Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct ended with the bombshell of an announcement thatThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningis being remade for Nintendo Switch. This reveal initially shocked and pleased many but things started getting more decisive once gameplay was shown off in the latter half ofThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening’s first trailer.
The game opts for a more chibi or toy-like style with its characters and environments, which led some to be disappointed following the more realistic but stylized graphics of recent Zelda games on Nintendo Switch likeHyrule WarriorsandThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.The art style debate is setting itself up to be similar to the situation that happened years ago whenThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerwas first revealed.
Personally, I like this new visual style as it is very cute, and one very important person at Nintendo thinks the same: Senior Product Marketing Manager Bill Trinen. Of course, he can’t say he doesn’t really like the game, but he delved into why exactly The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningfor Nintendo Switch’s art style works on the latest Nintendo Power Podcast.
As a whole, this month’s Nintendo Power Podcast focused on what was revealed during the latest Nintendo Direct. After talking aboutSuper Mario Maker 2, the conversation shifted over toThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. This is when Bill Trinen started to share his thoughts on the game. “The team’s been working on it for awhile now, but for me I was so excited this game was coming to Nintendo Switch,” he said. “If you think back, it’s one of the earlierZeldagames that I think has been really ripe for being recreated that has never been redone.”
He then revealed what he thinks of the game’s new art style. “The graphics…I absolutely adore them,” Bill declared. “One of the things that I love aboutZeldais that fact that with just about every entry they redo the art style. It’s one of the few series where it’s just constantly changing with every installment of the game.” Bill Trinen proceeded to wrap up his thoughts on the game up by pointing out the fact that this style works well asThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningis presented from a top-down view.
“I think they’ve kind of nailed it this time with the look of this little miniature world and Link running around in there. It’s perfectly suited for sort of this 2D top-down view.” If you enjoyThe Legend of Zelda: Link’sAwakening’s art style, you’ll probably be happy to know that Bill Trinen agrees with you. If you don’t like the graphics, hopefully Bill’s comments gave some insight into why Nintendo approved of it.
To get a better feeling for what this new art style entails, you can check out the game’s first screenshots below. I’ve also put the entire podcast there as well, so you can listen to it if you’re interested.The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningis currently set to release for Nintendo Switch sometime in 2019.
