegames is a little far off? sure they werent made my the regular zelda team, but they're still a part of the puzzle!

well in terms of "every Zelda game has a new artstyle and stuff". Those teams don't follow that unspoken rule, thus the sidegame logic. I mean, the Oracle games look like Link's Awakening, Minish Cap looks like the Four Swords part of the LTTP remake, and the DS games use the Wind Waker style. Also sidegame logic, because almost no handheld game is considered as important by most people in a series vs. a console game in the same series. Especially outside of Japan. (sucks but it's true)

Yeah, we need a game called Link's Epic Beardy U

wait, are we including actual game art as well? i remember the old manuals for zelda II and LttP had the same looking Link character, but if we're only talking about actual graphics on the screen, then we should leave those parts out.
anyways, art style really doesnt mean it's a side game, but by that logic, i suppose, but that's not important. OoT and Majora's Mask both had the same art style.

@0SP Why have you summoned me to this thread? And everybody loves MM, but it really has very little to do with the story.

Majora's Mask has nothing to do with the main story. Just like Link's Awakening. Good games. But have nothing to do with Hyrule or Zelda.