It's funny to think back on those days prior to the launch of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on GameCube. The now-infamous Space World 2000 footage gave us a glimpse of a Zelda experience that was, by and large, a natural graphical evolution of what came before in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.
So when Nintendo brought out the first trailer for The Wind Waker in 2001 and showcased a cel-shaded visual style that many would later derisively christen 'Celda', it was undoubtedly a bit of a shock to the system. Fast forward nearly 25 years later, however, and while it may still have its critics, The Wind Waker is widely regarded as one of the most unique and timeless entries in the series.
So imagine our delight, then, when we watched the above fan-made trailer for a hypothetical Wind Waker sequel in the style of Breath of the Wild. It's simply incredible! Posted by 16-Bit Dreams on YouTube, it clocks in at just under three-and-a-half minutes and showcases a beautiful open-world that evolves the original cel-shaded style from The Wind Waker.
It's not an actual game, of course – we should make that super clear. Instead, this is a concept movie created via Unity that apparently took over a year to complete. It's wonderful though, and might be one of the best fan-made Zelda concepts we've ever seen.
In fact, just the other day, this writer sat pondering how great it would be if Nintendo returned to the style of Wind Waker for its next 3D Zelda adventure, and frankly, this concept is pretty darn close to what we had in mind.
So... over to you, Nintendo!