The Legend of Zelda is celebrating its 38th anniversary this year. A modder is modernizing it with Unreal Engine 5 in the form of a remake. New gameplay from it excites with unmistakable charm and stylistic confidence.
Which Zelda title is the modder recreating? The YouTuber Lloyd Empty has been working on a remake of the very first installment in the series: The Legend of Zelda for several years now. The game is the originator of the legend that began on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
What distinguishes the Zelda series from the crowd? What started in 1986 with The Legend of Zelda has expanded to over 20 main games and numerous smaller spin-offs to this day.
The latest installment is Tears of the Kingdom (TotK) for the Nintendo Switch. Its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, is the best-selling, with around 29 million copies sold. TotK follows closely with nearly 20 million. In 2018, The Legend of Zelda as a series was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame
, as noted on the website of the initiative founded in 1996.
If you enjoy the Zelda series and also celebrate Stardew Valley, you should take a look at Kingsgrave; we have a trailer for you here:
A Remake Following in Nintendo’s Footsteps
What can be seen? In his latest gameplay video, Lloyd Empty shows several minutes of classic Zelda gameplay, including the overworld, a dungeon, a conversation, battles, and more.
What does the graphic style look like? In terms of visuals, Lloyd Empty’s work is comparable to the 2019 Switch remake of Link’s Awakening. The modder explicitly refers to this work by Nintendo as the main source of inspiration.
Is the Zelda remake available for free download? No, there is no way to play the current version in UE5 yourself.
Will it ever be released? Here, the best answer that can be given is a maybe. Below the video, he names his goal for this project as practicing creating a Zelda-like game in Unreal Engine 5.
What does the community think? Lloyd Empty’s creation excites the fans. Many praise the style and atmosphere in over 1500 comments under the YouTube video, with many feeling transported back to their youth. The longing for another classic 2D Zelda is palpable in the comments under the video – but unfortunately, so is the fear of Nintendo. The legal department of the Japanese gaming giant is known to be a modder’s nightmare.
In this regard, the user Dr.Frogerston seemingly sums it up for many, as nearly 3000 upvotes suggest:
[I’ll watch the video] before Nintendo shuts the project down.
And matt92hun agrees wholeheartedly: Yes, it looks too good for Nintendo to just leave it alone.
On Lloyd Empty’s YouTube channel, you can also find some other gameplay clips from the fan remake, some of which are significantly older but still worth watching today.
The games in the Zelda series can indeed be very time-consuming. If someone really wants to see everything in them, he or she may have to invest hundreds of hours. All side quests, collectible items, and other activities go far beyond the usual playtime for a run. A fan of the latest installment, Tears of the Kingdom, however, experienced some disappointments on the way to 100 percent. He was ultimately frustrated when he discovered that his save file was still functioning.
