Fans likely remember the renowned Youtuber RwanLink, who we covered about a year ago with the Studio Ghilibi-inspired Ocarina of Time fan project. It seems RwanLink has graced us with another teaser trailer for an upcoming fan project for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which he has made in Unreal Engine 5 all by himself. To put it simply, it looks fantastic.
Twilight Princess is arguably one of the most iconic Zelda titles to date. It was Nintendo’s answer to a more realistic and darker toned Zelda that many fans had wanted during the early 2000’s. This expectation sparked after an infamous clip was showcased at a SpaceWorld show that contained a GameCube promo of Link and Ganondorf sparring in a darker-toned Ocarina of Time style. The clip gave many fans hope that the new Zelda game for the GameCube would follow suit with a similar look, but a trailer of the cell-shaded Wind Waker was later presented instead, sparking controversy and many heated debates in the fan community for years.
Even though The Wind Waker became a critical success that eventually emerged triumphant as a fan favorite today, Nintendo quickly tried to remedy the debacle with another new, more realistic Zelda title. In 2005, Twilight Princess was revealed to the world with much excitement and some fans breaking down in tears of happiness and relief. The game released to an acclaimed success and set the tone for many Zeldas to follow. However, the art style would not be one to return, as the cell-shaded look would venture on into following Zeldas including the newest 3D entry, Tears of the Kingdom. Even with the success of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, there are still fans today that hope for a new 3D Zelda that would make full use of the hyper realistic looks that come with newer technology and engines that can handle more complicated programming like the Unreal Engine, leaving many fans such as RwanLink to take matters into their own hands.
While Nintendo has stated that they don’t prefer to go for graphics over gameplay with their titles, there was a time where they at least tried to incorporate both and Twilight Princess was the step in that direction. Even though some believe that Nintendo has no desire to pursue realism, let’s not forget that back in 2011 at the E3 Expo we were given the “Zelda HD Experience” by Nintendo. This memorable trailer showcased a Twilight Princess-inspired Link battling an Armogohma type boss in a Wii U System promotion. Even though this type of look has not been seen again since, the tease was enough to reignite the desire for a more realistic-looking title.
The Legend of Zelda fan base has grown quite a lot over the years, and everyone of course wants to see their own favorite version of what they envision for the series. With such a wide variety of styles and gameplay to be expected from a single franchise, it is most likely impossible to see them all come to fruition from Nintendo, even though the company has already given us so much. With that said, sometimes it’s good when talented fans such as RwanLink take matters into their own hands and work hard to give us gems such as this special Unreal Engine 5 trailer. RwanLink’s main project inspired by Twilight Princess will be out on November 29th, 2024. We look forward to it!
