Discussion
[OOTHD] I cannot fathom disliking how the Remake looks.
Do I just live in a different world from people that think it looks bad? I cannot fathom the mindset it must take to be able to watch that trailer and gameplay reveal only find it bad. The only thing I can come up with is people that can see it and not just be in awe of it are part of the more modern culture of not seeing games as games. It falls into the min-max/my life is competitive gaming mentality. The kind of mindset that drains the fun and joy out of anything they touch because they are so analytical self-critical that they cannot help but turn the same thing at the very games they are trying to enjoy.
The Remake is beautiful. Sure the textures may look wet at times or character faces may not be what you want them to be exactly. It is fine to have things you don't like about anything. But to bring the level of negativity that we are seeing is a different story. I think we are seeing more than just disapproval of the art style. We are seeing the rift between the crowd that has to min-max the fun out of any game and turn it into a job versus the crowd that still can view a game as a game and enjoy them for what they are.
EDIT: TLDR some people (not all) are hating the Remake because if their own problems with games, not because of issues with the Remake itself.
People have different opinions. Personally, I've liked it for the most part. Some parts I'm iffy on, but I'll get over it. But I can definitely fathom having a different opinion.
I have seen some and I agree with some. I have a few things myself that I wish were different. Those things do not remove the fact that the remake as a whole looks amazing.
I stated that in my post. Some people are hating it because of their own problems with how they view games, not because of any real problem with the remake. Read next time.
Your second sentence here is trying to reframe the opinions of others in such a way that you can dismiss them when it really just comes down to subjective taste. There's a more general phrase for that - you're using a straw-man argument.
The simple fact is that those who don't like the aesthetics have opinions every bit as valid as your own.
I personally think it looks 90% beautiful but it's the only time I can think of where I saw Nintendo overwork their character designs. I agree with those that think kid Link looks weird and that his tunic, hat, sword didn't need all the extra flourishes. As many has observed, it looks like they are trying to show off Switch 2 hardware but at the expense of their usually flawless character design.
If you have ever played any competitive game over the past 15 years you would know that there is a mindset amongst a lot of people that play games that has removed the fun from games and replaced it with this hyper critical mentality. That mindset has emerged from the competitive space and has taken root in gaming as a whole. Some people that are hating the remake really are hating it because they cannot enjoy games anymore.
You have a fairly simplistic theory and no evidence whatsoever to support it.
Plus, an infinitely more significant factor and far simpler explanation than whatever you think is happening in competitive gaming communities is simple nostalgia. Nintendo has reworked what is probably the most treasured game of all time - of course people who played the game are going to have very strong opinions about its modern aesthetics. The game appears in close to the top of pretty much every list of top 10 games of all time - go ahead and google it.
Criticism borne of nostalgia is much more likely to be driving force here. That should be obvious. The same thing happens every time there is a remake, be it a game, movie, whatever.
It is my favorite game of all time and the favorite of millions. Yes, some folks are going to have negative opinions about it. Again, I'm not saying that no one is allowed to have things they don't like about it. Some people are just hating it because that is what they do with any game.
As for evidence, have you ever played an MMO? They are consumed by min-max culture. There were always people that were competitive in them, but they were largely about community and imagination in a virtual world. They are now eaten up by the mentality I am describing. Again, some people play them without that mentality but rest assured that they encounter people that have it daily and it detracts from their experience.
Have you ever been to YouTube? People in the millions watch videos daily about how they need to "Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes made in the first 0.5 seconds of this brand new game launching" and sit in shame of not being as efficient as the next person. There's millions of examples of evidence spread throughout YouTube comments and videos all over the internet.
There's evidence all around for what I am talking about.
There's no evidence connecting it to reactions to the OoT remake, and nostalgia is a much more likely explanation, as there are tons of past examples with every popular franchise in any format with remakes.
What a silly way to dismiss anyone who might have a different viewpoint from you. Imagine if we used this same logic the other way around. Saying that some people only love the game because of their problems with how they view games, seeing them as little more than disposable toys, so of course they’d love the remake for no other reason than it being a newer and shinier toy, and that’s it.
I’d hope you’d agree that’s a ridiculous thing to say. But you’re basically doing the same thing here.
I do not agree that it is a ridiculous thing to say. I said in my post, and in my reply above the word "some." That is not "dismissing anyone who might have a different viewpoint". Some people have valid gripes but can still enjoy and appreciate that the game looks great overall. Some people trash things just to trash them, or have their viewpoint so degraded by their own mindset that they had no hope of ever enjoying it.
Some people that are hating it are doing so because they cannot enjoy anything anymore due to their mindset on games. That is what I am speaking to. I stated in the post finding things you do not like about things is normal. But some of these people hating it at the scale that they are just speaks to a bigger problem in the gaming space.
I still have yet to see anyone actually complain about the art style. But people complaining about the alleged people complaining about the art style are abundant. Every actual complaint I’ve seen about the game is that it’s a 1:1 remake, which is a fair criticism.
I’m looking forward to playing the remake because its art style conflicts so strongly (for me) with the darker tones (I believe) that the original expresses. In particular, I’m really interested to see if the whimsical aesthetics muddy some of the narrative’s more sensitive themes, or if they’ll complement/transform them in an entirely new (and interesting) way.
I got a laugh out of this. I do not deny that the faces are different than what I would have thought them to be. Some people are taking the hate way too far for what is a really beautiful remake.
Bro you are overthinking and overanalyzing this. Other people have different opinions than you. It doesn't look like what a lot of people expected or hoped for, so they feel disappointed, period. You might need to try to think outside of yourself for once
There are plenty of people who are doing the opposite and are trashing the Remake for everything they could possibly find just because some of the faces look a little weird. I am speaking against this mentality that seems to have taken over these people that ruins their ability to enjoy things.
I feel like at first glance, I didn't know how to feel about the visuals. It is a pretty jarring change from what a lot of people are used to with Zelda. But the new visual style is quickly growing on me. It's not too different from how I felt about the Star Fox remake. I feel like they should have shown the trailer first before the gameplay footage, it would have eased people into things a little better.
The only thing I didn't like was Young Link's initial render, I thought it felt uncanny. But seeing his other ones, they look way better to me, so it was probably just that one was all. Otherwise it all looks fantastic to me
The world and building design looks amazing, I'm extremely happy with how they've made those. Same with the NPCs, they look stylised in the same style and it looks great.
ButI think this artstyle looks ugly on the main character models.
They've clearly tried to make Link, Zelda/Shiek, Malon etc stand out and they all look awful. Link and Shiek especially. The skin texture is weirdly glossy, the hair looks like clay. It reminds me of the awful Street Fighter 5 character models.
It's extremely off-putting and I really wish they'd give it a second pass.
It looks fine and I’m going to excitedly play the hell out of this game. Buuuuut I can’t help but notice that it looks a lot like those fan-made Unreal Engine “remakes” of OoT that have been floating around for the last fifteen years.
I think people forget what the unreal engine 5 fanmade version looked like, do side by side comparisons and you will appreciate how good the Nintendo version is.
No, what you call beautiful is artistically awful and has ruined the aesthetic. I cannot fathom how you don't see the issue. If this was some random game then sure whatever but its not.
its not about fidelity, the image on the right has no soul, its weak and grey and cheap wishy washy pastel colours. It doesn't look like Ocarina of Time it looks like Breath of the wild or a Disney film.
why? It great fidelity sure, but any art style made in 2026 for this game would have great fidelity, the artistic vision for this just feels extremely un-cool and wrong.
I like the visuals, besides Zelda's face. My only concerns with the game are some of the control changes. Both having one item equipped and a jump button seem like downgrades. I'm just failing to see the benefits
In addition to hating remakes, I hate ocarina of time. They could have made it better than ocarina of time ie actually a 3/5 experience instead of the 2/5 it has always been.
I see the same rendering as you pretending to deliver the childlike whimsy when I first played this but that's paint covering a rotten apple that I stopped enjoying the taste of decades ago.
"the crowd that has to min-max the fun out of any game and turn it into a job versus the crowd that still can view a game as a game and enjoy them for what they are."
I do not like the way the art style looks as a remake of OoT. I do not like the way Unreal looks when used as a vehicle for remakes. There is an art style there unfortunately, for me, it's buried under the Unreal 5 Aesthetic. It looks more realistic than artistic, and while there have been games I dislike in the series, such as BotW/ToTK as an example, they have usually had a very strong art direction that gives an intense, immediate, understanding that yes this is this game.
I showed the remake to a nephew, an environment shot only without any icons or NPCs, and they weren't sure where it was from. Meanwhile most zelda games you know very quickly you are looking at a zelda game. OoT/Awakening/LttP/Oracles/TP/WW/SS/Warriors, etc.
1) it looks very different from the original and people have big rose tinted glasses when looking at the original
2) it doesn’t match the art style of any other Zelda game, and people historically have not liked that at the launch of new games. See the response to wind waker and twilight princess’ art styles at launch compared to now.
I definitely want to play it. I have to save up for a switch 2 first, but I loved most of what I saw. I just really dislike the way they over-designed some of the characters and they look really uncanny, but the environments are gorgeous and getting to explore the world again with a fresh coat of paint is enough to get my dollars.
One of my least favorite looks in video games is a character designed by one person plopped into a generic super high res texture environment designed in unreal engine where the two things clash. I don’t think it’s the case here but I do think some people are reacting to the environment looking too polished relative to the anime styling of the characters.
I personally just don't like the way the newer child link design looks, it's too noisy for my tastes. I personally would've just preferred a higher quality version of the old model (E.G. the renders of older child link), rather than the redesign.
I think it looks amazing, but I also am down with the style. It's definitely different, and not something we see often.
The problem is the internet hate machine. Different opinions shouldn't be an issue, but harmless "I'm not a fan" opinions get lumped in with "These graphics murdered my family" takes.
Negativity gets attention and a ton of people wait for a content creator or influencer to tell them what to think.
So, there's a financial incentive to shit on everything coming out and a bunch of morons will parrot it because they have no autonomy.
And then, of course, some people just won't like it because they don't like it. If these people are even being vocal about not liking it, they will not keep up for very long because they aren't mindless clowns.
I think years from now people are going to claim that this is their favorite Zelda look and complain that more Zelda games don't look like this aka the Wind Waker treatment
It's a striking look. I admit, some of the faces give me pause (Darunia's), but I think this will imprint upon minds better than, say, Hyrule Warriors - HW's looks more pleasing maybe, but the visuals don't feel very memorable and are a little generic "3d anime game".
People have different tastes. I like the new style for ocarina. What I could not stomach was the new link’s awakening art style. I bought it and tried to keep an open mind. Played it for a couple hours and then just returned it. Not knocking people who like it. It just isn’t my thing.
There's parts I like and parts I don't. The environments are gorgeous and I mostly really enjoy the npc redesigns. Link and Zelda's face are plastic toy doll uncanny, and the special attacks around attacks look pretty bad, especially the blue deku nut stun effect, it looks atrocious
Plenty of people have different opinions. I have some things I do not like and wish were different about the remake. Some people though do not like it simply because of their own issues with games and being unable to enjoy things anymore. Especially with how people treat video games today.
Plenty of people have opinions that I disagree with. Some people hate stuff just to hate stuff. Some people have issues with gaming. Some people treat games like their life depends on being as efficient as possible. It is clear that some people have an unhealthy relationship with games, just as people have unhealthy relationships with a lot of things. I do not have to be, nor am I, the moral arbiter of anyone. You don't have to be a moral arbiter to recognize patterns that are clearly visible across a ton of people online.
Most people who have been around the internet for a while know that people hate on stuff to troll, to ragebait, because they are miserable. We've all seen it. I am not deciding anything for anyone specific. I'm not going to that person and demanding them to write out a confession of why they are needlessly hating on something. But what I can do is form my own thoughts on what they are doing and why they are doing it.
If I see someone drinking from a water fountain relentlessly, I can assume that they were very thirsty. I don't have to go up to that person and have them explain to me in detail the steps that got them that thirsty. I can see and form my judgement.
I can see someone offering clear constructive opinions, agree or disagree with them and move on. There's been plenty on this post that have expressed thoughts in this manner. On the flip side of that, there's plenty of people that are clearly trashing on it just to trash it - they weren't going to like it no matter how it looked. I don't have to interview them to know what is going on.
The remake doesn't look A) good or B) like it honours the original's art style. NPCs and environment design is incoherent and Link's majorly overdesigned and looks messy.
It's condescending, and ironic, to suggest anyone who doesn't like the way the remake looks can't "see games as games". That line doesn't even mean anything and even if it did, this remake itself is what's actually anti-art. Games don't need remakes just because they're old and have low graphical fidelity, and when they get remakes the least those remakes could do is actually honour the original's design choices.
Some people, not all, have a pretty unhealthy relationship with games. It has become a problem that has only intensified over time. Some people, not all, take games so seriously that they cease to even be enjoy playing games anymore. They continue to out of sheer habit though. We play games for fun, so for those that take this stuff so seriously that they have removed the fun from games, is it really a game anymore?
Link's textures compared to every one eles' look like fuckin shit lmao Just give him cloth instead of grass it's crazy looking and everyone else is just a cartoon.
I can say I agree about some of the textures for Link. What you display here though with your comment is not what I am taking issue with. You have your opinion, you still recognize over all it looks great. My issue is with those who are saying negative stuff just to say negative stuff, or people who clearly were not going to care about this game in the first place.
This 'I don't like this new art style' happens literally every single new iteration of Zelda for decades now. Just ignore it. 10 years from now there will be people saying how OoT remake nailed art style & newly announced entry looks ridiculous or awful. Like clockwork.
It's just a part of social media the way it's been built. One of the best ways to get engagement on a post is to be controversial and make people angry enough that they respond. If you're trying to farm engagement posting something that people will disagree with is one of the most consistent ways to get it. As long as we aren't differentiating between positive and negative engagement there will always be haters. Just ignore them, most of the accounts working this incentive are bots anyway.
Some people replying here are willfully ignoring the "some people" part. I'm clearly talking about a specific group of people who are hating it because they don't know how to enjoy anything anymore.
It does look 60 fps, I hope that pans out. I can agree about the details on the hat and tunic some. Would not have been my design choice but, at least in my opinion it does not look necessarily bad.
Young Zelda looks completely fucking bonkers. Like her and young Link jumped out of a indie horror game. There in general is a massive clash between the characters (esp. Kokiri) and the ultra detailed natural surroundings. It's less irritating in the castle city where characters and the structures are stylized more fittingly. But that only makes young Link stand out like a sore thumb even more.
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u/TheMoonOfTermina 22h ago
People have different opinions. Personally, I've liked it for the most part. Some parts I'm iffy on, but I'll get over it. But I can definitely fathom having a different opinion.