The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake announced for Nintendo Switch

Superking · Feb 15, 2019

Yeah....not what I was expecting, though I probably should have. The game's graphics looks similar to the kind used in ALBW, which makes sense. Was not a fan of that game's art style, and the same goes for this one. And what is with the color scheme? It's got this weird yellow filter-y look to it, like as if they were really trying to recreate the GBC version.

Also, the remixed musiic is pretty subpar too, imo. Seems totally amateurish.

Deleted member 3017 · Feb 15, 2019

Oblivion said:
Yeah....not what I was expecting, though I probably should have. The game's graphics looks similar to the kind used in ALBW, which makes sense. Was not a fan of that game's art style, and the same goes for this one. And what is with the color scheme? It's got this weird yellow filter-y look to it, like as if they were really trying to recreate the GBC version.

Also, the remixed musiic is pretty subpar too, imo. Seems totally amateurish.

That's probably not the final music. In many Nintendo games, particularly Mario and Zelda titles with orchestrated scores, the music is finalized late in development and early trailers versus late ones reflect this. The OST will likely be top shelf when the game launches.

An example

mopinks · Feb 15, 2019

"this looks like a cheap mobile game" is the new "this looks like a nintendo 64 game"

out_of_touch · Feb 15, 2019

I hope we can see footage of the 3DS build one day. (if it exists lol)

takriel · Feb 15, 2019

OrbitalBeard said:
That's probably not the final music. In many Nintendo games, particularly Mario and Zelda titles with orchestrated scores, the music is finalized late in development and early trailers versus late ones reflect this. The OST will likely be top shelf when the game launches.

Nah that's most likely in-game music.

Cudpug · Feb 15, 2019

One thing I do find super interesting is that the game appears to be called The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Not Link's Reawakening, not Link's Awakening: Switch Edition. It has the exact same name as the original game. I can't think of other examples of Nintendo doing that. Even Ocarina and Majora added a '3D' on the end.

Deleted member 3017 · Feb 15, 2019

takriel said:
Nah that's most likely in-game music.

The composition will be the same. The audio quality will almost certainly be significantly improved. I almost 100 percent guarantee it, as this has occurred numerous times in the past.

Nessus · Feb 15, 2019

DIE BART DIE said:
You may be onto something, but being the pedant that I am, I did notice a couple of discrepancies.

Note there are 3 vertical bushes in the remake vs. the 2 in the original. Also, the tree is not directly adjacent to the shack in the original.

There are a few other examples of this from the trailer, but it could be that they scraped the entire map and tweaked a few placements here and there.

Huh. I completely missed that. I wonder if there will be bigger differences then..

I mean, I don't think the game really needs much tweaking, I actually prefer the Game Boy original to the colorized version even. So even just releasing more or less the exact same game with updated graphics and what appears to be more fluid movement and combat for Link would be enough on its own.

out_of_touch · Feb 15, 2019

What's the early verdict on a release date? Please don't be holidays :'( Its gotta be holidays right?

Aprikurt · Feb 15, 2019

duckroll said:
I wanna know what changes the game has. We've seen what's the same, but what about what's not? That's the most interesting thing about remaking stuff - the different ideas the people remaking it have compared to the original creators. If everything is just 1:1 with no changes, additions, or any personal touch added, that's disappointingly boring. Especially when the original is still very replayable.

I agree, though I'll buy it regardless; what are Nintendo including for the 20+ year old fans who bought the game at launch?

I've got to be honest I found Ocarina of Time 3D a little barebones, as excellent as it was. They didn't seem to want to add much, and even at the time the insistence on not updating the soundtrack to keep it "pure" came off as lame.

It's probably one of the easier Zelda games, so a Master Quest style replay wouldn't go amiss. I find the theory they'd remove the colour dungeon from DX kind of baffling, but Nintendo have done weirder things.

Could they add some sort of prologue explaining how Link got onto the ship at the start? Just spitballing here.

Deleted member 36578 · Feb 15, 2019

touchmykatamari said:
What's the early verdict on a release date? Please don't be holidays :'( Its gotta be holidays right?

It's gotta be holidays.

ClickyCal' · Feb 15, 2019

brokeastronaut said:
It's gotta be holidays.

Then AC has to be before holidays? Unless pokemon is october.

dean_rcg · Feb 15, 2019

touchmykatamari said:
What's the early verdict on a release date? Please don't be holidays :'( Its gotta be holidays right?

It looks pretty far along so optimistically Aug/Sep, most likely Oct.

ze_ · Feb 15, 2019

re: release date, I would expect multiple titles dropping together towards the end of the year.

OrbitalBeard said:
The composition will be the same. The audio quality will almost certainly be significantly improved. I almost 100 percent guarantee it, as this has occurred numerous times in the past.

I think the original commenter is talking about the approach to the composition, not the sound quality (though you are absolutely right about that tending to improve over time). To borrow from Kirk Hamilton on the Splitscreen podcast, it sounds like they dropped a mic on a room and just let the performers play--it's very free form and mimics a live performance, rather than a carefully produced studio release. When you consider that the game has Link collecting instruments to play a song, it seems apt!

It reminds me of the Milk Bar "live" performances in ALBW. At the end of this one, the flutist holds the note for as long as they can, and then you can actually hear them inhale sharply. I'm a big fan, but I guess it's not for everyone. ALBW's soundtrack was handled by Ryu Nagamatsu, and I'm assuming this game's soundtrack will be as well.

Deleted member 36578 · Feb 15, 2019

yuoke said:
Then AC has to be before holidays? Unless pokemon is october.

Just going with my gut, but I'm going to guess Pokemon October, Animal Crossing November, Zelda December.

Garlic · Feb 15, 2019

Nessus said:
Link's Awakening is tied with Link To The Past as my favorite Zelda game and one of my favorite games of all time, but I'm getting the sense that this remake is pretty much 1:1 aside from the graphics. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a tool that allowed them to import the existing tile placements from the Game Boy game. I haven't seen any shots from the trailer so far that weren't exact recreations of the original layout.

Which is to say I'm not sure how much pulling it apart or rebuilding they actually ended up doing for this.

Still, having it fresh in their minds going into the next mainline Zelda is probably a good thing.

I have a feeling that whatever potential big changes they've made are being saved for a more in depth view later. The point of the reveal trailer is to demonstrate the verisimilitude.

Rand a. Thor · Feb 15, 2019

Datajoy said:
Very interesting that when Nintendo officially updated the Zelda timeline last year, the two changes they made were to place Breath of the Wild, and also to adjust Link's Awakening's place to come before Oracle games.

Still makes no sense. There are a lot of Link's Awakening characters that they slightly tweaked for the Oracle games, and I always interpreted it that since Koholint Island is a dream within Link's Mind, it was populated with some of his memories from Labrynna and Holodrum.

mopinks said:
"this looks like a cheap mobile game" is the new "this looks like a nintendo 64 game"

You see, because the Switch is also a hybrid, this means now that any non AAA Nintendo titles are cheap mobile efforts from Nintendo, because handheld tier titles are outdated. They can only work on the two opposites of the spectrum.

Cudpug said:
One thing I do find super interesting is that the game appears to be called The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Not Link's Reawakening, not Link's Awakening: Switch Edition. It has the exact same name as the original game. I can't think of other examples of Nintendo doing that. Even Ocarina and Majora added a '3D' on the end.

I have a funny feeling the title is not final, and that the Link's Awakening text is a place holder.

touchmykatamari said:
What's the early verdict on a release date? Please don't be holidays :'( Its gotta be holidays right?

I'm willing to bet its December:
September-Animal Crossing
October-Luigi's Mansion 3
November-Pokemon
December-Legend of Zelda LA

out_of_touch · Feb 15, 2019

Aprikurt said:
I agree, though I'll buy it regardless; what are Nintendo including for the 20+ year old fans who bought the game at launch?

I've got to be honest I found Ocarina of Time 3D a little barebones, as excellent as it was. They didn't seem to want to add much, and even at the time the insistence on not updating the soundtrack to keep it "pure" came off as lame.

It's probably one of the easier Zelda games, so a Master Quest style replay wouldn't go amiss. I find the theory they'd remove the colour dungeon from DX kind of baffling, but Nintendo have done weirder things.

Could they add some sort of prologue explaining how Link got onto the ship at the start? Just spitballing here.

Addition of co-op like ALTTP on GBA?

Deleted member 3017 · Feb 15, 2019

ze_ said:
I think the original commenter is talking about the approach to the composition, not the sound quality (though you are absolutely right about that tending to improve over time). To borrow from Kirk Hamilton on the Splitscreen podcast, it sounds like they dropped a mic on a room and just let the performers play--it's very free form and mimics a live performance, rather than a carefully produced studio release. When you consider that the game has Link collecting instruments to play a song, it seems apt!

Yes and if the soundtrack is recorded using real instruments, which I expect, the compositions will see a drastic improvement and the "live performance" effect will be fully realized. This sounds very much like a placeholder track, something Nintendo has done on multiple occasions in the past with initial reveal trailers.

Also, a central theme of this game is based around collecting and playing instruments. The soundtrack is going to reflect this and will be one of the highlights of the game, I feel very confident in this.

Deleted member 42484 · Feb 15, 2019

Cudpug said:
One thing I do find super interesting is that the game appears to be called The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Not Link's Reawakening, not Link's Awakening: Switch Edition. It has the exact same name as the original game. I can't think of other examples of Nintendo doing that. Even Ocarina and Majora added a '3D' on the end.

Interesting. Although this is a 26 year remake. Does that make it the most years between a video game remake or am I just crazy? Perhaps enough time has passed they don't need to rename?

Aprikurt · Feb 15, 2019

touchmykatamari said:
Addition of co-op like ALTTP on GBA?

Would totally go with the Switch's MO, and much easier to implement than for BotW. I'd really like this actually. And now I'll be disappointed if it isn't added. Darn.

What I loved about the original was that you could combine certain items by pressing A+B together; bomb arrows could be created in this way. Maybe they could develop that?

Silent · Feb 15, 2019

I...really didn't think the art style was that much of a departure from traditional 2D Zelda to be so divisive. Other than the shininess and the dark pupils on Link, this looks pretty much how I expected a modern 2D Zelda game to look.

unicornKnight · Feb 15, 2019

MrKlaw said:
Has this been confirmed or are people guessing? Should be priced more to reflect the handheld nature of the source. Although I've not played this one (seasons/minish cap were my only GB zeldas before DS) so maybe it justifies the price?

People were claiming Pokemon Let's Go wouldn't sell enough because of the full price being 50% more than the portable Pokemon.
I expect full price so I on't be disappointed.

mopinks · Feb 15, 2019

Denman said:
Interesting. Although this is a 26 year remake. Does that make it the most years between a video game remake or am I just crazy? Perhaps enough time has passed they don't need to rename?

pretty sure 26 years means it's actually tied with Samus Returns

SO CLOSE

Deleted member 35598 · Feb 15, 2019

It looks very nice I have to say ( after several viewings ). It's very charming, it has nearly a Good Feel vibe to it.

Watershed · Feb 15, 2019

I would love if the soundtrack for the game reflects the small ensemble sound of the trailer music.

Halloumiface · Feb 15, 2019

Is anyone else hoping for a Four Swords style mode in this game? A few of the 2D Zeldas have had one added in, and it would be perfect with a few joy cons.

takriel · Feb 15, 2019

OrbitalBeard said:
The composition will be the same. The audio quality will almost certainly be significantly improved. I almost 100 percent guarantee it, as this has occurred numerous times in the past.

That I can agree with. Skyward Sword's main theme improvement from GDC trailer to E3 trailer comes to mind.

Rand a. Thor · Feb 15, 2019

ze_ said:
re: release date, I would expect multiple titles dropping together towards the end of the year.

I think the original commenter is talking about the approach to the composition, not the sound quality (though you are absolutely right about that tending to improve over time). To borrow from Kirk Hamilton on the Splitscreen podcast, it sounds like they dropped a mic on a room and just let the performers play--it's very free form and mimics a live performance, rather than a carefully produced studio release. When you consider that the game has Link collecting instruments to play a song, it seems apt!

It reminds me of the Milk Bar "live" performances in ALBW. At the end of this one, the flutist holds the note for as long as they can, and then you can actually hear them inhale sharply. I'm a big fan, but I guess it's not for everyone. ALBW's soundtrack was handled by Ryu Nagamatsu, and I'm assuming this game's soundtrack will be as well.

Aaaaah, I knew the flute sounded familiar! Yes, the main theme indeed sounds like the Milk Bar Remixes, and I love them for going in that direction. I hope to god that Spanish Guitar gets in the game as well, cause good lord do they go to town with it in some of the other tracks.

wrowa · Feb 15, 2019

duckroll said:
I wanna know what changes the game has. We've seen what's the same, but what about what's not? That's the most interesting thing about remaking stuff - the different ideas the people remaking it have compared to the original creators. If everything is just 1:1 with no changes, additions, or any personal touch added, that's disappointingly boring. Especially when the original is still very replayable.

I actually wonder if this reflects on Nintendo's (in)ability to create an entirely new 2D style Zelda alongside a BotW sequel. They might not have the designers to spare to create the amount of new content a new game or pseudo-sequel needs, so that they took the remake route instead.

Cudpug said:
One thing I do find super interesting is that the game appears to be called The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Yeah, the first thing I thought when they've shown the logo was actually "They straight up call it Link's Awakening? That's weird". It kinda gives off the impression that it might still be a working title (in which case I guess it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that this game might have more to it than they've shown just yet), but it might also just be the case that the people at Nintendo don't think an extension of the subtitle is really needed anymore.

Fliesen said:
I think DIE BART DIE 's example shows that they're recreating the game with quite some adjustments to the scale of areas. You can see that the 'road' between the lines of trees is wider, probably to allow for more dynamic combat.

They definitely needed to adjust the scale of the world to the new perspective. E.g. if the road between the trees only had a height of two tiles like in the original, it would actually be difficult to navigate and see the enemies in the remake. Also, the original's areas are designed to be looked at screen by screen, so they might need some readjusting as well to look good with both a scrolling map and a widescreen field of view.

Deleted member 36578 · Feb 15, 2019

Rand a. Thor said:
Aaaaah, I knew the flute sounded familiar! Yes, the main theme indeed sounds like the Milk Bar Remixes, and I love them for going in that direction. I hope to god that Spanish Guitar gets in the game as well, cause good lord do they go to town with it in some of the other tracks.

I never noticed how much I enjoyed this games music until I clicked these YouTube vids. The 3ds speakers were not capable of delivering the proper sound quality. In fact I couldn't even remember this music being in the actual game.

I can't freaking wait to hear what they do with this;

godofcookery · Feb 15, 2019

Can anyone say if Link can swung under the fish when he missed it with that swipe?

SweetVermouth · Feb 15, 2019

This will be as much of a 1:1 remake as possible. The small differences in the overworld are due to the game now using a 16:9 aspect ratio. I don't expect any new content.

Rand a. Thor · Feb 15, 2019

brokeastronaut said:
I never noticed how much I enjoyed this games music until I clicked these YouTube vids. The 3ds speakers were not capable of delivering the proper sound quality. In fact I couldn't even remember this music being in the actual game.

I can't freaking wait to hear what they do with this;

Well, they were in a random selection at the Milk Bar when you spoke to the Bard to play a song, not actually in the game when going through the dungeons or anything like that, which is why you may not remember them. But yeah, the 3DS speakers did no justice for the soundtrack, especially the more layered tracks.

Deleted member 36578 · Feb 15, 2019

Halloumiface said:
Is anyone else hoping for a Four Swords style mode in this game? A few of the 2D Zeldas have had one added in, and it would be perfect with a few joy cons.

If they do it, they'll have to make some specific dungeons / levels for it. I'd be all for it in this cute art style though.

Deleted member 36578 · Feb 15, 2019

Rand a. Thor said:
Well, they were in a random selection at the Milk Bar when you spoke to the Bard to play a song, not actually in the game when going through the dungeons or anything like that, which is why you may not remember them. But yeah, the 3DS speakers did no justice for the soundtrack, especially the more layered tracks.

Ah, got it. I think I'm going to replay the game sometime this summer just because.

sleepnaught · Feb 15, 2019

Rand a. Thor said:
Aaaaah, I knew the flute sounded familiar! Yes, the main theme indeed sounds like the Milk Bar Remixes, and I love them for going in that direction. I hope to god that Spanish Guitar gets in the game as well, cause good lord do they go to town with it in some of the other tracks.

Damn, that Kakariko Village was ridiculously good. I hope we got something on that level for Link's Awakening.

duckroll · Feb 15, 2019

SweetVermouth said:
This will be as much of a 1:1 remake as possible. The small differences in the overworld are due to the game now using a 16:9 aspect ratio. I don't expect any new content.

When they re-released it on the GBC they added photo mode and a new dungeon. I definitely expect something new here, even if it isn't a huge new thing.

Deleted member 426 · Feb 15, 2019

I know this is getting greedy now, but imagine Oracle of Seasons and Ages also done in this style, also released as two games simultaneously!

Linde · Feb 15, 2019

Lmao at people comparing this to 3DS or even "shitty mobile games"
how utterly embarassing

duckroll · Feb 15, 2019

Denman said:
Interesting. Although this is a 26 year remake. Does that make it the most years between a video game remake or am I just crazy? Perhaps enough time has passed they don't need to rename?

Nope. It's actually only 21 years, since the color version came out in 1998.

Earlier this year it was announced that Gimmick! is getting an arcade remake: https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...an-enhanced-re-release-for-exa-arcadia.96015/

Gimmick! came out before even the original Link's Awakening, so it'll be a 27 year gap between the releases with pretty much nothing inbetween.

Halloumiface · Feb 15, 2019

Jacktuar said:
I know this is getting greedy now, but imagine Oracle of Seasons and Ages also done in this style, also released as two games simultaneously!

Or even more greedily... on one cart ;)

brokeastronaut said:
If they do it, they'll have to make some specific dungeons / levels for it. I'd be all for it in this cute art style though.

Yup, I'd expect it to be a whole different mode designed around it. Fingers crossed.

Deleted member 36578 · Feb 15, 2019

Halloumiface said:
Or even more greedily... on one cart ;)

Yup, I'd expect it to be a whole different mode designed around it. Fingers crossed.

I think if this game is indeed sold for $60, there will be a lot of push back if it's just a 1 to 1 remake of the original. People will absolutely expect new content for added value. 4 swords stuff would be sweet.

Deleted member 23046 · Feb 15, 2019

Red said:
It's a technique called miniature faking. It's emulating a tilt-shift lens. Miniature faking is an illusion caused by forcing a shallow DoF. Causes the viewer to read an image as miniature when it is not:

The bokeh and texture materials also reminds me this mobile game :

snesiscool · Feb 15, 2019

Rand a. Thor said:
Aaaaah, I knew the flute sounded familiar! Yes, the main theme indeed sounds like the Milk Bar Remixes, and I love them for going in that direction. I hope to god that Spanish Guitar gets in the game as well, cause good lord do they go to town with it in some of the other tracks.

The composer, Ryo Nagamatsu, played the flute parts himself! And the guitar part for the

Ballad of the Goddess remix

was played by Toru Minegishi. For the rest of the songs, the guitar parts were synthesized.

Danstanster · Feb 15, 2019

This trailer ousted a dormant group of "More like Celldas" happy to oust them.

So pumped

Deleted member 37928 · Feb 15, 2019

Looks cute. I never played the original but I've heard good things about it. :)

BGBW · Feb 15, 2019

I can certainly imagine the location of the Wind Fish's egg getting a complete overhaul so it looks closer to the art.

60fps · Feb 15, 2019

MrKlaw said:
Has this been confirmed or are people guessing? Should be priced more to reflect the handheld nature of the source. Although I've not played this one (seasons/minish cap were my only GB zeldas before DS) so maybe it justifies the price?

60 €/$ would be really disproportionate when BotW also costs 60, a game on the complete opposite end of the spectrum in terms of scale, production values and development time.

jts · Feb 15, 2019

60fps said:
60 €/$ would be really disproportionate when BotW also costs 60, a game on the complete opposite end of the spectrum in terms of scale, production values and development time.

In Europe BotW is actually €70.

But anyway prices of games have never been proportionate like that. Yearly sequels of sports games are also full priced and such.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake announced for Nintendo Switch

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