The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS

[Guy]

This makes me interested in the 3DS. I wonder if you can turn off the 3D and just play it normally.

[Ashley]

You can do that with all 3DS games.

[Guy]

Sold. To the man with the Dragon Ball signature and avatar for the sum of ludicrous pounds.

[Dante]

 

Loving the new screenshots.

[The Peeps]

It's... so.... beautiful

[ShadowV7]

Always with kid Link so far...

 

Makes me wonder (hope) that they're hiding something. Like a directors cut for the intended stuff that got removed...

[Dante]

3DSBuzz - Demo Impressions

 

Andriasang member Anoop, who previously shared some initial impressions of Resident Evil: Revelations, has now texted about the recent playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS.

 

The demo featured three different scenarios: the beginning trek around Kokiri Village, crawling inside The Great Deku Tree, and a third segment that wasn’t demoed due to the limited time.

 

While Anoop admits that it had been many years since playing the original Ocarina of Time, the layout and enemies inside the Deku Tree dungeon seemed to be unchanged. Utilizing the tried-and-true touchscreen feature that was also found in the DS, Link’s assortment of weapons and items can be easily cycled through with a single tap, along with the dungeon map. Whenever Navi wants you to LISTEN! to her advice, you can also respond by tapping an icon on the lower screen (we can only pray that we can turn off her hints this time).

 

Most interesting of all, however, is the camera icon also located in the bottom screen. Tapping this icon will set the game in “view mode” where players can use the analog nub to look around in first person view. An alternative is using the handheld’s motion sensors to physically turn the 3DS in the direction you want, in which the game will follow suit. This can also be used to manually aim projectile weapons like the boomerang and bow and arrow, which could lead to lots of wacky wailing around, which seems to be a requirement for Nintendo games these days.

 

Anoop did express some concern about the 3D effects not working as well as intended, pondering whether this was an isolated incident, or if it could be a sign that the 3DS might not be able to keep up with faster-paced games. Hopefully some further clarification will appear as the event continues on.

[Dante]

New screenshots:

 

Old vs New:

 

Zelda: Ocarina of Time Impressions

 

The first game I played today at Nintendo World 2011 was Resident Evil Revelations. That was probably a mistake. As I played Capcom's gorgeous 3D take on the Resident Evil series (see our mobile blog for impressions), the lines at the nearby Zelda Ocarina of Time demo area began to back up. This was less than 20 minutes into the start of the show. By the time I'd gotten through with Jill Valentine and was lined up for Link, I had a 90 minute wait ahead of me. The lines continued to grow and grow, topping the 100 minute mark at some points.

 

All this for a remake of a 13 year old title. Of course, it's a remake of a 13 year old title that many consider one of the greatest games ever made, so the interest is not too much of a surprise.

 

The Nintendo World demo had three save files:

Kokiri Forest

Deku Tree

Gohma

 

I selected Kokiri Forest first, but, as you might expect, it turned out to be just Link running around. The third file was presumably just a boss fight, so I reset and selected the middle file, which was a full dungeon.

 

As I navigated the dungeon, the fundamentals of moving Link around and switching into lock on mode for combat felt familiar, although I should admit that it has been years since I last played Ocarina of Time, making it tough for me to see if there have been any fundamental changes. There are a few obvious areas where the 3DS technology is put to use for improvements, though.

 

First, the touch screen allows for easier navigation. You can toggle the screen to show your dungeon map, inventory and equipment. It also shows what item is assigned to what button. When Navi wants to talk, her icon will flash on the bottom screen and you can tap it to respond.

 

The bottom screen has an "eye" icon which can be used to switch the game into a viewing mode for getting a look at Link's surroundings. You can control the camera in this mode the old fashioned way with the analogue stick, or you can make use of a new feature for the 3DS version: gyro support.

 

When in viewing mode, you can directly control the view by moving the system up, down and around. This basically means turning your body around just like Link would. Yes, playing like this will draw stares on the train, but I found the gyro-based controls intuitive and preferred using it in place of the traditional analogue controls.

 

The gyro-based control system can also be used for aiming while firing your slingshot, so it could end up being a central part of the gameplay.

 

The 3DS version of Ocarina of Time also adds 3D output to the game, of course. To be honest, nothing really stood out about the 3D in my play session. It just looked like Ocarina of Time, with some depth added to the visuals. I did like how solid the 3D effect made Link look, though, especially when climbing the vines in the Deku Tree dungeon stage. He looked like a little 3D figure running around in the screen. However, the visuals on the whole look dated compared to some of the other 3DS titles (especially Resident Evil, which I'd just played) so that may be taking a bit away from the 3D effect.

 

For those who've played Ocarina of Time now three times (on the N64, the GameCube and Virtual Console), the big question is what types of improvements or changes we can expect. Motion support for viewing and aiming, and the ability to select things from the bottom screen look like definite improvements to the classic gameplay. But we're going to have to wait for Nintendo to tell us more about what else is new for 3DS. Zelda is not a launch title, so Nintendo is hopefully taking their time to make sure the 3DS version does justice to the name.

Edited January 8, 2011 by Dante
Automerged Doublepost

[Jamba]

As good as the rendering and texturing is in the new version I have noticed something that doesn't seem great... the lighting.

 

The coloured lighting in OOT was great and although I know the fogging was the result of the limitations of the N64 I feel like you can see a little too far into the distance. Everything looks a bit too cleanly rendered if you get me.

 

I think it's pretty obvious with Ghoma:

 

Edited January 8, 2011 by Jamba

[or else you will DIE]

dat waterfall/lake

[Retro_Link]

As good as the rendering and texturing is in the new version I have noticed something that doesn't seem great... the lighting.

 

The coloured lighting in OOT was great and although I know the fogging was the result of the limitations of the N64 I feel like you can see a little too far into the distance. Everything looks a bit too cleanly rendered if you get me.

 

I think it's pretty obvious with Ghoma:

 

Yeah I have to agree, it's part of what gave OOT it's atmosphere and charm.

 

Tbh I'm somewhat unsure about whether I want to play this remake or not. For the same reason I didn't like Super Mario 64 DS, I don't particularly like my nostalgia messed with... unless the upgrade is a vastly significant one, such as with Goldeneye 64/Wii.

 

As they did with Mario 64 and appear to be doing with this, simply updating the textures and character models to what they deem to be more realistic ones, doesn't quite sit right with me. Everything doesn't look quite right somehow.

[Dante]

Or the lighting effects hasn't been added yet?

[Jamba]

Yeah but why would they dare let press photos out without it? Surely they'd at least photoshop it?

[Dante]

Footage at 2:13.

[Burny]

Or the lighting effects hasn't been added yet?

 

They have. The Deku village has the atmospheric fog in the distance (which indicates that there will be fog where they intend it to be) and on the Dodongo boss screenshots the scene is dominated by red light.

 

I see what you people mean with those fog complaints - the boss rooms lack it on screenshots. But seriously, complaining about the lack of foggy boss rooms due to clearer visuals in a remake of OoT? I get the impression there is the gaming equivalent of the Princess and the Pea around. :p

Edited January 9, 2011 by Burny

[Nolan]

In the given examples...I don't think the fog was atmospheric. In a volcano....I doubt there would really be enough moisture for fog.

 

Furthermore, in the process of creating atmosphere, in both versions of Ghoma's lair there is fog hanging on the ground. And as pointed out Kokiri Village has fog as well. Obviously the designers are still striving for atmosphere but they're more able to pick and choose the atmosphere rather than forcing it on the player in an effort to make the game run. If anything this should make it a better experience.

[Jamba]

@Burny and Nolan: I don't disagree with anything factual that either of you said and I didn't ever say that there wasn't any fog or effort put into creating an atmosphere in the comparison shots.

 

I just think that so far OOT 64 is looking better. And by better I mean it in the holistic overall look kind of way not "oh god this game is obviously better cos it had HDR" kind of argument.

 

Obviously the designers are still striving for atmosphere but they're more able to pick and choose the atmosphere rather than forcing it on the player in an effort to make the game run. If anything this should make it a better experience.

 

Yeah my point is that their choices are making it worse not better.

[david.dakota]

Ocarina was one of the N64 shining examples, it looked absolutely great. This remake is being made on a more powerful machine, with added bells and whistles - and it doesn't look the best it could. Resident Evil, DOA and Metal Gear Solid look phenomenal, leaving Ocarina remake looking unloved.

 

It deserves more.

 

Few movie directors remake their films, many like Lucas and Scott, but very few will actually remake them (Virtual Console should have been Nintendo's opportunity to tinker with the game). A remake really shouldn't come from Aonuma or Miyamoto - a completely new retelling of the story with anothers' vision. That's what a successful remake is. In the same way Smash Bros. Brawl was developed by the creme-de-la-creme of Japanese artists, so I feel a remake of Ocarina deserves that same treatment.

 

From my perspective, I'm always after another reason to play through Ocarina (and Majora's Mask - my personal favourite) and I'll no doubt jump at the chance to get hold of it but I'm slightly disappointed that it has panned out to such a limited reskin of my cherished game.

 

The fact that Nintendo are planning two reskins of N64 games suggests to me that they are simply not prepared for launch.

Edited January 9, 2011 by david.dakota

[Jamba]

Ocarina was one of the N64 shining examples, it looked absolutely great. This remake is being made on a more powerful machine, with added bells and whistles - and it doesn't look the best it could. Resident Evil, DOA and Metal Gear Solid look phenomenal, leaving Ocarina remake looking unloved.

 

It deserves more.

 

Few movie directors remake their films, many like Lucas and Scott, but very few will actually remake them (Virtual Console should have been Nintendo's opportunity to tinker with the game). A remake really shouldn't come from Aonuma or Miyamoto - a completely new retelling of the story with anothers' vision. That's what a success remake is.

 

From my perspective, I'm always after another reason to play through Ocarina (and Majora's Mask - my personal favourite) but I'm slightly disappointed that it has panned out to such a limited reskin of my cherished game.

 

The fact that Nintendo are planning two reskins of N64 games suggests to me that they are simply not prepared for launch.

 

As much as I agree with you about OOT I think that Lylat Wars is looking a hell of a lot better not to mention will directly benefit from 3D. You should check out the latest videos.

[Burny]

A completely new retelling of the story with anothers' vision. That's what a successful remake is.

Sorry, but that's not what a remake is in the same way 2010's Goldeneye isn't a remake.

 

The fact that Nintendo are planning two reskins of N64 games suggests to me that they are simply not prepared for launch.

That doesn't make sense. They have got a ton of games in development.

[david.dakota]

Sorry, but that's not what a remake is in the same way 2010's Goldeneye isn't a remake.

 

 

That doesn't make sense. They have got a ton of games in development.

 

I think it was Tim Burton who used the term re-imagination for his remake of Planet of the Apes; to set it aside in some special way from other remakes to give it some sense of grandeur. I'm not really wanting to argue about the definition of the term 'remake' however. The fact is this reskin of Ocarina is not honouring the titles legacy - its simply not what the game deserves; Ocarina deserves absolute respect. Nothing looks significantly improved over its N64 counterpart, this should have been a remake with the same ambition as Shattered Memories or Goldeneye.

 

On the suject of games, despite how promising they look does having new iterations of Layton and Kid Icarus make up for the fact they have reskins of decade old games, a rehash of Nintendogs with added pussy and a release of a 5 year old DS demo with added torpedoes. Nope, I think they were unprepared for the 3DS release.

[D_prOdigy]

You could say the same thing about the GBA with what seemed like endless SNES ports and Mario re-releases. Yet I don't think anyone would deny it was a fantastically rounded platform in terms of software once we got past the first year or so.

[Burny]

The fact is this reskin of Ocarina is not honouring the titles legacy - its simply not what the game deserves; Ocarina deserves absolute respect. Nothing looks significantly improved over its N64 counterpart, this should have been a remake with the same ambition as Shattered Memories or Goldeneye.

It's "honoring" the title more than you think. I believe it looks brilliant today and that's saying something for a polygon count from two generations past - in a retro kind of way, of course. And nothing has to be significantly improved except for the fluidity, as OoT has aged a lot better than stuff like Goldeneye. Heck, a few posts above people are even complaining about the visual upgrade, which is already small enough.

 

On the suject of games, despite how promising they look does having new iterations of Layton and Kid Icarus make up for the fact they have reskins of decade old games, a rehash of Nintendogs with added pussy and a release of a 5 year old DS demo with added torpedoes. Nope, I think they were unprepared for the 3DS release.

They have as many 3rd party big-hitters - remakes included - strewn throughout the year or announced, as pretty much any Nintendo console has seen in it's lifetime since the SNES (at least the stationary ones). Goes pretty much to show, that their communication with 3rd parties has been unparalleled so far. They have also Pilot Wings, Mario Kart, a revival of Kid Icarus and Paper Mario in the works. None of these games can have had much more than 1-1,5 years of development at this point which is to be expected for a new console. And on top of all this, they are able to throw in two 3d-makes of classic games. Which - by the way - aren't just "reskins", as decade old code won't be exactly runnable on the 3DS without emulation, but completely reprogrammed games. They even blow a lot of money on a public demo event showcasing the system and it's upcoming titles.

 

Yes, they're totally unprepared. A lot of other software and hardware companies would be happy, if they were only half as "unprepared" for a launch in terms of software.

 

You may have hoped for added bells and whistles from an OoT remake, but the only thing that could disappoint me about this remake, would be if it's a full price retail release. I just want to download it for 15 bucks and always have it on the SD card.

 

 

There is one more thing with an OoT re-"imagining": Zelda's stories are atmospheric and moody, but pretty much paper thin.

 

There is usually a triangle of characters - Zelda, Link and Ganondorf - and the very same premise: Ganondorf imprisons the princess - who had previously protected the realm - and starts to fuck everything up. Link - just your average youth at the beginning - happens to be the chosen one who gets to plow his way through 4-8 temples collecting artifacts granting him some sort of power, teams up with the princess at some point and together with her, dukes it out with Ganondorf in the end. In order to have some more powerful artifacts you must collect and to connect the characters some more, the triforce usually gets thrown in for good measure, too.

 

Basically: a lot of the same bullshit that serves as excuse for you to puzzle your way through a couple of temples, collect some items and kick a couple of over sized bosses' butts.

 

What defines the games are the puzzles and one basic mechanic around which the whole game world is constructed.

 

That means instead of re-imagining OoT, which would result in a vastly different game with about the same thin story and the time travel mechanic they have already done, they can as well cash in with a remake that's far less development effort and start with a completely new Zelda anyway. Which they are probably doing by now.

Edited January 9, 2011 by Burny

[Grazza]

For what it's worth, I only have positive feelings about this game. I don't think anything's so special that a remake should not be attempted. Maybe it'll be better than the original, maybe it'll be worse, but we can still play the N64 one and, what's more, there's still room for a really special remake on, say, an HD machine that can produce wildy better graphics.

 

To me, N64 remakes are a very good idea for the launch window. People may not have particularly high opinions of Super Mario 64 DS, but that machine couldn't replicate the N64 in either graphics or controls. The 3DS, however, can really do them justice. I can't wait!

[Nolan]

Yeah my point is that their choices are making it worse not better.

 

That's subjective though. Personally I'd prefer a clean look where it makes sense rather than fog for the sake of fog.