Arguably, part of the appeal of the Legend of Zelda series is its aesthetics. The visuals aren't too childish, nor are thy too realistic, but in true Goldilocks fashion, somewhere right in the middle. But isn't there a part of you that's just a little curious for a more realistic looking Legend of Zelda game?
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Twilight Princess was visually stunning, and approached the step up that appealed to an aging audience by being the first in the series to be hit with a "M" rating. It was also the graphical step up fans were looking for, but it was still a far cry from. Skyward Sword followed in Twilight's realism, but skewed toward a more stylized palette.
Now, with Link Between Worlds on the 3DS, we're back to the cartoonish old days. But what if Nintendo ventured out, and used graphics engines apart from whatever its developers had managed to develop in-house? Unfortunately, that's a big "what if," and one that Nintendo will likely never answer. So, it's up to the fans.
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Enter Michael Eurek, who chose to render the Temple of Time using Unreal Engine 4, all for the hell of it. Described Eurek, "Several months ago, it was suggested to me by a friend that a fun/challenging exercise would be to recreate an environment from an old game I like using modern techniques. I thought this was a great idea, so I have put together a recreation and personal adaptation of The Temple of Time from The Legend of Zelda."
The results are truly impressive, and word of Eurek's talents are spreading. A number of other outlets have already reported on the Temple, and even Eurek's cousin is sharing the feat with Reddit.
Beyond the Engine, other software like Mya, Z-brush, and Photoshop were also used to produce the Temple. You can take a peek at the render below. It's definitely worth a look...