Fan-made Zelda short reimagines Ocarina of Time in the style of Studio Ghibli

In a nutshell: The Legend of Zelda has served as the foundation for numerous fan-made recreations over the years, and for good reason. The latest project from YouTuber RwanLink could be regarded as one of the most impressive interpretations to date, especially if you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (released November 21, 1998), RwanLink shared nearly 20 minutes of footage from an Unreal Engine 5-based project that consumed more than 600 hours during a four month period.

The video plays in 4K and looks absolutely gorgeous, despite being quite choppy in some sections. Refinements would certainly be needed before one could safely consider it a finished product but it’s off to a great start.

The snippet depicts life in Castle Town. According to RwanLink, more than 30 characters were developed for the project. It is worth mentioning the short was made as a film, not to run as a game.

RwanLink, if you recall, was also behind the more realistic Ocarina of Time reimagining from a few years back. That project was even more visually stunning.

Zelda is one of Nintendo’s top franchises and has been getting a ton of attention as of late. Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel to Breath of the Wild, launched in May and had sold 19.5 million copies as of September 30. Earlier this month, Nintendo announced plans for a live-action Zelda film led by Shigeru Miyamoto.

The film will be jointly produced by Nintendo and Arad Productions, and will be directed by Wes Ball. Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment will co-finance production, with the former footing the majority of the bill. Sony will handle theatrical distribution worldwide, we are told.

We’ve also seen a ton of quality fan-made Zelda projects as of late including this playable version of the original made in Minecraft, a VR remake created using a Doom mod, and a PC remake of A Link to the Past crafted from reverse-engineered code.

Those interested in supporting RwanLink’s work can do so over on Patreon.