A fan-made demake in the style of the N64 has been released for sequel to Breath of the Wild, confirmed both its official title and release date in a recent trailer, and is set to release on May 12, 2023. The game will feature Link as he adventures through a changed Hyrule after the events of Breath of the Wild.
Tears of the Kingdom, which was first announced only as an unnamed sequel to Breath of the Wild, has been highly anticipated ever since its first reveal at E3 in 2019. Since then, Nintendo has remained mostly quiet on news regarding the sequel, having not released another trailer for the game until 2021. As of the most recent Nintendo Direct, however, the game has finally revealed its title, Tears of the Kingdom, as well as a release date in May 2023. Aside from what can be gleaned from these three brief trailers, not much else is known about the game, although some speculate that trailers for Tears of the Kingdom hint at Hyrule's past.
As reported by Zelda Dungeon, an N64-style demake of the most recent trailer for Tears of the Kingdom has been released by digital artist Jackarte on YouTube. The demake follows the new trailer beat-for-beat, recreating its visuals in an impressively accurate representation of the visuals of the N64. Along with the standalone trailer, Jackarte has also posted a side-by-side comparison between the demake and the original trailer, showing off the differences in their visual styles.
Tears of the Kingdom Trailer Gets An Ocarina Of Time-Style Demake
Notably, Jackarte has also made retro demakes for a variety of other games, including PS1-style demakes for The Witcher 3, Skyrim, and Resident Evil Village, accurately depicting each game as it would have appeared on classic consoles. Demakes in the style of classic consoles have recently gained a fair amount of popularity, with a variety of creators putting work into demakes for a number of modern games. Most notably, a playable and frighteningly accurate Bloodborne demake was released by Lilith Walther, showing how modern games can be adapted into the nostalgic stylings of classic consoles.
With Tears of the Kingdom's release set for May 2023, fans of the series are still a long way off from seeing just what the game will have to offer. While waiting for the game's future release, artists like Jackarte can provide a nostalgic look into the past, showing the title as it might have appeared on the N64. Until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is released, or even until more news is released about it, some fans may enjoy looking to the creations of other fans to tide them over.
Source: Zelda Dungeon, Jackarte/YouTube (1, 2)
