Skyward Sword’s eclectic art style is a link to the past

That Nintendo is clearly going for a new art style with the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is undeniable. The initial screens, and those colors…they are, if nothing else, a marked departure from the browns and greens found in Twilight Princess.

What we saw at E3 was clearly a demo, complete with ever-present visual Wiimote cues onscreen, so I think it’s safe to say Link will be journeying well beyond the simple forest and scorpion battle we’ve seen plastered all over the Internet this week. But what will it look like? How will this new art style translate into other Zelda staples; things like temples, element-based areas and graveyards?

Zelda Universe has an idea, and I think it’s as good as any. They cite impressionist paintings (Monet, Van Gogh, Caillebotte) and how they might hint at what’s to come. I agree with to a point, but I’d go further. Further back in time, I mean, to the late 1980s and that picture above from some of the original Zelda art and instruction manual fare.

Combined with the renewed focus on battle, discovery and tools, this “new” 3D Zelda and its colorful, almost throwback art style could very well be the true link to the past that gets the series back in touch with its roots.

And don’t get me wrong, the Ocarina of Time 3DS news was pretty kick ass too.