Nintendo Shigeru Miyamoto hated the art of Wind Waker at first

If there was one thing that helped The Legend of Zelda: Wind Awake It has stood the test of time, it’s the game’s signature art style. But it turns out that this now-defining aspect has sparked some controversy in development. According to a large number of old interviews, it has been resurfaced and translated by people in Do you know the games?However, Nintendo’s chief character, Shigeru Miyamoto, couldn’t stand what the game looked like.

It is almost impossible to imagine a file Wind Wicker This does not look like Wind Wicker. It was first released in 2003 for the GameCube, but it deviated visually from the previous Zelda Toys, ocarina of time And the Majora maskBoth were released for the N64. Rather than an ill-advised attempt at realism — which, in the age of gaming’s technical arms race, would have wiped out a short half-life — Nintendo’s stylized Wind Wicker With shaded graphics, giving the game a fantasy effect. Wind Wicker It was re-released 10 years later with a few quality-of-life improvements, and while some of us disagree about which version looks better, the general consensus was: Wow, this game I am waiting.

At first, according to Do you know the games?In translations, the plan was actually to do Zelda With an improved iteration of the art style of N64 games. But early on in development, an artist did the ‘link toon’ style. The rest of the team loved it, and they all went, and designed the rest of the game around this reimagined version of the old character.

long time the legend of zelda Producer Eiji Onuma assumed that Miyamoto wouldn’t be so fond of Shadow’s style, and stopped the game show until Wind Wicker It was long in development. Reportedly, Miyamoto was “literally upset”, saying he didn’t think he would sell, and that it was not too late to change the direction of the art. But the development team backed down, citing enthusiasm for the art style. Also, they argued, they simply didn’t have the staff to create a realistic appearance Zelda In less than a decade.

“If I had gone to him from the start, I think he would have said, ‘How is this ZeldaOnuma said. “Miyamoto had trouble giving up his realistic link art style to the end.”

Miyamoto wasn’t alone. Back in 2001, following Nintendo’s reveal of Wind Waker, A subset of fans have been blasting the visuals For being very cartoonish. They wanted the previous visual style: not only in ocarina of time And the Majora maskBut in Zelda Technical Presentation for GameCube was introduced last year. call Wind Wicker “Sil da.” They said he looked unpleasant. They longed for Zelda who looks like Final Fantasy X. One assumes that they are now eating their words.

Do you know the games?Covers a deep dive into a whole range of topics beyond the scope of Wind WickerThe visuals, including the genesis of the basic gimmick (using a conductor wand to manipulate the wind) and the more difficult difficulty in game development (which has been reintroduced, albeit with some tweaks, as a “hero mode” that increases the difficulty Wind WickerWiiU version of). If you are interested in the game at all, The whole video is worth watching.