(03-22-2019, 04:16 AM)DrHouse64 Wrote: [ -> ]I think our disagreement here is tied to how we see a game as a piece of art. I found this interesting so here's some of my thoughts about it.
For me, a game defines itself by its art, gameplay... and, also, its technical limitations. Technical limitations influence the whole game much more than we can imagine, most of retro games design and mechanics comes from this, it's not something we can throw away like this and say "it's glorious 1080p now" without consequences. For example, something as basic as the number of sprites that can be displayed can lead to a clever placement of enemies and items, how tall is the enemy's polygon so we can see it on a 240p screen, etc...
Emulator enhancements are good but this is not how the game was intended to be played so by doing that, you already remove a tiny part of the artist vision.
When I see people playing OOT in 4K with HD textures at 30/60 FPS hack, I don't blame them, I myself played it this way too, it's fun. But for me this isn't the "perfect version" at all. You aren't playing Ocarina Of Time from 1998. You're playing OOT from 2019 with modifications. Each original texture was designed this way for a particular reason. Same can be said about the new Final Fantasy VII HD textures done by AI upscaling.
Awakening's original design was defined the GameBoy limitations. I'm fine about enhancing it a little bit to make it look like a "HD SNES" style, but they got too far for me.
Of course, I don't say my way thinking is the right one, everybody enjoy playing games the he wants, and it's fine.
You and I definitely have different views on what defines the "perfect version", but that's ok. Everyone is allowed to have their own views on it of course.
For me, the "perfect version" is simply a version of the game that absolutely has the best it can despite it limitations. Back then during the days of the GB and N64, Link's Awakening and Ocarina of Time were pure perfection simply because they couldn't be any better back then due hardware and technical limitations. Today, I have to say honestly both games are so outdated that it can prevent me from fully enjoying them, because I am aware how they could be better, thanks to recent games which prove that some design principles and technologies simply work better.
Take for example both Oracle games. Since the Minish Cap on the GBA, I always found the Oracle games to be limited. Only four buttons and a digital pad compared to the six buttons and digital pad on the GBA. Those two extra buttons could go a long way making the Oracle games more accessible, especially navigating between the menu screens, like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask did. Not only that, dungeons were capable of rooms larger than your screen size (scrolling rooms! yeah!), but this wasn't simply used in the overworld. In a perfectly designed game, the whole world would be seamless (like Breath of the Wild mostly does) and be devoid of loading between screens. So the remake of Link's Awakening proves to be an excellent opportunity, not only to enhance the audiovisuals but technical limitations as well such as creating a seamless world and more than just two buttons for your items.
Even Ocarina of Time And Majora's Mask (which are among my favorite games of all time, but that's no secret anymore) have been outdated. Honestly, the 360p resolution, in 4:3 and the low quality textures can be extremely off-puting, which can cause me to avoid games at time. I truly want to love these classic gems, but the technology and game design simply is too limited in certain parts. Which is why I (and many others) set out to "perfect" both games as long Nintendo does not remaster them themselves. A "perfect version" is defined by what the newer entries have proven to be successful in, such as a Hero Mode, being able to equip and unequip any sword and shield, tougher monsters, higher FPS, 4K textures. A lot of this "perfection" is simply possible because of emulators such as Dolphin itself. Resolutions such as 1080p and 4K wouldn't be possible. And functions such as the CPU Clock Override and Fast Disc Speed (even while this isn't considered accurate emulation and potentially causes issues) bring both games even further.
Of course, I would be extremely hyped should Nintendo announce a full remaster of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for the Nintendo Switch. I could already imagine the "perfect version". I would really love to see the cut content being restored (Ura Zelda Disk Drive) such as the Ice Temple, Light Temple, the bigger Hyrule Castle Market Town, the extra towns, the unfreezing of the Zora's Domain, obtaining the Tri-Force.
For me, the game may be remastered or be completely remade, as long it captures the essential of what defined the original game. As long it aims to make the superior version, I can consider it to be a better version of the same original game. So yeah, the Nintendo Switch proves to be an excellent opportunity for Nintendo to remaster these classic gems. DO IT NINTENDO!
Nothing but perfection.
