Entertainment · Gaming · 16 hrs ago
Ocarina of Time and WoW: Forever take distinct approaches to remakes
New versions of Ocarina of Time and World of Warcraft arrived on consecutive days this week.
The games come from Nintendo and Blizzard and revisit two influential classics.
Both aim to modernize their games while retaining their original spirit, but they take different approaches.
Nintendo's remake largely keeps the original content and design, while giving the game a striking new visual style.
World of Warcraft: Forever keeps the original art and content as its base, but adds material and changes parts of the design.
Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma said the remake is also intended to help newer Zelda developers learn from the original game's structure.
The projects seek to preserve ideas their developers feel are missing from modern games, rather than simply filling gaps between new releases.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and World of Warcraft: Forever were released on consecutive days as new versions of influential games.
Both remakes modernize their games while aiming to preserve the originals’ spirit.
Ocarina of Time is described as a faithful recreation with few changes to its content and design, but a substantially updated art style.
WoW: Forever retains the original game’s art and content while making substantial additions and changes to its design.
Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma said rebuilding Ocarina of Time could help a new generation of developers learn from its design.
- Who
- Nintendo and Blizzard made the remakes. Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma discussed Nintendo’s aims.
- What
- Ocarina of Time and World of Warcraft: Forever are new versions of the games, with different approaches to updating them.
- When
- They were released on consecutive days. Exact release dates are not stated.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- Nintendo wanted its developers to learn from Ocarina of Time’s structure and development style. The article says WoW: Forever reflects a desire to make a “Classic Plus” version of WoW.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
This story does not have a timeline yet.
- Games
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; World of Warcraft: Forever
- Ocarina of Time approach
- Faithful recreation with few content and design changes and a new art style
- WoW: Forever approach
- Retains the original game’s art and content, with substantial additions and design changes
- Nintendo’s stated aim
- Pass knowledge of Ocarina of Time’s structure and development style to a new generation of developers
What people are saying
By learning the game structure and development style behind the original The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and by actually rebuilding it as a full remake, it may trigger new insights that they can carry forward into future development.
If we could achieve that, I thought it would be incredibly valuable. That’s what led us to the conclusion that now is the right time to revisit The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time once again.