Three simple concepts: Add it / Fix it / Leave it Alone.
When porting one of the most beloved games of all time – on any platform, ever – across to a new system, there are two schools of thought: The 'George Lucas' approach, and the 'Blade Runner: Director's Cut' approach. In the case of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which has made the jump from Nintendo 64 to Gamecube and iQue to Wii Virtual Console, it's remained largely unchanged – outside of interface enhancements and the coveted 'Master Quest' Gamecube disc.
Now, with the era of true 3D gaming just around the bend thanks to the Nintendo 3DS, Ocarina of Time is about to get a true rebirth. Now the question is, what direction is Nintendo taking? And what should change, stay the same and be added to the mix? Here are our thoughts.
What would you like to see in Ocarina of Time 3DS? Leave your comments below.
Now, with the era of true 3D gaming just around the bend thanks to the Nintendo 3DS, Ocarina of Time is about to get a true rebirth. Now the question is, what direction is Nintendo taking? And what should change, stay the same and be added to the mix? Here are our thoughts.
What would you like to see in Ocarina of Time 3DS? Leave your comments below.
Master Quest / Ura-Zelda content
Here's an easy one; there's a slightly remixed version of Ocarina of Time already floating around out there, originally released for Nintendo Gamecube as a bonus disc. Why not make this accessible in the 3DS version?
New Models, Textures and Effects
The 3DS is a demonstrably powerful bit of gaming kit; already from the demos we've seen, the 3DS is capable of all kinds of texture effects, light bloom and sophisticated 3D models. When Ocarina of Time originally came out, it looked great – but by today's standards, it looks artfully archaic; we'd love to see some enhancements made in this department.
Already, from the precious few screenshots released, we can see a few interesting tweaks. The first? Link's model – as well as his steed, Epona – has been completely remodelled and enhanced. Thankfully, the model itself stays true to the outstanding circa-1997/1998 concept art, rather than the Twilight Princess, chainmail-and-stitching version of Link. At this point, Epona has also been redesigned, but we're not sure how extensively the rest of the game has been remastered.
We're hopeful, though, that with the 3DS' inherent texture abilities and lighting effects, that the base textures get a significant bump in resolution, and perhaps we see more impressive weather, shadowing and even some normal-mapping effects in there.
A True Triforce Quest
Anyone who was kicking around the internet in 1999 probably ran into the deluge of faked, rumoured and often convoluted 'hidden triforce quest' concepts – a tantalizing notion derived from early screenshots from when seeking the triforce was still part of Ocarina of Time's core story. After the story was reworked, the quest disappeared – but fans still looked for any kind of hidden reference to its inclusion. To this day, people still pour through the source code looking for references.
We're hopeful, though, that with the 3DS' inherent texture abilities and lighting effects, that the base textures get a significant bump in resolution, and perhaps we see more impressive weather, shadowing and even some normal-mapping effects in there.
A True Triforce Quest
Anyone who was kicking around the internet in 1999 probably ran into the deluge of faked, rumoured and often convoluted 'hidden triforce quest' concepts – a tantalizing notion derived from early screenshots from when seeking the triforce was still part of Ocarina of Time's core story. After the story was reworked, the quest disappeared – but fans still looked for any kind of hidden reference to its inclusion. To this day, people still pour through the source code looking for references.
It's a bit of a long shot (so to speak), but it would be great to see this quest restored and integrated into the story. That would give long-time fans something too coo about, while also giving the Triforce itself more significance within the world.
3D Town Square
Back in the day, prerendered backdrops were all the rage; Final Fantasy VII through IX all utilized these forced-perspective, hand-illustrated and rendered backgrounds to create an illusion of incredible environmental detail without the taxing rendering needed to do it in full 3D. These days, it's definitely a rare thing to find static, pre-rendered backgrounds in any major game release.
3D Town Square
Back in the day, prerendered backdrops were all the rage; Final Fantasy VII through IX all utilized these forced-perspective, hand-illustrated and rendered backgrounds to create an illusion of incredible environmental detail without the taxing rendering needed to do it in full 3D. These days, it's definitely a rare thing to find static, pre-rendered backgrounds in any major game release.
In Ocarina of Time, the insides of buildings such as the houses in Kokiri forest, as well as Hyrule Town itself, used this method. While mostly effective, it was still a blurry mess – and it never segued well with the 3D rendered world. Now, with the demonstrated power of the 3DS, we'd expect these once-rendered sections to be modelled in full 3D, with added details and full camera control.
The Water Temple
Look, I personally didn't have a big problem with this – it was hard, yes, and fiddly – but I'm led to believe it's the bane of most Zelda players' existence: The Water Temple. In short, Nintendo has all but confirmed that one of the first issues it has addressed in the 3DS remake is a simplification and streamlining of the Water Temple; the process of swapping iron boots in and out has been simplified to save time (and your hair and sanity). That leads us to...
The Interface
While the Nintendo 64's 3-pronged controller sported a multitude of buttons and input methods - and Zelda's user interface mirrored this layout on-screen with a context-sensitive A button and B and C-button overlays, the 3DS lacks the same layout. This immediately presents us with a few interesting possibilities. For one, we're led to believe that item selection buttons will now rest on the touch-screen for easy swapping – and this falls in line with Nintendo's comments about the Water Temple.
We also expect that the menu screen will probably operate differently, rather than the cube-like interface from the original. The HUD might well sit on the bottom screen entirely, keeping the top screen clear and immersive at all times.
The Camera
Always a tricky sticking point, the camera in Zelda blended auto-adjustment with Z-targeting that pulled the camera in behind you. However, in the last few years, camera refinement, angles and similar have become more refined and intelligent, adopting intuitive views in context-sensitive situations. Without a second thumbstick, we're guessing it would be tricky to integrate a free-rotating camera; however, it might be possible to include it by using L-targeting (what we're predicting will replace Z-targeting) and simply holding down the trigger a little longer in order to rotate the camera with the left thumbstick.
Now that the D-pad rests below the thumbstick, it's possible this might be used for quick-select items or camera control too. We shall see.
While the Nintendo 64's 3-pronged controller sported a multitude of buttons and input methods - and Zelda's user interface mirrored this layout on-screen with a context-sensitive A button and B and C-button overlays, the 3DS lacks the same layout. This immediately presents us with a few interesting possibilities. For one, we're led to believe that item selection buttons will now rest on the touch-screen for easy swapping – and this falls in line with Nintendo's comments about the Water Temple.
We also expect that the menu screen will probably operate differently, rather than the cube-like interface from the original. The HUD might well sit on the bottom screen entirely, keeping the top screen clear and immersive at all times.
The Camera
Always a tricky sticking point, the camera in Zelda blended auto-adjustment with Z-targeting that pulled the camera in behind you. However, in the last few years, camera refinement, angles and similar have become more refined and intelligent, adopting intuitive views in context-sensitive situations. Without a second thumbstick, we're guessing it would be tricky to integrate a free-rotating camera; however, it might be possible to include it by using L-targeting (what we're predicting will replace Z-targeting) and simply holding down the trigger a little longer in order to rotate the camera with the left thumbstick.
Now that the D-pad rests below the thumbstick, it's possible this might be used for quick-select items or camera control too. We shall see.
Longer Day/Night Cycles
A small point, but one that might actually prove handy – the rotation of the sun in Ocarina of time held sway over the appearance of certain monsters, events and quests within Hyrule. However, even though control of the time of day was eventually possible through specific Ocarina tunes, the transition from day to night and back again seemed all too rapid. Slow it down a little bit; give us more useable time during each phase.
Leave it Alone:
No Voice-acting
Well, how about the line is drawn with Navi? Link, who has traditionally never uttered more than the occasional grunt, groan and sword-slamming shout, should remain silent – as should the various denizens of Hyrule. This should ensure players can still exercise their imaginations, applying their own intonations and making for a slightly more personalized experience. Frankly, it's the same argument for why there shouldn't be a Legend of Zelda movie—though, that's a separate discussion.
Gimmicky Stuff
No blowing into the 3DS' microphone to play the ocarina, please. No minigames that involve unnecessary touch-screen scribbling, please. No haphazard motion control integration for bombchus, please.
Everything Else
Really, what made Ocarina great was the gameplay; that gameplay holds true today – but some additional refinements that bring the title back up to industry standards would reaffirm its status. Let's just hope that it these improvements don't include an Epona touch-screen grooming game.
What would you like to see added, fixed and left alone? Sound off in the comments section below!
A small point, but one that might actually prove handy – the rotation of the sun in Ocarina of time held sway over the appearance of certain monsters, events and quests within Hyrule. However, even though control of the time of day was eventually possible through specific Ocarina tunes, the transition from day to night and back again seemed all too rapid. Slow it down a little bit; give us more useable time during each phase.
No Voice-acting
Well, how about the line is drawn with Navi? Link, who has traditionally never uttered more than the occasional grunt, groan and sword-slamming shout, should remain silent – as should the various denizens of Hyrule. This should ensure players can still exercise their imaginations, applying their own intonations and making for a slightly more personalized experience. Frankly, it's the same argument for why there shouldn't be a Legend of Zelda movie—though, that's a separate discussion.
Gimmicky Stuff
No blowing into the 3DS' microphone to play the ocarina, please. No minigames that involve unnecessary touch-screen scribbling, please. No haphazard motion control integration for bombchus, please.
Everything Else
Really, what made Ocarina great was the gameplay; that gameplay holds true today – but some additional refinements that bring the title back up to industry standards would reaffirm its status. Let's just hope that it these improvements don't include an Epona touch-screen grooming game.
What would you like to see added, fixed and left alone? Sound off in the comments section below!
