Topic: The Nintendo Switch Rumor and Speculation Thread

I honestly wouldn't play the original Gamecube release of Windwaker if they put it on NSO. The improvements made in the HD version make it impossible to go back to the original game. Sorta the same thing with Ocarina of Time 3D. That version of the game is so good that if I had to pick either between booting up my 3DS to play it or playing the original on NSO, I would just go ahead and boot up my 3DS to play the remake.

The only Zelda release I can say would stand it's ground is probably Twilight Princess, given that the HD version doesn't really add much to the over-all experience. Sure, there's an extra dungeon. Sure, they redrew textures- but ultimately not enough quality of life changes were made to the experience to really make a difference.

I just hope if they introduce a Gamecube NSO that they don't just go "well you can play Twilight Princess on NSO, so there's no reason for us to remake the game at all."

I would love a FF7-esque reimagining of OoT. There's a lot they could do to modernize the experience, the map could stand to be scaled up and the plot could be fleshed out and tweaked a little more among other things, that can't be done with a typical remake. A reimagining would definitely help make the experience feel more up to date.

And really there's kinda precedence for them to do one, as OoT wouldn't be the first Zelda game to get a modern reimagining. ALBW in a way gave ALttP the same treatment, it was extremely similar to ALttP in a lot of ways, but it was a sequel that didn't quite need to recreate ALttP to the letter and did its own thing sometimes. I would love to see OoT get a similar treatment.

Ehhh. I feel like making the map larger for Ocarina would end up ruining the game itself. Hyrule Field as a whole already has a ton of empty space, and only adding more wouldn't really sit well. Especially if the "reimagining" goes for a sandbox take on the game. At that point, I feel like we already have a game similar to that. Tears of the Kingdom. It's plot (the ancient past) is a recreation of events from Ocarina of Time through and through. Down to Ganondorf swearing allegiance to the King and the involvement of someone traveling through time in order to attempt to save their Kingdom.

@skywake I'm not as convinced, emulating GCN/Wii perfectly is hard. Could Wind Waker or Pikmin or Luigi's Mansion be emulated? Probably. But stuff like the Prime games I'm not so sure on. And then you've got games like Fatal Frame 4 or Timesplitters that emulating at full speed is nigh impossible to this day. There's a reason that Nintendo went through the trouble of rewriting the graphics side of Galaxy for the 3D All-Stars collection.

I mean I hope I'm wrong, I'd love to get niche stuff like Geist, Odama, Star Fox Adventures and Assault, and Eternal Darkness on modern hardware, but knowing Nintendo's perfectionism, I still have doubts. Then again, we did get that terrible N64 emulator... Though it has been mostly fixed up now.

In terms of first party games from the GameCube and Wii era, I see Nintendo just remastering them and using them to help boost their release schedules, much like how the Wii U did early on in the Switch life. Makes far more sense and a great way to generate a lot of full price game sales without the need of a brand new game. Though niche exclusives like Eternal Darkness and Star Fox Adventures will be left behind.

After so many unexpected releases and re-releases in recent years, I wonder how people can still be so sure that certain games will never see the light of day again.
Which is to say: Eternal Darkness can still get a port/remaster someday, at the very least.

@BrazillianCara When Switch released in 2017, I had 3 games I hoped would make it to the system. Tempest 2000, Warsong and Bomb Jack. Thinking they had no chance ever happening. Aaand here we are. Honestly, can't believe some of the games on Switch happened nevermind being able to buy a physical version of them!

@BrazillianCara Yeah if the Another Code games can get brought back and remade, then Eternal Darkness is absolutely a possibility.

@Ulysses Right. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are perfect candidates for remake, even though I have the 3DS versions, on top of Virtual Console and original releases, I still think so. The Wind Waker HD didn't improve the original much and I think they missed the chance to make the game less bare-bones in terms of content and locations, but Twilight Princess HD upgraded the graphics significantly. I know I might be the only one here saying this, but Twilight Princess still is the most "perfect" Zelda game. That and Ocarina of Time, although I love Majora's Mask.

@Bolt_Strike The idea of "reimagining" Ocarina of Time scares me, but remaking, heck, yeah, and I would update a little bit the mechanics, although I wouldn't tone the whole game down like they did with Majora's Mask 3D.

@Banjo- I highly disagree that Twilight Princess HD really upgraded the graphics to an immense degree. It’s pretty much just an HD texture pack. It needs a remake like Metroid Prime Remastered or TTYD.

@VoidofLight I have both versions and I checked every detail, even things like the paintings hanging on the walls, because it's one of my favourite games, and the upgrades are very noticeable almost everywhere. It's an impressive remaster. Contrarily, the graphical differences in the two The Wind Waker releases are minimal, but that's logical considering that The Wink Waker has a cartoon style (cel shading). The lighting is the biggest graphical upgrade in The Wind Waker HD.

@Banjo- I mean again, Twilight Princess HD is still just redrawn textures. The models are still janky, the mapping on buildings is non-existent when talking about rock textures, you can still count the polygons in a lot of surfaces, and the music is still the same midi that the Wii and Gamecube versions were stuck with.

Twilight Princess is one of my favorite Zeldas, and that’s why I hope they fully remake the game like they did with Metroid Prime Remastered and TTYD. It deserves better than just a texture redraw.

@VoidofLight Yep, but wouldn't you say that Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask should be remade first.

An orchestrated soundtrack and 60 fps would be wonderful in Twilight Princess!

@Banjo- Ehhh I don't think Ocarina or Majora's Mask needs another remake any time soon. They got massive facelifts with Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora's Mask 3D. Ones that really eclipse the visual changes made in Windwaker HD, Twilight Princess HD, and Skyward Sword HD.

Also Ocarina and Majora have OSTs that were composed for Midi in mind, so the midi isn't all that jarring. Twilight Princess' score on the other hand was composed to be fully orchestrated, but Nintendo didn't want to commit so they stuck with it being recorded with midi instead of real instrumentation.

I also don't really mind if they don't have the game running at 60 FPS, so long as the visuals get updated to look as good as other Gamecube remakes have looked.

A fresh coat of paint on Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask could be pretty nice, but I wouldn't want them to change anything substantial or add much extra content. I'm just not sure how they could update the graphics without making it too cartoony, like the 3DS remakes did, and which I am not a fan of.

But honestly the one that really needs a remake is Legend of Zelda 1986, which still has not received a proper remake, outside of that niche Satellaview version.

@BougieBeetle Right, I don't think that the 3DS versions are definitive versions, not just because of the low resolution or the colours they changed, but Majora's Mask in particular has a lot of gameplay elements toned down. Both remakes added quality of life features, but graphically and in terms of gameplay they are somewhat inferior than the original versions.

@Banjo- I mean, we're never getting a Majora's mask remake that won't have massive changes made. Aonuma genuinely hates Majora's Mask and Miyamoto forced him to work on the 3D version of the game. It's sorta why he made all those changes in the first place.

I've read about how Majora's Mask development was somewhat troubled, but there was nothing indicating that Aonuma hates the game. Certainly not to the point that it would prevent a new remake or re-release of the 3DS version. And even if it did, it's not like he'll be the series' producer forever.

@BrazillianCara That's right.

I liked some of the quality of life features and those would be nice to be included again. I also liked the stereoscopic 3D in these versions and the addition of fishing ponds to Majora's Mask, but that particular game was partly butchered for Nintendo 3DS.

@Ulysses I mean I remember it being pretty much factually stated that Aonuma saw that there were a ton of issues with Majora's Mask and he wasn't happy with how the original game was released. Backed up with the fact that the game was pretty much developed in the span of a year.

Edit: He did an interview where he was replaying the game for the 3DS remake, and voiced how he wasn't really pleased with some of the stuff he encountered while playing through the original game. He wrote those points down in order for the devs to change.