At this point in time, do you prefer realistic graphics or Cel Shading?

Looking back on the first "realistic" Zelda game, Ocarina of Time, the graphics were actually pretty cartoony, this is obviously down to the hardware limitations of the N64.

Twilight Princess upped the Anti in terms of realistic graphics, but I feel like it lost some of the charm of previous generations.

For future releases, would you like them to go one step further again in terms of realistic visuals? Perhaps something Akin to skyrim, or to revisit the visual style used in Wind Waker, with modern hardware potential?

I ♥♥♥♥ing loved the tech demo from last years E3, I'd love the next game to be as close to that as possible. I think cel-shaded was perfect for WindWaker and it's probably my favourite looking Zelda game but I'm not sure it'd have the same effect if it was used again and I much preferred the look of TP to SS.

Originally Posted by ll SpyKi ll

I ♥♥♥♥ing loved the tech demo from last years E3, I'd love the next game to be as close to that as possible. I think cel-shaded was perfect for WindWaker and it's probably my favourite looking Zelda game but I'm not sure it'd have the same effect if it was used again and I much preferred the look of TP to SS.

stole the words out of my mouth, err...hands...haha
But, i agree. I think that the next zelda game should be realistic, to counteract Skyward Sword's watercolor-cartoonish feel, and the game after that can have cell-shaded.

I don't know why realistic visuals seems to be the most popular, to me, that's just not Zelda.

^Agreed. I loved SS's visuals, but the Wind Waker's takes the cake for me. The characters were so expressive and the cartooniness just made me smile. They endeared the game to me, and honestly, if tWW was made with Twilight Princess graphics, it wouldn't be the same game to me.

Everyone's tastes are a bit different, and since I tend to prefer darker storylines and atmospheres I prefer the more realistic style by far (that's not to say I don't love the cel shaded installments and the 'happy mediums' like SS, however).

I know a lot of people didn't care so much for TP's style, but I think that was probably due to the more earth-toned settings (after all, many people like OoT and MM the best, and MM had updated graphics--albeit only slightly--but much more vivid use of colors). I personally liked it, it made the brighter, unnatural aspects stand out more and I personally find it easier to immerse myself in a more realistic game.

Perfected cel shading with a gorgeous variety of vibrancy and colours. I can do without the realism, I see that every time I wake. I would rather venture into a fiction world that doesn't look like what I see out of my bedroom window every morning.

I don't know, I think it really depends on the game itself. The cartoony graphics work when you play as a child or when the story is more light-hearted, but semi-realistic graphics are more fitting when the story and the themes are dark. Note that I say semi-realistic as I don't think super realistic graphics will fit any Zelda game.

For instance, look at this. It seems to mix realism with cartoony graphics (sort of at least). I would very much like something resembling this for a Majora's Mask-esque game (or a remake). It is after all fairytale-like, but while not being especially realistic, the darkness helps set the atmosphere a lot.



By the way, it's fake (unfortunately)

Cel Shading. It makes the game more vibrant and colorful, which, to me, is what Zelda is supposed to be. I also like the mixture of realism with colorful graphics in Skyward Sword.

Originally Posted by Her Grace

Perfected cel shading with a gorgeous variety of vibrancy and colours. I can do without the realism, I see that every time I wake. I would rather venture into a fiction world that doesn't look like what I see out of my bedroom window every morning.

This. Realism is boring, and for me, Twilight Princess's graphics were hideous!

There has never been a realistic Zelda game, they've all been cartoony.

I'd like for Nintendo to make an attempt at a realistic Zelda game, it would be a breath of fresh air for the series. And I really think it would fit in with the earlier games such as LOZ and ALTTP, which had a more austere feel to them, in contrast to SS and TWW.

Cel-Shaded. But not exactly like WW style. (Or Skyward Sword.) More like...Okami. Yeah i kinda want my Zelda to look like a Miyazaki film. That would pretty amazing.

Originally Posted by Nico

I don't know, I think it really depends on the game itself. The cartoony graphics work when you play as a child or when the story is more light-hearted, but semi-realistic graphics are more fitting when the story and the themes are dark. Note that I say semi-realistic as I don't think super realistic graphics will fit any Zelda game.

For instance, look at this. It seems to mix realism with cartoony graphics (sort of at least). I would very much like something resembling this for a Majora's Mask-esque game (or a remake). It is after all fairytale-like, but while not being especially realistic, the darkness helps set the atmosphere a lot.



By the way, it's fake (unfortunately)

This is exactly what Zelda needs! It has the perfect blend of realistic textures, shading, and lighting, but very fantasy-like graphics.

Originally Posted by Ningan the Lone Ninja

This. Realism is boring, and for me, Twilight Princess's graphics were hideous!

I wouldn't even call TP's style "realism".

Every character still had anime-ish styled eyes and so forth.

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

I wouldn't even call TP's style "realism".

Every character still had anime-ish styled eyes and so forth.

I assume the OP's intention was about textures and lighting, not character design. Of course it could be both!

That said I definitely prefer looks similar to Skyward Sword and the faux MM trailer. For me Zelda is all about the fantastical and magic nature of the series, not monster-bashing, sewer-trashing, and especially not about the Lord of The Ring-ing. I never liked those films' aesthetics. Seemed to suck all the magic out of the world.

I'd probably die if we got a look and feel like Princess Mononoke. But then again, it also depends somewhat on the overall tone of the game. I say somewhat, because even TWW managed to be dark and moving when it wanted to be, and TP could be pretty funny.

As for the character and world design side of this coin, I actually prefer the more realistic (though still fantastical) side of things. Toon Link is cute, but my loyalties lie with the rest of the boys (OoT, TP, SS).

Wait, are we solely talking about graphics here? Your inclusion of 2D on the poll kind of throws me off since I think the next Zelda game should be a classic style 2D game. We haven't really had once since Minish Cap, unless you really want to count Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks, which I think come close, but aren't quite in the "classic" style because of the heavy touch controls. I really would love to see Nintendo take the NSMB route and make a graphically enhanced 2D Zelda game.

I could rant on and on with that subject, but I feel like this is more of a thread focused on graphics. If we're talking graphics specifically, I think realistic would be the right direction for Wii U Zelda because of how well received that Zelda themed graphical demo we saw last year was. If there would have to happen to be an original 3D game on 3DS, cel-shading may actually be kind of neat.

I prefer anything that benefits the feel of the story and fits the overall Zelda formula regardless of cell-shaded or not. My three favorite games happen to be MM, WW, and Alttp. TP and SS were okay games with graphics that fit the storyline I'm not a personal fan of them because I feel that TP did not do well at expressing the storyline, Skyward Sword did a terrible job at everything except the graphics and controls in my eyes I feel they focused too much on gameplay rather than storyline/general feel, and how it fit into what is Zelda. (Going back in time to find robots lost me; especially since SS is the first game in the series. I could go on but I won't!) Notice I am not focusing on the graphics. I persoanlly think no graphics style is bad. It is how they go about fleshing out the graphics style through storyline and gameplay that affects how I view a game. SS had great graphics that I loved but it's storyline sucked. TP had a better storyline but it still left me feeling empty. Honestly I think it's time that we put graphics behind us and start thinking about how they are used instead of how we like them because in reality that's what you guys are judging even if you may not admit it!

What I want to see like right now, is a game with realistic lighting and textures and whatnot, but more cartoony character design and proportions and stuff, while generally still using colorful environments and all that.

Think Pixar films. (Or that fan-made MM trailer, which is totally a step in the direction I want)

I just think it would be the best way to take advantage of the Wii U's power without going away from Zelda's super-fantastical-and-kinda-serious-but-far-from-that-at-the-same-time general feel.

I definitely do not want total 100% realism, not in Zelda. Ever.

But I could still totally love another cel-shaded super-cartoony game.

I prefer cel-shading. though I will be happy with any other style (especially the Zelda Wii U demo style.) In my eyes, The Wind Waker has a very different style of cel-shading compared to other cel-shaded games. While most other cel-shaded games emphasize the 2D-like aspects of the graphics by using low-detail textures, flat shading throughout, and outlines around every object, The Wind Waker emphasizes the 3D aspects of the graphics by using more detailed textures, uses a softer, almost realistic lighting style for static objects (islands, buildings) and eschews outlines. I can draw comparisons to the highly detailed background art of movies like The Thief and the Cobbler to The Wind Waker's use of detailed buildings and landforms. The particle system is quite amazing even today, with possible volumetric fog effects (unheard of in other cel-shaded games). Also unique to The Wind Waker's graphics style is the emphasis on soft-body dynamics-characters' clothes and hair, tree leaves, flags. and particles all blow around in the wind according to a physics system based upon the wind. Basically, I think that The Wind Waker's graphics style is slightly more realistic than straight cel-shading. In effect. The Wind Waker emulates animated movies much better than other cel-shaded games because the game uses the 3D equivalents of the effects used in the best animated features. Indeed, I believe that other cel-shaded games try to aim for animated television cartoons, which are inherently less detailed than animated movies.

Realistic! But I think cell shading worked really well with the ds