Zelda's Temple of Time in Unreal Engine 4

Pretty cools interpretation of the Temple of Time. Nintendo should explore the option of a realistic Zelda game again one day. Most people don't want a realistic Zelda after TWP but I personally enjoyed that game. In reality, I just care about the gameplay.

The footage was captured from Unreal Engine 4. Other software used: Maya, Z-brush, Photoshop. The creator did it to research the new Unreal Engine and practice rendering in-game environments.

https://vimeo.com/93897087

Nintendo's art direction is a notch above most AAA studios out there. I love the Zelda games for their expressive characters. They went realistic for Twilight Princess. They added some impressive detail to the Zelda world, while retaining it's NPCs that feel alive and over the top. But some of the creature designs were less impressive and felt a little samey in a world of a thousand other big games going for realism.

Wind Waker remains one of the most gorgeous games ever made, even better on Wii U. Skyward sword is somewhere in between WW and TP, and I think it's an improvement over the previous game. I'd love Nintendo to make another statement as bold as they did with Wind Waker with a new visual style.

A Zelda as realistic as most games try to be would be the most boring choice, and one I trust Nintendo to never do.

Yeah I agree the WW was quiet remarkable and breathtaking ( regardless of the negative opinion if the cell shading before it was released). I just think it is interesting to see the same world we all love using the power of today's engines.

I don't want a realistic Zelda. That footage looks like a better framerate version of the FMV you'd get on PS1 games. It's a good effort and that, but it's just bloody horrible. It's like CGI Jabba Doo Huttt.

for some reason I'm reminded of the church in HL2 Lost Coast tech demo. The lighting, and the little floating particles.... And that was 2005.

I just want more Twilight Princess style.

This thread is relevant to the current topic, but I think there's something to discuss here. If you had more substance in the OP maybe a locked topic could be averted.

Nintendo could definitely do a redux of what they did with TP for Zelda Wii U. An ornate world with detailed design while keeping the emotionally expressive characters they are known for.

The tech demo they showed a while back could be a direction we can both be happy with.

I think Twilight Princess easily aged the worst, visually, out of all Zelda games. I expect people to disagree by citing OoT and MM, but there's a clarity to those games that TP doesn't have. Twilight Princess always seemed kinda muddy and uninspired to me visually.

Well, probably not just visually, but I digress.

I wouldn't say that. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask both have excellent art direction, but compared to later Zelda games, both are incredibly hard on the eyes. The difference between Ocarina of Time on N64 and the 3DS remake is like night and day. And I would love it if they give Majora's Mask the same treatment. Even so, Twilight Princess has equally incredible art direction. It has a distinct tone and consistent style that runs throughout the game.

@darek006: I agree completely. Just recently I've returned to it and feels very muddy. The strong character designs are what still shine.

The size of the world makes each area feel less intricately designed. A Zelda game is typically easy navigate for the curated exploration that a Zelda game typically has. It feels closer to any other studio's open world game. Like an assasin's creed where they can plant a million chests wherever for you to find. Finding a heart piece in a Zelda game should be a rewarding puzzle in itself, not just placed in a tree.

Was going to make the same point on Ocarina (never played Majora's Mask), but I'd like to add that I think the majority of backlash to Twilight Princess over the years has more to do with the Wii Waggle than the art direction (also some of the game design was subpar). I know I personally couldn't get behind Twilight Princess for those reasons. And wolf form. I just didn't see the point in it, nor did I find it all that engaging.

Of course I really just want a remake or "reboot" of Ocarina with modern graphics and updated gameplay, so it's not like I'm the foremost authority on what does or does not make a good Zelda game (but they should totally remake Ocarina of Time with modern graphics and updated gameplay on a real console).

That render wasn't that impressive. It didn't look organic. There were a lot of effects going on, but none of them were really aiding in giving it a more realistic look. Low resolution textures, some low poly modeling, lack of tessellation etc... Eveything just looked too flat. Ambient Occlusion and Depth of Field are nice effects, but only if the other more important elements are up to snuff first.

I make it sound like it was terrible, which is not really the case. It could have been much better though.

I think you're both have a point. TP definitely has a distinctive style and is much more detailed than the older Polygonal games. Technically it's not even close, Tp has all sorts of lighting and shades impossible in the older games.

That being said its' color palette is distinctively muted compared to how festooned Zelda games typically are with bold primary colors, which does give TP a more earthy feel which can be a little offputting at times to someone who prefers a brighter look that's present in older Zelda titles. Link's earthier Tunic color while more realistic doesn't make him "pop" off the screen the way he has in other games.

Twilight Princess	Ocarina of Time	Wind Waker

It's kind of odd seeing an old game from that era recreated with modern graphics because the old polygonal games and the simple geometry used to create them really makes the environments not hold up very well.

@liquidprince: If he used the original game's assets, that's probably the reason why. Good effects can only do so much with old assets. It just makes you want to imagine what a game with new assets would look like on a new engine. "Hey, guys! We can make old games look sort-of okay on this new engine! Imagine what we can do with new games, right?!"

On another note, someone else did this with assets from the original Bioshock. That may be a little easier to stomach than an N64 game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTysmqulFwI

You may be right, as I'm heavily biased because I am an extremely faulty man and I love the way early 3D games look. Weird, right?

The real reason that Nintendo shouldn't make a realist Zelda artstyle isn't because it couldn't look good, it's because as soon as it starts looking like a silly video game, we might start wondering why the story is complete garbage. So long as the game looks like a cartoon, our narrative expectations will be in check.

Looks cool though I agree with most that the stylized art is a much better direction for the series. Though I have loved the stories in the Zelda games too.