Richardwebb

I can’t speak for the retro purchases, but at the time I was very much an “organised stack” person rather than in the box. Those N64 magazine holders were a godsend though

@COVIDberry It would have been great to be able to dive properly. Technical limitations and time I guess. Still kind of disappointed you can't go underwater in BOTW to be honest.

I think one thing people are missing here is that frame rate and resolution are completely different from art direction. Having 4k or 9k and 60fps or whatever doesn't necessarily make something 'better' - just sharper and smoother. Zelda in particular is a series that has quite unique art direction and has rarely been 'improved' by having aspects of photorealism. I'm not saying this video looks bad - it is impressive. But I think our metric for what successful visuals for a game are needs to move away from technical specifications. It mattered in previous generations where the leap from Playstation to PS2 or whatever - but is far less relevant now.

Not being able to go underwater seemed like an oversight in Botw. I mean, this mechanic was in Ocarina of time almost 2 decades previous.

It reminds me of the day/night mechanic first introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver which was then, for some inexplicable reason, dropped for the next mainline entry.

I think what I liked about MM and OoT in particular was the common theme of time - and the uncomfortable, almost destructive nature of it. MM really did feel like, in many ways, what it’s like to be a teenager (perhaps because I was a young teenager when I first played it). The unsettling sense that you’re growing up and having to accept the consequences of this - quite immediately - within that 3 day cycle. OoT never showed you that middle part - you were either young or old. MM on the other hand was at times a painful process of self-discovery and individual actions.

On a side note - Kate I really enjoy reading your Zelda articles. They always have a lot more nuance and analysis to them than others.

I honestly thought the ARMS series had more legs....

@Yorumi I didn't mention anything about 'blindly worshipping' the corporation - so I don't know where this is coming from. But you're right - it is a transactional process and the consumer does have to want and be excited by the product. My point was that consumers are not the best necessarily the best innovators and may not know what they want until it's created. Sometimes their focus (as is evident in this video) is rather than truly innovate, it's to copy something done previously and just polish it up. In this case - it's basically a polished version of Sword/Shield.

But also, I think there is something to be said about fan expectations as well. This is a remake, not a new full Pokemon game, so the idea of having these kind of graphics and new mechanics is fine - but would take years to develop. That is not realistic. That will probably come with one of the new mainline entries instead. If you don't like it - then you don't have to buy it.

A company has no obligation to do exactly what fans want - people don't seem to understand that. This reminds me of the way people reacted to Wind Waker art style and the sense of entitlement they had that a game should look a particular way.

It's a remake - not a brand new game. Honestly it's not that different from Links Awakening keeping the old style for the remake. Should people have expected a grand BOTW reimagine -no?

The Pokemon series certainly needs a change but often fans don't know what they want or need. Shigeru Miyamoto said something along those lines once - if I ask gamers to design my game they'll just make those existing game elements bigger or faster - they won't come up with anything new.

And here we are debating over a Pokemon remake trailer in an art style that has already been done. We want to look forward but often fans are only capable of looking back....

Sold on the trailer alone.

I would like to see the Zelda 3DS remakes on Switch although I don't understand the preoccupation with frame rates? When I played these games in the original format I didn't notice this - it wasn't a thing. Is there a actual material improvement for OoT gameplay running at a higher frame? This is genuine question - not one intending to be sarcastic. I just don't understand why reviews get held up on frame rates when this wasn't an issue when the game was initially released and reviewed.

Great piece. I’ve always preferred Links Awakening to the other 2D zeldas.

A few comments though: I don’t think turning the game into colour was a bad step. It was only black and white due to the limitations of the original Game Boy - not an artistic/creative choice. Same goes for the scrolling ‘puzzle box’ open world. The remake on the Switch does away with this, but the hidden shells and secrets are to find are still intact.

I would love to read an article about the merits of game remakes and how much nostalgia affects our interpretation of it. Would be an interesting discussion especially with Zelda games!

I still remember the ‘reveal’ by Nintendo when they showed all the third party and AAA studios who had signed up to make for the Switch. Followed by the scepticism about whether any of these companies would actually follow through and design for a post- Wii U system. My how times have changed....:

I think posterity is important here and it's key to note that the most recent Zelda is likely to get more praise in lists- regardless of whether it's the best or not (as was the case with Skyward sword). No doubt BOTW is a great game - but Ocarina is essentially the modern author of 3D games and was classed as one of the greatest games of all time for such a long period. I would love to see a list that takes time into account - for example how many years or features a game had in "greatest of all time lists" (Zelda aside). I have a suspicion that OoT would come out on top.

Fantastic article - and I think ‘tragedy’ is the perfect word to use here because for me OoT has always been a game about loss. Whether that’s your childhood, home or time - this evocative sense that you have lost something is no more clear than when you leave the Temple of Time. Botw toyed with a similar idea of ‘memories’ but never touched the same emotional highs.

Can you imagine a similar thing today in botw? The first few hours take place in Hyrule in its prime, then at the end you go to sleep and are transported to the post-apocalyptic Hyrule we spend most of the game in? Just imagine the impact that would have had.

Botw is a superior game in many respects, but this evocative subtext and feeling of loss and innocence will always been the crown jewel of Ocarina of time.

I think the time mechanic and the feeling of ‘loss’ are the main things which separate Majoras mask from the big games today. Unlike botw’s open world you can miss interactions, and characters go about their lives regardless of what you, the player, does. This gives Termina a very rich, textured feel - and this sense that you miss key events and have to wait for the reset to re-experience them. Botw by contrast, is more expansive but the NPCs are largely static and repeat the same action every day. You don’t lose anything by not talking to that character - in MM you do. And it is this sense of loss that really raises the stakes. It’s a classic