When The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker first launched in the early 2000s, it did so with a brand new cel-shaded art style. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's cel-shaded art style divided fans at first, but it has since proven popular, with many lauding it for its longevity compared to more traditional 3D graphics. Even so, some may still be wondering what The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker would look like if it were going for more photo-realistic visuals, and fans know now thanks to the work of artist Vitor Maccari.
As spotted by Nintendo Life, Vitor Maccari has shown was The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker would look like if it were made using Unreal Engine and going for a more realistic art style, while retaining the cartoony design for Link. The video gives fans a glimpse at The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker islands, as Link sails by on the King of Red Lions boat. At one point in the video, the King of Red Lions turns around and talks to Link while they're sailing.
The video uses some classic Wind Waker music to complete the effect, and finishes off with a gorgeous look at what Link sailing would look like at night with these graphics. While fans shouldn't count on Nintendo making anything official like this, it's still a neat presentation that shows what a Wind Waker game built with Unreal Engine could look like. And with game developers now starting to use Unreal Engine 5 to build their games, they can look better than ever before.
This is far from the first time that someone has created Zelda videos and demos using Unreal Engine. There have been numerous Legend of Zelda recreations using Unreal Engine, mostly focused on the Nintendo 64 Zelda games. Fans have recreated Ocarina of Time areas in Unreal Engine, plus some of the Majora's Mask cutscenes, but it seems the videos showcasing these projects are often taken down, unfortunately.
As far as Wind Waker goes, anyone feeling nostalgic after watching this video has a couple of different options to play it. They could always track down a GameCube and a used physical copy of the classic game, or they could buy a Wii U and play Wind Waker HD instead. Either route is a potentially expensive prospect, so hopefully the rumors of a Zelda: Wind Waker Switch port turn out to be true.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is available on GameCube, with an HD version out on the Wii U.
Source: Nintendo Life