The Legend of Zelda license is often entitled to beautiful homages, and one of the latest is really worth the detour. Prepare to be amazed.
The Legend of Zelda is undoubtedly one of the most iconic franchises in video game history. She doesn’t look very young given that she was born in 1986 on NES. Since then, it has left its mark on several generations of players and will undoubtedly continue to do so. Given such popularity, this license was destined to be the subject of tributes from fans. Sometimes it involves short films, and today’s is a bit special. Indeed, it is made under Unreal Engine 5.
One of the best Zelda gets a nice tribute
This Youtube video comes to us from user RwanLink who spent four months putting it together. The goal ? Celebrate 25 years of Zelda: Ocarina of Time properly. To do this, he did not skimp on the means and we could even say that he blew the budget, since he offers us to revisit part of the game in an unexpected way. Indeed, he sets the scene in Castle Town, and in particular takes us around the market square. A scene revisited thanks to Unreal Engine 5. The rendering is simply impressive.
Having previously focused on creating realistic environments, I decided to venture into something different this time around. As an avid fan of Studio Ghibli films, I took inspiration from their aesthetic and incorporated it seamlessly into the world of Zelda Ocarina of Time, paying homage to the game’s 25th anniversary.
As you can see in the video below, the style is quite special due, in particular, to the use of the UE5. This fan film, which mixes cinematics and “gameplay”, adopts an aesthetic that quickly recalls that of Studio Ghibli films. This inspiration is obviously very important in RwanLink’s work, and we understand why. From the first seconds, we are transported into the magical world of Zelda that he has managed to recreate brilliantly.
We obviously let you appreciate the result without telling you too much, but you will quickly see that the work accomplished is colossal. Keep in mind that apart from the music, our man did everything himself. We can congratulate him, and we invite you to take a look at his other projects, between two games of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.