Spanning almost four decades, theLegend of Zeldafranchise has had many different looks over the years, ranging from top-down classic NES pixel art, a more detailed, colorful look on the Game Boy Advance, and the game’s first 3D polygonal look onthe Nintendo 64. But no matter how much it changes over the years, aLegend of Zeldagame will always have its defining features, and that’s true even for the most recent entryThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Adopting essentially the same art style as its predecessor,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomonce again boasts a beautifully bright cel-shaded art style. While it may not be the most visually impressive game on the current market, nor the most realistic,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomadopts an art style that will keep players returning years later, making it one of the game’s strongest selling points.
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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Cel-Shaded Art Style Kills Two Birds With One Stone
When it comes to consoleLegend of Zeldareleases, the series has adopted a vast array of different art styles over the years. After theNintendo 64 entries,Zelda: Ocarina of TimeandMajora’s Mask, which had a mix of both bright and gloomy color palettes, theZeldafranchise decided to go all-in on the series' whimsical elements, givingThe Legend of Zelda: Wind Wakeran incredibly bright, colorful cel-shaded art style. While at the time this drew criticism from fans that wanted to see a more realisticZeldagame using the GameCube’s hardware,Zelda: Wind Waker’s art style has gone on to be fondly remembered by many, and allowing it to have aged much more gracefully than even someZeldagames that came after it.
When it came time to rejuvenate the franchise once more withThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo decided to return toWind Waker’s cel-shaded art style, albeit a slightly more realistic version with less cartoon-y character models. Though the Nintendo Switch didn’t have the hardware to compete with the PS4 and Xbox One’s graphical potential,Breath of the Wildused its cel-shaded art style to great effect, hiding the game’s technical shortcomings while still allowing the world to pop with color and subtle detail, killing two birds with one stone.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomadopts its predecessor’s cel-shaded art style, and even now six years later, it still works extremely well for the type of game thatTears of the Kingdomis. One of the highlights ofBreath of the Wild’s cel-shaded art stylewas that it gave each environment a distinct identity with its bold color palette.Tears of the Kingdomcontinues this trend, bringing its own unique splash of color with the Autumnal Sky Islands, and the pitch-black Depths beneath Hyrule.
The only real downside toThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s cel-shaded art style is that character models and some environmental textures don’t appear very detailed when up close. But withTears of the Kingdombeing a sprawlingopen-world game, the player spends a lot of their time with their eyes on the horizon, picking out points of interest denoted by a difference in color palette. It may not be the most graphically impressive game on the market right now or even a market from a few years ago, butThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s cel-shaded art style is almost guaranteed to extend the game’s life expectancy long ahead of the more realistic-looking games on the current market, and it’ll remain a big selling point for years.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available now on Switch.
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