Category: The Legend of Zelda

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A Link To the Virtual Future – Zelda Boss Battles in VR

Many videogame fans were disappointed that Nintendo have chosen to sit out the modern resurgence in virtual reality (VR) technology, though many commentators pointed to the Virtual Boy debacle as a reason way. That hasn’t stopped ambitious fans from experimenting to see what big Nintendo properties might look like if transferred into VR, as a new fan project that brings Legend of Zelda into VR demonstrates.

Legend of Zelda fan and independent developer known online as Aklar_45 has utilised Unreal Engine 4 to transfer some of the most memorable boss battles in Legend of Zelda history into VR.

Though there are now several instances of third-person VR titles, most people believe that VR works best when in first-person, with the player effectively taking the role of the protagonist. The developer has also taken this approach, showing how a first-person viewpoint could be used in the fight against Zelda villains.

Two the currently available proof-of-concept videos show a battle against Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess enemy, the giant skeleton Stallord, while another shows a fight against the most famous villain of the series, Ganondorf himself.

The videos portray the player grabbing the iconic Master Sword and Shield to engage in melee combat, before switching out to a bow and arrow for ranged combat. Incoming projectiles can be deflected with a sword swing, or the shield can be raised to simply absorb them.

The developer has used Unreal Engine 4 to carefully re-create the environments as they appeared in the original titles, transposed into VR and using modern lighting and effects, giving new weight to things such as collapsing dungeons floors due to the first-person perspective.

Sadly, since this is an unlicensed fan project, there isn’t much chance of this ever getting a release as an official Nintendo product. That said, VRFocus will be right there to report – and celebrate – if Nintendo ever joins the VR scene.

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These Amazing Zelda VR Fan Experiences Let You Wield The Master Sword

Theses Amazing Zelda VR Fan Experiences Let You Wield The Master Sword

After playing this brilliant fan-made app we’re more anxious than ever for Nintendo to make a VR game based on The Legend of Zelda.

Indie developer Aklar_45 created this free experience (download here), which was developed using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4. Playable on either the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, it lets you wield the legendary Master Shield — complete with a Hyrulian shield — in battle against the Stallord boss from Twilight Princess. The Oculus Touch or Vive wands provide realistic controls, and you can also switch to a box and arrow.

The boss itself is a little tricky, and almost impossible to beat without using teleportation locomotion, though you can use smooth too. You’ve got a certain number of hits you can sustain before you’ll have to try things from the start. The controls on Touch are a little wonky but good enough for any Zelda fans that need to try this out. An especially nice touch is the ability to summon ever-annoying fairy, Navi, at the touch of a button. If you like Aklar_45’s work you can donate to his PayPal here.

It’s not the first Zelda VR boss fight the developer has made. You can also do battle with Darknut and even Ganondorf himself among others. There’s a whole assortment of bosses to fight through at the developer’s YouTube page.

Many VR gamers have longed for the chance to pick up Link’s iconic weapon and this is about as close as you can get right now. It helps that the demo is visually stunning, besting even Nintendo’s own Zelda games. Sadly, Nintendo itself seems no closer to bringing our dreams to life in any official capacity; a VR version of Mario Kart Arcade is just about the only work the company has done with the technology, at least publically. Yesterday, we also reported that someone had made an N64 VR emulator that allows you to play Ocarina of Time inside a headset.

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