A new indie project called Mysplaced is being called out by Legend of Zelda fans on social media for supposedly copying Grezzo's Switch release Link's Awakening.
This "Metroidvania" was featured in IGN's latest episode of Rogue Jam and was created by indie developer Soheyl Ghiami. As you can see in the video above, it arguably takes a lot more than just "inspiration" from the Zelda series.
In saying this, some individuals are also defending the game - noting how it's an amazing effort for a team comprised of just two developers (under the name Clear Sky Games).

While this title was one of the contenders in IGN's latest contest, it didn't end up winning - with the judges also raising concerns about the similarities to Link's 2019 island adventure on Switch. The intended plan is to eventually release on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
If we hear any updates about this project, we'll let you know.

[source twitter.com, via comicbook.com]
Comments 134
I'm not sure what the rules are in terms of what is illegal and what is fair to pass off as inspiration but this is clearly copying work other people spent a lot of time and money designing.
It's an obvious clone, but it still looks awesome to me. It's only coming to Xbox SX and PS5 though? that's lame.
It's a zelda-like, that's a good thing.
Some people really go out of their way not to play Nintendo games lol.
All I know is I want to play it; I wish it were coming to Switch.
I feel like zelda-likes are a somewhat under-represented sub-genre compared to the infinite clones of certain styles of platformers and 2D rpgs. The art style here does seem like a bit of a rip off, but it's a cute art style and the trailer showed some unique features as well as the copied parts.
It's definitely got a lot of Link's Awakening remake blood in its veins, but realistically this is far from the only shameless Zelda clone out there. I mean, going farther back, Golden Axe Warrior and the Neutopia games were just as blatantly like Zelda if not moreso.
I feel the same way I did about that weird cuphead knockoff from a while ago. I'm not offended by it existing necessarily, but its a bit too close for comfort here. The fact that they're taking the exact art style from a REMAKE of an old game I think especially makes it just really awkward. If you just wanted to make a modern, Link's Awakening-ish game, cool. But its so obvious what you're doing by having the game look like this.
Also that one ball puzzle thing looks like they just took an unrelated asset from a different thing or area or something and put in the middle of Koholint Island for no reason. That doesn't help.
This is why I'm not a fan of indie games generally. They tend to be far too derivative of both other indie games, and far superior AA and AAA games.
Looks great and nice to see that a small indie dev can get such results! Probably won’t be 59.99 though
@moodycat Eh there's a line between inspired and shameless IMO.
They can rip off Links Awakening if they want, look the same, have the same gameplay, and even have basically the same character like Old Man Ulrira. But don't pretend that's not what they're doing.
On one hand, I'm glad they didn't straight up use Nintendo's characters and actually created their own, but man this sure does come super close to looking like the LA remake. I mean, I really liked the LA remake and the art direction Nintendo used, but dang.
@moodycat Don't worry, I'm not angry but...come on. That's blatant. Surely.
The Print-Out of Zelda: A Link To The Copy Machine
It's been noted that many people made an outcry at first that Genshin Impact was a BotW clone even though (as we saw eventually) the games are almost nothing alike apart from a certain similarity in graphics (likely copied to some degree). So I'm willing to give this game the benefit of the doubt gameplay-wise. I suspect it's different enough to be a distinct fun experience. And it's not like every other popular art style and sub-genre in games isn't copied 800 times.
It’s definitely derivative, but by law you can’t copyright gameplay. I would guess it’s just visually different enough to avoid a lawsuit.
Saying that, I would expect fans will continue to give them grief.
These people are just internet trolls just looking to start an argument because they have nothing better to do. It isn't a ripoff just because it uses the same idea it's a ripoff if they used the same characters and I mean same characters. If that was the case every fighting game would be a ripoff of Street Fighter II and every FPS would be a Doom rip off. Inspired by yes ripoff no.
ripoff.. they change a few things and people point to that and ignore all the other blatant copying
People need to learn the difference between inspiration, and straight up ripping off, and wile yes the games look very similar, I don't think its a rip off just because it does the same idea.
oh hey that twitter user is the same one who just likes to reply to any nintendoeverything post about miyamoto calling him an elitist for almost 5 year straight now, they're extremely contrarian
https://twitter.com/JBtheShadow/status/1526568244244631552
It's pretty blatantly based on Link's Awakening, down to extremely similar world design at times. It'd be one thing if the artstyle was just similar, but it's practically identical, and that's without mentioning the similarities in area layouts
This looks nothing like Links awakening.
But surely imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
@PikaPhantom
That might be true but there is a simple solution for it.
A) If this is an issue for Nintendo they will stop it before it comes out.
B) People do clearly see that this is a Zelda Copy Cat, either they punish it by not buying the game or they buy it because they want to see more in that style.
***** storming a small indie developer is always bad. Those guys usually work their ass off and then get a ***** load of mean comments... and for what ? to punish him? it makes no sens to ***** storm in that case
Sorry, but there are loads of zelda-likes and people are just being stupid.
But damn the translations when people are talking are awful.
Eh, I don't see why anyone would care or even get angry as it doesn't harm anyone. Plenty of Zelda-likes around and some even end up being pretty good, like Ittle Dew. Though this one looks more mediocre than that.
@Luke937 while I understand your point I’ve played and loved some very unique indie games over the last few years. I almost prefer them to a lot of AAA games coming out right now.
If you’re a fan of pixel art as much as me then indie is a feast
I don’t know man… more I think about it, the less I like it. I mean, impressive effort, but from an artistic standpoint… do your own thing, sheesh.
@PikaPhantom Yeaaaah, looking at the side-by-side comparisons, it definitely seems like a ripoff to me. Having a nearly identical graphical style and gameplay mechanics is one thing, but copying the structure of the overworld is going too far. There were other moments in the footage that also looked uncannily similar to the same pathways I traversed in Link's Awakening. If you're stealing the exact level structure, I feel like you may as well take Nintendo's 3D assets while you're at it. It's like a fan remake--still impressive in its own right and the developers should be commended for their hard work, but as a product being sold for profit, it's entering sketchy territory.
If they just made the level design (and the NPC's) more original, I really wouldn't have a problem with it. Some of my favorite games are "clones." A Hat in Time is an unabashed Super Mario Sunshine clone with scenarios ripped straight from Thousand-Year Door, Okami is a Zelda clone, Nick All-Star Brawl is a Smash clone...yet, I still love them all.
Crash Bandicoot is one of my favorite game franchises, and he's been ripping off Nintendo since his very conception. Crash 1 is very Donkey Kong Country-esque, taking place on a world map consisting of islands where you gradually work your way from a jungle setting to a more industrialized factory scape. Crash 2 took it a step further and instead of being just thematically similar to DKC, it added the sliding mechanic, which can be jumped out of--even above bottomless pits. Thus is just like DK's roll move. Then, of course, there's the Mario Kart and Mario Party imitations in the form of Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash, respectively.
Copying each other is an inevitability in the gaming industry. Nintendo's first arcade game was essentially a clone of all the other space shooters--Space Invaders, Galaxian, Galaga, etc. Back then, the industry was still new though, so copyright laws were much more lenient. (Heck, Donkey Kong and Zelda are largely just King Kong and Peter Pan--and they were sued over the former.) But standards are a bit higher now.
I respect "clones" that manage to be just as fun--if not more so--than the games they're copying. Even if they don't bring anything new to the table; not every game has to re-invent the wheel, and sometimes it's okay to play it safe by piggybacking off a formula that's already been proven. As I said, the visuals and gameplay mechanics alone are enough for me to say, "It looks derivative, but still neat. Probably still a good game on its own right and maybe worth checking our." They obviously put a lot of time and effort into painstakingly recreating Nintendo's style. But the character designs, the physics, and the level layout all just come together to create the perfect storm for me of a game that goes a little too far. If they're incorporating large chunks of Nintendo's level design, then I could see them taking a look at this game and possibly suing.
Games like Genshin don't go that far, as far as I'm aware. Maybe someone can fill me in on whether the game is filled with landmarks very closely representing Twin Peaks, the Great Plateau, Lake Hylia, Death Mountain, et cetera. From what I've seen, it still looks like its own original world, and the characters and gameplay mechanics are different enough to justify the game's existence.
Ripoff? Sure.
But since Nintendo doesn’t seem interested in bringing me more new Zelda games in this genre/style, I’m gonna keep an eye on this one.
Oh no, not Twitter
(Continued...)
I'm not like offended by this game or anything. If this is the first project by an indie team, it's a very good proof of concept to showcase their development skills with impressive lighting, animation, and physics. This is good enough that if I were Nintendo, I'd consider hiring them. But it really does feel like their talent is being squandered if they aren't gonna take the time to make original NPC's and world layouts at the very least. I hope the game is relatively early in development and they're just using Link's Awakening as a baseline and making changes from there. This is what Crash Team Racing did--they literally imported a track directly from Diddy Kong Racing and messed around with it to get a feel for how to design a racing game, but they didn't stop there. The final game has a similar tropical course where you race on to the ship, but it still very much has its own layout.
It can be a fine line at times, but on my opinion, I'd have to say this game crosses it. It's by no means irredeemable though, and I think it would be in the studio's best interest to delay the game so they can take the time to make the overworld and Dungeon layouts, as well as the character designs, a little more unique. Even if you don't see it as plagiarism, from a marketing perspective, you want to make your game stand out from the crowd at least somewhat by giving it its own identity. This game could be really special with an extended development cycle, but as-is, it might really hurt the reputation of a team that's clearly full of talent and potential.
@Snatcher If this doesn’t count as a rip-off to you, nothing does. They couldn’t copy it any closer without recreating the exact same game. Doesn’t mean we have to get angry, but it sure leaves me a bit disgusted. Feels like a desperate attempt to get noticed. Good for them, it worked. 🙄
@moodycat Not sure how you would feel if you created something and someone did something similar to you personally.
There's a distinct line between being inspiration and plagiarism and this game artstyle is dangling really close to plagiarism.
I can't even call it a clone, since a clone isn't usually copy the mechanics of the original game, not the artstyle.
@jojobar The most impressive thing about all that hard work is the close attention paid to LA’s detail. That effort could have been spent on their own ideas rather than recreating LA and tweaking it a bit. They could have at least deviated a LITTLE bit.. come on.
Weird when people defend profiting off other people’s designs. (If this was a fan project done and distributed for free, that would be a whole different thing. Not to my taste, but perfectly defensible.)
@dew12333 They probably aren’t super creative. Most artists would understand. (Plus a few like me who hesitate to accept that title.)
Eh, it is definitely heavily inspired by Zelda. Similar to how Genshin copied a ton of things from BotW or how the majority of open world games releasing are copying most of the Assassin's Creed open world formula.
Feels like the devs were smart and realised that if they make a fanmade Zelda game but don't actually brand it as such, they can finish it and even sell it.
@BlubberWhale Like I said, the game is extremely the same in a lot of places, I mean I can’t lie about the art style, but I feel as if it’s more inspired then a straight up rip off.
Again, a lot of things are very, very similar, I’m not even going to deny that fact, even from the character, now if only thr world layout wasn’t the same, it might not have given it a bit more leeway, but let’s be honest, people would have called it a rip off no matter what lol.
Look, there are games "inspired" by others, but this... This doesn't pass the eye test. It looks like they copied Link's Awakening wholesale - if you placed screenshots of both games side by side, I'd be hard pressed to tell them apart.
For those who say copying isn't a big deal, maybe you need to create something original and let someone else made an almost carbon copy of it, then tell us how that feels.
A two person development team created this?!
Oh wait... one in charge of copy and one in charge of paste. I can see how that works now.
This game will not see the light of day!
If the development team is only two people, then they were probably working on this before Link’s Awakening came out
Let the knockoffs be. There’s space for all levels of originality, including zero, lol
@Bondi_Surfer But what are the odds the graphics look so similar? This is really impressive for just two people tbh.
Nintendo has not invented that art style btw. (Tilt Shift photography / plastic toys)
The one comparison I saw between the overworlds' layouts looking similar is far fetched imo. Idk if there are more examples.
I agree that the characters (escpecially the main character) should look more different.
The end product should be judged.
@BlubberWhale
Maybe I formulated this wrong.
I think its always better to steal and adapt/change, never just to steal. that guy could have done an awesome more unique game with his time. My point was more that a ***** storm just won't change anything than destroying this guys life for quite a while. a ***** storm is not appropriate for this. people need to relax a bit more
The only thing bothering me about these endless "Zelda-likes" (that NintendoLife never fails to advertise as such, for the clicks) is that they are usually bad. They can clone the look, but it's an empty hull.
I never understand the obsession from peoples to make rip off games from Zelda franchise all the time.
I mean you are still able to make good games without copy paste from Zelda games. Get some inspirations from other games, don't just stuck on Zelda games.
There's being inspired by something and then just blatantly lifting the art style, layout, items, menu screens etc.
If I had developed this I'd be slightly embarrassed to even show 'my' work.
Wow, The Legend of Zelda: Mysplaced looks great! When is it coming out?
@Moistnado
Don't take directly Art, Assets, Music etc. and it will be fine.
If not, there wouldn't be any Ego Shooter besides of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.
Every Ego Shooter was called a Doom Clone for a long Period.
Edit:
Would be interesting to see, if it has a better Framerate than the original
This whole industry is full of people copying successful games. Leave the legalease to lawyers, I'm just waiting to see if this one is good.
I would have loved a new Zelda in the Links awakening remake style, but Nintendo refuses. So its nice to see this exists, hopefully it also comes to Switch. However, rogue...if its a rogue game then I don't want it!
Don't care. You shouldn't be able to copyright art or mechanics. The day we start allowing that is day that creativity and art dies.
And we're talking about one of the few companies that has copyrighted a gameplay mechanic to prevent others from using it. So let's not embolden them to try and control more.
Spelling errors like "powerfull" and "stock (in the ground)" are not surprising from such a dedicated plagiarist. I hope that the people defending this here didn't cast any stones at people like Filip Miucin, because what this "indie dev" is doing seems rather worse, in my opinion.
but let’s be honest, people would have called it a rip off no matter what lol.
@Snatcher Deservedly so. What part of this is not lifted from LOZ? The dungeon design in particular is egregious, given the rest of the trailer. These kids haven't "shown their work" in terms of originality whatsoever. Even Genshin Impact adds more to the genre... considerably more... than this.
I am generally not in favour of Nintendo's litigiousness, but I won't shed a tear for these "developers" when the time comes.
@CANOEberry Fair, I'm just saying even if it did do its own thing, it would have still been called a rip off, as seen with Genshin and many others. But when you say LOZ, do you mean just LA or the series as a whole is getting copy'd?
I still think the fact that two devs did this is pretty amazing, if it was more original, maybe it really was a fangame, but I sort of find that hard to believe seeing as the layout is the same as LA.
"Nintendo is just waiting to sue"
Ah yes, Nintendo fans bringing up suing and cease and desist is like cool whip on pie.
It's inseparable and inevitable.
As a big Zelda fan, I don't feel insulted by a Zelda look-alike hitting the scene. I feel insulted that these Zelda "fans" are misrepresenting us by hating on a game that takes inspiration off of one of the more underrated Zelda games, at least by art style.
But even the art style isn't defined as Zelda. It's just tilt-shift photography. Nothing more than a common style of photography typically used to give off the feeling of "toys."
@Snatcher I felt I had to say "LOZ" because even the original GB Link's Awakening owes much to LttP.
On a purely technical level, the visuals show some real talent, for sure. That isn't enough for me to praise their development skills, though - where's the original gameplay, new mechanics, etc.? I think I'd be less harsh here if the "spirit" of the game felt different. You're 100% correct that people often dismiss stuff as "ripoffs", but I haven't been critical of games like Blossom Tales (just for example) the way I have to be for this one.
On the Metroid-type side, when I look at something AM2R, or even full-fledged games like Blasphemous, I can see an original vision in each. 2D-Zelda itself has inspired stuff as diverse as Hyper Light Drifter and Enter the Gungeon. What is this game adding? I feel like the title itself is trolling us...
EDIT: I'm responding to you, but I'm not annoyed with you. So many of these other responses here, however...
I love how they even copied the 8-directional movement of Link's Awakening 2019, even though that was only done to mimic the original Link's Awakening's GameBoy roots. Unabashedly shameless, I have to say...
@CANOEberry You bring up some really good points, I feel like if they just added more original stuff into the game it would be less hated. I also feel like some people take the comparison a little to far, and kinda act like LA made owns gameplay mechanics.(None of the point you made BTW gave me this impression)
Because its definitely not just the visuals that are causing people to call it a rip off, I kinda want to play the game form myself, or see what other say about playing the game, and hope there is something different here.
But I would like more games like LA, and this seems to give us just that actually, I just hope it plays well and it doesn't copy Everything!
(Also BTW I didn't feel like you were annoyed with me) (:
Wow, thats pretty blatant.
Definitely a clone, but I'm not complaining. Give me an original world, story, and characters, and I'm happy. I couldn't care less if the art style and gameplay are nearly identical to Zelda, as we frankly need more games like that.
We're oversaturated with shoot-em-ups in the indie scene, many of which can be considered clones of games from the 1980s (Galaga, Galaxian, Xevious, etc.), so a game that's more like Zelda is welcome in my book.
Meh; looks fine to me.
Many games ape many other games. Strange this isn't coming to Switch but maybe it's a performance thing. I liked the remake Link's Awakening but the performance was abysmal. Dunno if that's the Switch's issue as it's basically a toaster now or the devs are just bad at optimization but man that judder/stutter was awful.
@CANOEberry this is ridiculous. it's an early build, and with a tiny team, typos are inevitable once you get to a certain word count.
@sword_9mm
I bought Link's Awakening last month and played through it in docked mode and had not one single frame drop. Maybe Nintendo patched it out. I watched gameexplain video about the framedrop issue which was the reason I haven't bought it around release date.
I think a lot of folks here are ignoring the fact that, for a debut project, it can be best to hew closer to established game tropes. that's so that you can cut your teeth on things and not overextend yourself.
a good throwback is always welcome. I do think we just need to make it official and come up with a new term for ARPG's of this strata. "Zelda-style" is a useless descriptor for a subgenre that can go in an invariable number of ways.
people will call games "ripoffs" cuz it's fun to do. I think as long as you aren't dishonest, have some unique elements (with the regards to story, puzzles, dungeon design, etc.), it's fine. people forget that games like Minecraft began life as a clone (Minecraft was pretty blatantly inspired by Infiniminer from Zachtronics, and Mojang were upfront about that). that's how art works. to paraphrase a quote: amateurs are inspired, the best artists steal*.
the fairy tale that Nintendo would or could sue a random indie studio of 2 is not borne out in reality. there are many games in this vein. people just writing fanfic about their favorite corporations being able to terrorize random people who've done nothing wrong, that's kinda sad.
*difference being like Andy Warhol not even crediting the artists he basically copied on a 1:1 basis.
Definitely looks like a pure steal. I'll buy it day one.
Ok, you can say this is "impressive" and "inspired by", but to me this is blatant plagiarism. If someone asked an uninformed person the difference between this game and the 2019 Link's Awakening reboot, they would think it's the same game. Everything looks the same (minus some asset changes)! This is lazy and uninspiring.
I'm all for indie projects succeeding but when it's on their own merit; this is just wrong. Stealing someone else's work is a crime and I won't put it past Nintendo if they do sue this team.
While I do see the resemblance, I'm not sure this is blatant steeling. Its only mainly aesthetics and some gameplay. Granted Blossom Tales, Star Fox Adventures, and Oceanhorn definitely knew the line between ripping off and learning from.
I can't believe people are defending this game by denying the similarities. Legality aside, if this isn't a blatant ripoff nothing is. It's a shame because the devs are clearly talented.
Hmmm.... I think the Links Awakening remake was a revelation from an art direction standpoint. This team is clearly talented from a rendering standpoint, too bad they couldn't come up with a different graphical style. If they hadn't outright ripped the style, and managed to be first to market in a different time continuum, they would have been lauded as an indie darling. Now they just seem weak, inexperienced, and unimaginative.
Of course it’s ripped off. Do I wanna play it? Definitely
@NintendoPete
That's good to hear. I only play portable so if they've fixed it sweet.
Before the fix it was really bad and there didn't seem to be a reason for it.
In today's news, someone made a top-down fantasy action game. I mean yeah, this is obviously ripping off Link's Awakening, but, roguelike elements aside, it would honestly be weird to make this type of game and not have some parallels to Zelda. Plus, more games with that art style can't be a bad thing.
It looks like too much of a knockoff at this point. Maybe later on it'll start diverging on its own path, but until then I'm not really interested.
@Anachronism Wait this game is a rogue-like. Well that just kills all my interest in this game.
I'm impressed the developers didn't even bother changing the colors of the textures and assets (grass, ground, trees, bushes, etc). Like, even those little changes could make the game seem less of a copypasta than it already is.
Even the armored enemies behave exactly like Links Awakening’s Moblins/Darknuts
LOL Lawsuits don't work like people seem to think that they do. This isn't something that Nintendo can sue for, nor would they. It's simple. Trademarks and copyrights protect implementations, but not ideas.
Had this developer ripped "Zelda" textures, used Nintendo logos, or tried to situate this for-pay product in Hyrule then they would've been in big legal trouble.
However, this is not that. It's a "Zelda" clone. It may be extremely close in execution to its source of inspiration, but it uses nothing made by Nintendo. Not its characters. Not its models. Not its logos. Nothing. It's something that's just "told in the style of" - as they say.
The reason why IP laws work this way is because, fundamentally, there are only a handful unique ideas in human existence. Don't get me wrong. There are LOTS of ideas out there, but far more variations on a theme.
For example, "Star Wars" and "The Matrix" both use the very same idea template - The Hero's Journey. Countless other books and movies use the same design. However, the end products each look and feel vastly different. Implementation is everything. THAT is what's being protected.
Were the courts to protect ideas then we'd only have one action movie, one comedy, one RPG, and so on. Superficially Superman, Hyperion, Sentry, Shazam, and Homelander are all basically the same character. Cape. Heat vision. Super strength. ETC. They're individually protected because their respective implementations are different.
Even when, for example, Hyperion's origin is effectively the same, small differences in execution are enough that it's legally protected as its own thing; In this case, Marvel's Hyperion started off as parody of Superman. (Marvel has its own legally protected clone of Justice League; Squadron Supreme.)
Nobody's going to sue anybody here. There's just no case. It looks very familiar, as all clones and homages tend to. However, Nintendo's toes aren't being stepped on in any overt way. It's certainly not as if these devs are trying to create an unauthorized sequel, remake, or port. Those things are mine fields. This? Just one of many clones. Metroid fans know how this works by now.
Different enough to be legally protected, but still familiar enough to be uncomfortable.
BTW: Don't get me wrong. I'm also very uneasy with how much this rips off from LttP and the GB game. It's a little too close to comfort for me too. Legally speaking, it may just fall right on the side of fair use and protected homage though.
EDIT>> Marvel's Hyperion is the exact reason why this game may survive legal challenges. Hyperion IS Marvel's Superman. Same exact powers. Same caped type costume. Same basic origin. Both white muscular alien dudes with messiah complexes who crash landed as children. Teeny tiny subtleties. That's what it boils down to. Protected by fair use because of them.
Since no physical resources were stolen from Nintendo and no trademarks are being infringed, it's hard to imagine that Nintendo has any case. I'D never build such a game as it shows talent, but no originality. Still, it's probably safe from Big N's sharks in legal.
It seems like to be way more thean "inspired". I swear I can see a lot of ripped off assets from Link's Awakening
@Yorumi Exactly. And while there are numerous songs that are eerily similar, most don't get classified as IP infringement. It's only when you, say, sample "Under Pressure" to create "Ice Ice Baby" without permission that you get into trouble.
@RCGamer Then that's a case for the courts. Not sure that they'll examine it down to the pixel to ascertain the truth, but the devs have no doubt kept meticulous records of their process. All devs do. I don't like that it looks like some off brand clone either. Not sure that this is a winnable case, however.
@stache13 I could be wrong about that. Given the name of the competition and the other games I saw from it, I assumed so, but the name is actually from the company running it and I don't see anything saying the games have to be roguelikes. And yeah, I kind of agree. The easiest way to turn a 5 hour gem into a 50 hour slog is to make it a roguelike. I've had some fun with the likes of Gungeon and Wizard of Legend, but I always get bored long before the rng is likely to hand me a winning set of equipment.
this is ridiculous. it's an early build, and with a tiny team, typos are inevitable once you get to a certain word count.
@TheRealMW Respectfully - I disagree with you completely here. Did the community ask these devs for this trailer? Did anyone force these devs to release it?
People in this comment section would have me forgive these people for blatant plagiarism of overall visual style and design, gameplay, mechanics, and overall feel. And now I'm not allowed to highlight the fact that there are even more signs of unprofessionalism? Is there any approved ground for criticism?
I have to note that some very successful and since-famous indie games (Disco Elysium comes to mind) did not put out their wares for display until a much more advanced stage than Mr. Ghiami evidently has. I feel like this sort of thing is an insult to many small, hard-working teams out there...
@moodycat Shoot I'm not complaining I'd never find out about genshin impact if Nintendo fans weren't smashing their ps4s.
@cookepuss exactly. I can't say for sure it's ripped off assets, it's depends of a deeper analysis. But I think anyone can tell it's almost a copy, at least. Knowing Nintendo, I think they won't let this happened without any kind of warning. It's a shame, I really liked the game itself. I'll buy it if it becomes real
While I'm impressed with the plagiarize contents, at the very least they manage to make it their own game and not use the Zelda name. Odd how they choose not to bring it to Switch despite taking all the assets and ideas from its game though. A lack of respect that doesn't give back favor from what it took.
@Dr_Lugae when does homage stop and stealing start?
@Luke937 I see where you're coming from, but like with any other medium, you need to know where to look. Since this is year 2022, it's damn near impossible for a game to be unique in the sense that it doesn't take inspiration from other games. So, you have to look at it by asking how it takes concepts that have been done before and turns them on their heads.
The SteamWorld Dig series (indie games) are digging metroidvanias that add in the mechanics of filling up your inventory and doing it until your light source runs out. All design ideas that have been done many times before, but rarely to a high degree of quality and execution. Cuphead is another indie example of this. Ever play Shovel Knight? I'm not sure that does anything unique and yet it's considered a masterpiece. On the other hand, the vast majority of mobile games are either blatant ripoffs and/or lack any kind of quality, so don't even bother looking there.
Moving on to AA and AAA games, since you believe they're superior, these devs are 100% not absolved from copying from other devs or even themselves. FIFA and most AAA sports games do yearly releases, but are essentially just copypastas with very minimal changes each year, yet charge $60 and often restrict content to paid DLC/services after you initially pay $60. Most AAA's, including Nintendo, tend to release games in a secretly unfinished state that the public would only learn once the game is released, despite the devs/pubs calling them 1.0 versions. Game-breaking code, unbalanced mechanics, missing features (sometimes marketed as Day One DLC), microtransactions, etc., all for the high price of full retail $60-$70 or more if there's DLC.
Inspired by Zelda is one thing to make to make it so close to the same game is a CopyRight Violation. There is no way around it - it looks and graphics on par with Links Awakening. Don't know how they thought it could pass mustard.
@kkslider5552000 It's not cool to copy stuff, but the Cuphead knockoff was much worse. Don't get me wrong, this isn't good either, but I feel like when you copy indie developers who poured their love of old cartoons into their game in order to make a quick buck, it's worse than making a Zelda-inspired one.
@Chunkboi79 Same here LOL!
@Mikmoomamimocki Enchanted portals could have worked, the characters were a bit stiff but what the heck they still looked amazing! The problem was how they made no changes at all to the combat or the gameplay for your character, the bosses have interesting things going on the but main characters don't, if they did it probably would't have been called out as bad is it was.
All Nintendo rip offs like this should use bugs as main characters. If you know you know.
It was H E A V I L Y I N S P I R E D
This may or may not be a copyright violation, but if it's even a half-competent effort, Nintendo should sign 'em up and give them some work.
@somebread I see I'm not the only one that has run across that user before . I also find pretty funny that they it's " based" to rip off a corporate property when those two developers probably have their own corporation as that's usually what people set up when want to sell something commercially.
And those fans are overzealous idiots. The vg company has been inspired by and/or ripping each other off for decades. Otherwise we wouldn't have such variety amongst genres.
@moodycat well said 👏
@Yorumi I like that, it's a good way to put it
Obviously Nintendo doesn't own this type of art style, but the people behind this clearly were trying to replicate what's in Link's Awakening given how eerily similar it looks that it couldn't be accidental nor inspired by it.
Remember that one Cuphead ripoff that was TOTALLY just inspired by that game? Yeah...that never happened.
The same will happen here...why can't people be original?...
@Snatcher Look I WANT to root for this game, and it seems like you do too. It just… feels like the a dev project made to show off their technical prowess In recreating the look of a popular Nintendo game. I don’t get a strong sense of integrity from the developer. Maybe that could change. Maybe… say… the story somehow ends up really shining on its own. Maybe some changes get made to give it more it’s own personality. Idk… would be hard to convince me they had honest intentions. So… I’ll have to wait for some big updates before I can consider letting this game into my heart… yeah, that’s the other thing. I feel very personally about most of games I play. Would be harder to get invested in something like this. If you and others don’t feel that way, fair enough, I’ve got no ill will for anyone.
@jojobar Yeah I can appreciate that. Complaining about the dev, or over correcting and hating on the complainers… a relaxed conversation is preferable. I guess I’ll just need to know more before it’s worth getting into. A good interview with the dev might be useful… although I still can’t help feeling his work speaks for itself…
@BlubberWhale Dude the way you, and everyone feels about this game is totally 100% makes sense, and there not wrong.
I just think the game itself shows so much promise, because if this was a fan game everyone would root for it, and I feel like there is talent here if they ever decide to make something that breaches further off, or make another zelda like and make it even more different, like tunic!
And I have no ill will to anyone as well, an definitely not to you.
Hey looks good to me and it will actually go on a REAL SALE down the line since there's no way I'm ever dropping $40-60 on a boring remake of Links Awakening.
At least it's not yet another remake/remaster/rerere cash grab.
@Snatcher Cool, sounds good, and you’re right, we shouldn’t ignore the talent displayed here. Hopefully this dev goes on to make something great! …and also that its for a current Nintendo platform. 😁
It doesn’t get much closer than this to the copying someone’s homework meme.
@Moistnado No legal precident here. The Art style that even Nintendo honestly doesn't own. The game play has been ripped off more times then I'm willing to count if I tried. None of the basic concepts for worlds is inherently unique to zelda let alone Nintendo titles that are also constantly re-using ideas.
This might be a new and interesting take on the classic Zelda formula, especially when it seems Nintendo isn't interested in continuing to make games like that after BotW. So this will give fans of Classic Zelda something to move on to. I hope they get it out the door.
I don't support games like this. The copying is way too much. It wouldn't have taken that much effort to choose a different art style and leave the most obvious references out of it.
My main issue is the use of the term "Metroidvania". They used this term for Unsighted (great game) as well.
Granted, Metroids and Zeldas both encourage item gated exploration by design but when the view is overhead like this, it's clearly a Zeldalike.
"Good artists copy, great artists steal." -Pablo Picasso supposedly
@kkslider5552000 you have the option of not buying it...
@NotSoCryptic exactly. The people who don't like it, don't have to buy it. No need to try & prevent them from making something many of us would love.
@GrailUK ?
@NotSoCryptic never say never
@SteamEngenius Cash grab? Saying that is undermining the incredible work grezzo did
Different world map/dungeons then obviously it’s fine.
Did Celeste copy that other game with spikes??
Answer is no. That game is unplayable.
Awesome! An actual new game in this style. Much better than slapping this artstyle onto a game that was all good with its familiar artstyle.
Please explain, something has a similar artstyle, so it's ripping off something else?
@JoyousCreeper It has the exact same artstyle and gameplay style
@HeeHo so does all anime, they're not ripping each other off
Couldn't possibly be a clone. The frame rate looks too stable
No one gonna mention Zelda started off as a Dragon Slayer ripoff?
We all know the phrase "Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery" however "Mysplaced" falls almost a little too comfortably between "Imitation" and "Plagiarism." And from my eyes it almost looks like there blatantly taunting Nintendo to sue and I expect Nintendo will.
And contrary to what some might believe Nintendo can't sue for the top down perspective but they absolutely can for everything else. Yeah Nintendo has sued people for less but in this particular situation they have every right to because let's be real here people this is a blatant copy and paste.
Sometimes imitation is a good thing, Doom clones changed video game history for the better. I understand this is a very different situation but copying something isn't always something to decry.
Someone, please, explain how something that has a similar artstyle is "ripping-off" another thing?
@JoyousCreeper Because like I already explained.
They literally made the exact same game.
It's not just a similar artstyle, it plays the exact same and is thematically similar.
They 100% ripped off Links Awakening, I don't understand how you can't see that.
@SteamEngenius So you'll buy the knockoff because you're too cheap to pay $40.
@HeeHo and like I said, I can literally point to an anime and say it ripped off another one, and by your logic, be correct
Can't wait for more of the same Nintendo ban-hammer jokes. Fun... (눈‸눈)
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