Reimagining a forgotten, gaming gem of the late 2000s
In recent years, we have seen an abundance of remakes, remasters and reboots.
After seeing how Nintendo remastered one of their classic titles 'The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)', I wanted to challenge myself to create concept art for how I would personally remaster a forgotten 'The Legend of Zelda' game form my childhood.
Created using a mix of Procreate, Indesign and Photoshop, I decided to reimagine three significants parts of the linear story. Taking cues from Studio Ghibli and Wind Waker HD, I wanted to push the fantasy aspect of the story in the visual language further, using a strong bloom effect to give the renders a dream-like feeling.
As the original game is also set on the ocean and inspired by pirates and treasure chests, I decided to use 35mm photography as a reference for the harsh lighting to give the final renders a more nostalgic feeling. Due to the technical limitations of the Nintendo DS in 2007, I was also able to expand more on the character's pseudo 3d models to make them feel more realised and full of personality.
Below, you can also see how I also reimagined the key art, specifically the box art and logo, to give them a truly modern visual language that matches the new art style of my renders. I used warmer, more saturated golden tones rather than dull beige featured in the original, offset against the harsher lighting on the re-illustrated ship in the background. I then created a new render of the original character artwork for continuity.
