Can we all agree BotW is the ugliest Zelda game?

[NGE_Fan]

Yusuke Nakano's artstyle I have no issue with really. If only the game actually LOOKED like it in the way his art was previously translated to 3D in Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time.

That attention to detail and animelike art was translated into realistically rendered non-toon shaded baked lighting in the aforementioned games. In Skyward Sword that all changed when they went for that ugly mismatch between his realistic art and the heavy garish cel shading method they went for in that game. But at the very least SS had HIGH MODEL DETAIL. Now blame it on the open world BS game design, but BotW's models are all equally ugly as shit with a decidedly lower poly count compared to even SS let alone that high quality Wii U tech demo for Twilight Princess which is what BotW COULD have resembled in realism.

The Legend of Zelda was once a series that strived for groundbreaking visuals mixed with a charming Japanese anime style. It was like a gameified Berserk or Slayers from the 90s. Today Zelda games visually represent the ugliest cel shading methods perpetuated in the industry with disgusting crushed black levels, generic environments, and the lowest poly count per model the series has seen yet.

Why in the hell would Final Fantasy VII Remake be capable of beating modern Zelda graphics when back in the day OoT stomped FFVII in pushing the boundaries of gaming visuals? And you just know TP, if not held back by the GameCube, was aiming for a similarly gorgeous realistic style that actually pushed the tech forward. Anyways what are your thoughts?

 

[Volvagia_slayer]

I think it looks better than Skyward Sword and a good handful of the 2-D games (as well as the N64 games if you look at them with present-day eyes instead of looking at them as products of their time), but I will agree that it could have been prettier. I would have loved for it to look more like the Wii U demo showcase.

 

[Dr.DeSSStruction]

No

 

[WinterTundra]

BotW looks very good. If you're going to complain about that, you may as well complain about Wind Waker and that recent remake for Link to the Past or whatever. That one has got to be the worst. Link in that Wii U demo looked hideous.

Why in the hell would Final Fantasy VII Remake be capable of beating modern Zelda graphics

Because Nintendo doesn't care about graphics.

 

[ChaosLord12]

Yes it’s also confusing to me how a 2020 PS4 game outclasses a 2017 Wii U game in terms of graphics.

 

[Vawn44]

Skyward Sword is uglier. But the GameCube games (Windwaker and Twilight Princess) were definitely better looking games.

 

[SurfistadeBorest]

Agreed, Nintendo games are garbage

 

[Dreamy]

I thought it looked nice. It was fun, hard, and different from all the other zelda games. It was just like the original Legend of Zelda, only in 3D. You have to explore and the dungeons can be beat in any order.

 

[Twilight_Prince12]

This is a different take than I normally hear. I feel all Zelda games have had graphical flaws that were noticeable even at the time they came out. There were complaints about TWW and TP's textures, and then Skyward Sword looking kind of rough and washed out and like the Wii couldn't handle the graphical style it strived to go for.

BotW released in an era where PS4 and Xbone games existed, so it wasn't cutting-edge visually. But I felt like so many people fell in love with the look of the game even if they played other games like Horizon alongside it. Similar to TWW it feels the unique style is helping it age better. I sometimes wish the game had more contrast, and of course I'd love to see the game run at 4k 60fps and stuff like that. But the game itself looks great to me overall. Especially the variety from changes in time and weather. The sun setting on a lake before it rains is awesome, much more natural and pleasant to me than SS having only one time of day on the surface world.

 

[BokoblinB-341]

I hate to be the harbinger of doom but I believe the artwork represents the expectations of the masses. We've collectively allowed our expectations to lower so therefore Nintendo responds to that in kind. In Japanese things heavily involve group think and 'collective' thought patterns so they analyze it more thoroughly.

They also know the IQ of the US is especially low and take that into account due to bad misguided education since the 1960s/70s to make a long story short and not hit any censor bots/mods. The higher ups of Nintendo take all this into account when deciding the direction of the next Zelda game.

When Zelda SS came out investor newspapers all were touting how 'dumb' gamers were and things were 'too hard' so everything had to be dumb down so Nintendo decided 'Okay!' and SS was our 'dumb generation game' hence why it was so divisive which went beyond control issues: Games often were dumbing their sequels down.

. Investor reports help people in the shareholder levels decide where to best put their money as stock: if they get it wrong companies lose their shirt so to speak so they really try to minimize errors hence why WSJ is cost prohibitive to average people. But to a medium to large business it's crucial information. You'd understand if you were a business that relied on the inside reports. WSJ is not really meant for peons like us.

 

[BokoblinB-341]

Correction: They take all this into account when making ANY game.

 

[BokoblinB-341]

This is a different take than I normally hear. I feel all Zelda games have had graphical flaws that were noticeable even at the time they came out. There were complaints about TWW and TP's textures, and then Skyward Sword looking kind of rough and washed out and like the Wii couldn't handle the graphical style it strived to go for.

BotW released in an era where PS4 and Xbone games existed, so it wasn't cutting-edge visually. But I felt like so many people fell in love with the look of the game even if they played other games like Horizon alongside it. Similar to TWW it feels the unique style is helping it age better. I sometimes wish the game had more contrast, and of course I'd love to see the game run at 4k 60fps and stuff like that. But the game itself looks great to me overall. Especially the variety from changes in time and weather. The sun setting on a lake before it rains is awesome, much more natural and pleasant to me than SS having only one time of day on the surface world.

LOL and behold I make your wish come true!!!! 4K not good enough you say? Well let's just step it up even further!!!

 

[Fatfan2777]

I hated botw but i think it's the most beautiful looking game.

 

[NotDanhausen]

Ugliest? No. Worst? Yes.

 

[IF_MASTER_1]

I don't think it's ugly, but I do wish Nintendo eventually gives the OoT/Twilight Princess artstyle another shot.

 

[Abdulink]

I am just tired of the cel shading at this point.

 

[Dreamy]

Speaking of BOTW, am I the only misses seeing Link in his green tunic? I wonder if Nintendo will ever make a game where Link wears it again? Not that it really matters.

 

[Twilight_Prince12]

Speaking of BOTW, am I the only misses seeing Link in his green tunic? I wonder if Nintendo will ever make a game where Link wears it again? Not that it really matters.

There is sort of a way to get the green tunic, but it's de-emphasized since this Link gets so many different types of clothing for climbing, Guardian Resistance, faster swimming, and the like. Since this game has so many looks for Link, I grew to like that he doesn't have a reason to wear the classic green tunic as often.

My headcanon for this is that the Hero always does seem to come across the legendary green tunic, but when he finds it varies between games. In some he just has it and it's all he's ever had (OoT), in others he doesn't earn it until going through a fair bit (TP, SS), and in some he might not find it until he's already almost finished with his journey (BotW).

 

[Dreamy]

There is sort of a way to get the green tunic, but it's de-emphasized since this Link gets so many different types of clothing for climbing, Guardian Resistance, faster swimming, and the like. Since this game has so many looks for Link, I grew to like that he doesn't have a reason to wear the classic green tunic as often.

My headcanon for this is that the Hero always does seem to come across the legendary green tunic, but when he finds it varies between games. In some he just has it and it's all he's ever had (OoT), in others he doesn't earn it until going through a fair bit (TP, SS), and in some he might not find it until he's already almost finished with his journey (BotW).

I didn't know you could get the green tunic is BOTW.
I'm we know the next LoZ game will be a sequel to BOTW. I was wondering if it would be an all new game that is in no way related to BOTW.