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The Art of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (spoilers)

DeviousAngel

DeviousAngel

Member
With the release of Wind Waker HD, and the new Zelda and Twilight Princess HD in the horizon, there has been a lot of talk about artistry and world creation in the series. I think is is foolish to refute the fact that the Zelda series has taken many forms over the years, perhaps more than most games have, making each entry unique while still preserving that characteristic Zelda essence. From the colorful world of WW to the somber and serious look of TP, Zelda is Zelda.

Some have professed that they would enjoy a return to a more mature Zelda in tone and atmosphere and, taking it even further, some may have also stated that such a world can only exist if the art direction follows suit. Now I don't mean to put down these individuals, for my opinion on the subject is neither here nor there; that is not the purpose of this thread. Rather, I want to take the time to discuss the remake to my favorite entry in the series: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D.

In particular, I wanted to focus the discussion to the art direction and mood of the game. I've heard opinions for and against this remake: some believe that the brighter color palette and less foggy environments have detracted from the games's overall atmosphere of doom and gloom. Others have stated that the new look captures the surreal nature of Termina and its inhabitants, more closely resembling the concept art.

Being my favorite game in the series, and perhaps my favorite game of all time, I'm ambivalent on the subject. The original game is a precious relic that's worth preserving in its original form, but I admit that the remake is quite a beautiful game in its own right. In fact, I don't consider one better that the other as far as art direction and atmosphere go. I think Grezzo put a lot of love into every single detail in this game, from the insane amount of new and different textures added, to the subtle differences in lighting that make each hour of those 3 days feel completely unique. The sheer variety in color on its own is mind-boggling. Termina feels brand new and it works, perhaps as an entity separate from the original, but it works fantastically.

Below I have included some pics I took recently during my last playthrough. What do you think? Did Grezzo do a good job?

qUlh9qe.png

bygnat1.jpg

Uk9Bmp8.jpg

UqeY1z8.jpg

vicWnOA.jpg


More here:
http://i.imgur.com/yqchz7a.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MAzvtLQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/FfW9Tcd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/yLgFEeA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZhXezP7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/R3YXuuq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HDeHT6Q.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/pce4T7N.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/q2zecod.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/NzYqyxJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4FpoWJC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9hdl0z0.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jkDNNlH.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gw9R3Ph.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QSeqW5c.jpg
 
Tathanen

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Dude these panoramic pics are gorgeous, how'd you make em?

...would you mind if I used some of them on a website some day?
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
Those are some beautiful shots. Too bad the resolution of the 3DS doesn't do them justice.

MM is my favorite game of all time. While I like what they did with the 3DS version, I think I do prefer the more muted, foggy atmosphere of the original game. Adds to the whole "impending doom" thing.
 
DeviousAngel

DeviousAngel

Member
Tathanen said:
Dude these panoramic pics are gorgeous, how'd you make em?

...would you mind if I used some of them on a website some day?
Click to expand...

Of course. It's just a lot of shots melded together in photoshop. I tried to alter them as little as possible to preserve the colors.

Thank god that taking a picture with the picto-box makes the hud disappear momentarily lol.
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
pce4T7N.jpg

my man!

It's funny in a way, you had some people really against the brighter colours of the 3DS OoT remake (not me however, I liked them), then when it came to the actually darker and bleaker remake with Majora's Mask they really leveraged those bold colours in such a stronger way that really works with the otherworldy aesthetics Termina has going on.
It manages to feel suitably grimmer despite more grandiose usage of colour.

It's what you could call dark fairtytale/fantasy in tone and that's a favourite of mine (cheers DKC2), I think Grezzo did a great job with the visuals here, gotta love those various sky hues.
 
I

Incitemaybe

Member
I've been playing the 3D version lately and it certainly has a different mood separate from the original thanks to the graphical changes. I'm certainly having a good time with it :)
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Incredible shots. Will right-click and save all of them. It's amazing how much better this game looks than the N64 original.
 
F

Fireblend

Banned
Stunning screenshots, great job! MM3D was my first experience with the game and I couldn't have asked for a better one. Enjoyed it start to finish; it's probably the only 3D Zelda I consider to be on par with the 2D ones.
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
These are stunning. Grezzo did a tremendous job remake both Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time but the former is just stunning. Amazing shots!
 
J

Joqu

Member
I absolutely love those shots. Thanks for sharing them.

I'm big fan of what Grezzo did with the remake. Not just the new colour scheme, although I do think it adds greatly to the atmosphere, but I especially adore all those neat little details they added! Especially in the interiors.

They did this with OoT 3D too but it's not as noticeable there. I suppose Kakariko Village and Castle Town didn't give them as many opportunities for such additions compared to Clock Town.

So yeah, I can't say I agree with the detractors. I'm a big artwork first guy and they did a good job at getting closer to the original art with these remakes in my opinion. Plus the N64 versions still hold up really well and it's not like those are going anywhere. But the 3DS versions are the definitive versions to me for sure.
 
Astral Dog

Astral Dog

Member
The 3D Remake is the definitive version of Majoras Mask, no doubt about it, saying anything else would be like offending the hard work of Grezzo and Nintendo in making this gorgeous handheld remake.
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
Sub Boss said:
The 3D Remake is the definitive version of Majoras Mask, no doubt about it, saying anything else would be like offending the hard work of Grezzo and Nintendo in making this gorgeous handheld remake.
Click to expand...

or I just prefer how the n64 version looks


the new moon looks like mr. bean. old moon all day.
 
Xux

Xux

Member
There's something about the color and the artifacting in these games that give it a nice "video game-y" look that I miss.
 
B

butalala

Member
Old moon is better because it is closer to a sphere than new moon. New moon's giant cheekbones, forehead and nose change the shape of the moon too much.

These panoramic shots are lovely. I didn't realize how nice the remake looks. I wonder if it would be a lot of work to up-res this into an HD release.
 
I

Illucio

Banned
I think this just shows that very dark games can still be colorful and not just black, grey, and red.

Fallout 4 came out with the same statement with it's current game.

But that's not to say dead/dry/limited color palettes can't be used nicely as well. (Think The Order.)

Now if only gameplay can evolve at the same rate artwork for video games do. Then we will be getting somewhere.
 
nkarafo

nkarafo

Member
butalala said:
Old moon is better because it is closer to a sphere than new moon. New moon's giant cheekbones and nose change the shape of the moon too much.
Click to expand...
New Moon looks something like this

bc122715ce0d5a5e14dfee4610656b38_L.jpg


So yeah, it's the one change i didn't like about the 3D version. And that's kinda bad because the Moon is ever present and it was so creepy in the original version.

Neiteio said:
New Moon actually looks like a character.
Click to expand...
And that's why it's worse. It looks too silly and not creepy at all.
 
Ein Bear

Ein Bear

Member
As lovely as a hypothetical HD remake would be, I do wonder if something would be lost from the game if the quality of the visuals was increased by a huge degree. There's something about the comparatively simple graphics of the N64/3DS versions that really enhance the creepy, otherworldly nature of the game.
 
H

Hot Coldman

Banned
I was fundamentally opposed to a Majora's Mask remake after OoT3D, as I feared they'd give it a similar colour treatment and ruin the look of the original. Instead, they made it far more garish and haunting, making me well and truly eat my hat.

This game really is one of the all-time greats. Thanks for this thread, OP, you've done great work.
 
M

MaverickHunterAsh

Member
Gorgeous game. Grezzo nailed it and then some. To my eyes, Majora's Mask 3D looks unquestionably better than the original. The wider color palette and more vibrant colors in general really help.
 
B

brandonh83

Banned
Ein Bear said:
As lovely as a hypothetical HD remake would be, I do wonder if something would be lost from the game if the quality of the visuals was increased by a huge degree. There's something about the comparatively simple graphics of the N64/3DS versions that really enhance the creepy, otherworldly nature of the game.
Click to expand...

You know, I try to say this for a lot of games, but people just cry nostalgia. I don't think it's nostalgia. I think it's just the simple fact that these designers created ART out of what they had to work with. Like I think the original Silent Hill, while not technically impressive any more and considerably outdated, the game was artistically sound with its meshing of visuals and music.
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
Ein Bear said:
As lovely as a hypothetical HD remake would be, I do wonder if something would be lost from the game if the quality of the visuals was increased by a huge degree. There's something about the comparatively simple graphics of the N64/3DS versions that really enhance the creepy, otherworldly nature of the game.
Click to expand...

In particular I fear half the appeal of the rather bizarre looking NPCs would be lost upgrading the visuals in a big way, there's something so charmingly N64 about them all.

Then you've got NPCs from TP which were just terrifying more often than not.
 
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