The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's biggest franchises, and it's created a gorgeous and expansive world over the last 35 years. Both fans and creators alike have put their hand to creating a unified timeline for Hyrule, with varying levels of success. Other fans have focused more on creating tributes to their favorite editions of the games. Now, one of these creative fans has shared a glimpse of some incredible landscape artwork inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Breath of the Wild is the series' most recent mainline title and it brings a flair of post-apocalyptic exploration to the fantasy setting. This isn't the first time fans of The Legend of Zelda have recreated its environments in another medium, but it may be one of the most atmospheric, especially since the paintings manage to convey the tone of the franchise without featuring its most iconic characters.
Redditor mathiaszamecki shared some striking pieces of digital fan art inspired by The Legends of Zelda franchise. They created six distinct landscape paintings displayed as two triptychs, featuring a mix of vibrant greens, grey stone, soft shadows, pale mist, and bright red flowers. The result is six striking glimpses into the landscape of – and surrounding – the Kingdom of Hyrule, with landmarks that may leave viewers wishing to jump off of or whistle sprint through them.
While these environments don't seem to be specifically taken from any game, their tone and composition may remind onlookers of Breath of the Wild, which mathiaszamecki has chosen as their favorite The Legend of Zelda title. However, games in the franchise often share design sensibilities, particularly when it comes to environment and level design.
The appearance and costuming of Link and Zelda are usually one of the easiest ways for fans to pin down which game a given environment comes from.
As neither Link nor Zelda appears in these paintings, their exact source seems to be left deliberately unclear – though the presence of a little white figure that seems to be a Korok in the distance suggests they are meant to be part of the world of Breath of the Wild.
As of writing, it appears that other fans are impressed by mathiaszamecki's hard work. With a new The Legend of Zelda announcement reportedly planned for The Game Awards, fans of the series may be looking for creative tributes to it. Several users congratulated the artist but noted that these paintings also reminded them of the works of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.
Reportedly, Studio Ghibli and The Legend of Zelda may have inspired each other over the years.
One user noted that some ancient ruins might have added to the composition, while a second stated that the Ocarina of Time theme started playing in their head while they were looking at the paintings.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Reddit