Link's Awakening was my first, and personal favorite 2D Zelda. When I saw the opening cinematic from the new trailer my thought was that I'm getting the Zelda art style I've always wanted! Something reminiscent of the hatchy promotional art from the original LA done in a 2D hand drawn style (maybe with a mix of Zac Gorman's Zelda comic art):

I'm always a little let down when Nintendo sticks with 3D art for their 2D games. My first impression when I saw the gameplay art was that it felt a bit like A Link Between Worlds. Although, it's starting to grow on me. ALBW never had a world so sharp, and I like Link's dot-eyed face. Maybe these cut scenes will be the closest I ever get to the Zelda I want, I'm excited to see more.

The contrasting art styles actually make sense considering the nature of Koholint Island.

I hope the game itself will be more than a straight forward remake of a game I've played through a few times. I'd appreciate some surprises beyond streamlining and modernizing the game play. The biggest suprise would be if it's less than $80 CND.

I know there's not much information to go on right now, but feel free to share your first impressions.

@kingbonesaw: Yeah, fans of long running series have certain expectations. There's no way they can possibly be met because everyone has a different experiences. With social media the negativity can reach a critical mass. We all have emotional reactions, but it's best to let go of the anger, not hold onto it. When we first discovered our favorite things we weren't carrying that baggage, we appreciated it for what it was.

I made this thread because I haven't seen anyone talking about this amazing concept art from Link's Awakening that clearly inspired the cinematic in this new game.

Re: what you said in the spoiler block

that's exactly my thought too. Thought it was a neat way to accentuate that nature of the game

Personally I really like the 3D art direction they are going for. Maybe a little heavy on the bloom, but I like overall aesthetic.

First impression: This looks slick.
Second: About time playing this game again. Have some found memories of it.
Third: I don't have a Switch.
Fourth: Putting away some money for a Switch purchase pre-summer.

Honestly, I don't think the animated intro in the trailer looks anything like the art in the OP.

I do think it looks exactly like the art in the old Prima strategy guide. I don't have it with me to take pictures (it still hangs out on my childhood bookcase at my dad's house) but I can tell you that is definitely where this style is pulling from.

Also, I think the new in-game art is lame.

Is it weird that i would prefer a pixel art 2d zelda on switch then a weird 3d looking one it's just looks bland IMO. Something like Octopath Travel would be a nice fit for this game.

At first I was not a fan of the art in the game at all after replaying the game again for probably the 10th time now, I had forgotten how adorable and simple a lot of that world really is and the 3D look fits probably much better than I originally thought.

@nnickers: Well, sure the design is more reminiscent of the promotional art you mentioned. It's really the hatching that I'm talking about. To me it feels like they found a middle ground. My point is that I love that they've brought 2D art back to Zelda and ink shading derives from illustration. Specifically it's something I've wanted in Zelda for a long time now and I give Nintendo free creative reign on however they want to implement it.

@soulcake Yeah, pixel art is great too, but they did it masterfully in Minish Cap. I remember back in the SNES days the dream was that one day these games would look like real cartoons, not blocky approximations. Since then pixel art has become appreciated as an art style that is unique to games. There's a ton of great work out there, I don't want to diminish that, but a illustrated 2D Zelda is something we've never seen.