2023-05-11 00:07:25
The team behind Tears Of The Kingdom explains why they wanted to return to Hyrule and what all the symbolism of the hands means. Before the release of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom this Friday, Nintendo has begun posting portions of an interview with key figures on the game’s development team, including series producer Eiji Aonuma.
As such, the team has shared various behind-the-scenes details regarding the game’s development, including the decision to make it a direct sequel to Breath Of The Wild and keep his version of Hyrule. One obvious explanation is that reusing the environment saves time (time no doubt spent creating the new sky islands), but the team explains that it was mainly because they still had ideas they wanted to explore in that world. Aonuma even says that it was always the plan to make Tears Of The Kingdom a traditional sequel:
“Although the previous title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wildit has its own conclusion, we started to come up with new things that we wanted to bring to life in this already realized version of Hyrule, so our direction to make a sequel did not change.
This reminds us how Super Mario Galaxy 2 it began as an expansion to its predecessor, as an excuse to use ideas that had been cut from the first game, only to become a full sequel. The suggestion of a sequel also met with no resistance from other members of the team, according to director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, who adds that what helped the decision was everyone’s familiarity with the setting.
“Just as you know a place by heart, we understand where everything is in Hyrule from Breath Of The Wild, and because of that, we believed that it was possible to create a new gameplay”, explains Fujibayashi. “For this reason, in the initial proposal, we made it clear that ‘the environment will not change’ as an important concept. Even when I shared this with team members, there were no objections and we were all aligned with that idea from then on.”
Having knowledge of the previous game will also be beneficial for players, especially when it comes to diving from islands in the sky to below ground.
“If a place was completely unfamiliar to you, you’d probably be hesitant to drop from the sky, but since it’s a world you’ve already explored in the previous game, these methods of transportation make sense,” says technical director Takuhiro Dohta.
The team also admits deliberate similarities to Skyward Sword of 2011 (which also featured an earth in the sky), highlighting how the transition from heaven to earth in Tears Of The Kingdom it’s now fluid, something Dohta says Aonuma and Fujibayashi insisted on having.
“I wanted this to happen from Skyward SwordFujibayashi says. “To think how satisfying it would be to drop from the sky and jump straight into the water. In this title, diving is not just regarding enjoying seamless and exciting transportation, but also brings more value as a tool to gather information regarding the surface by looking at it from above.”
Aonuma acknowledges that some may worry that they will not be able to enjoy Tears Of The Kingdom without having played Breath Of The Wild first, but he and the rest of the team express confidence that the newcomers will feel at home.
“The new gameplay ideas we’ve incorporated into this title are things that can be figured out intuitively, so I think first-time players can rest assured that this game is easy to understand,” he says.
Fujibayashi adds, “The same goes for the story as well. We work hard to make sure it feels comfortable for first-time players as well as those with previous game experience.
“For example, we have prepared a character profile feature that players can view at any time during their adventure, making it easy to understand the relationship between characters, even without knowledge of the previous title.”
This all comes from the first part of the interview, and the second part delves into a key theme of the game that may offer some clues to its history: the hands.
Link’s right arm has obviously undergone some transformation and is the source of his new powers, but the team says that the use of his hands also symbolizes Link’s coming together and forming connections with his allies.
“The previous game was relatively solitary, or rather an endurance game where you made the most of Link’s body and strength just to roam the vast world,” explains Dohta.
“What’s unique this time is joining hands and cooperating with various characters, and sometimes creating items with Link’s own hands and using them as you go.”
This goes as far as implementing clapping into the game’s music, according to sound director Hajime Wakai, with Aonuma adding, “The ‘hands’ express the idea of ’connection.’ This also goes for the story, which connects to Hyrule’s past. He also talks regarding a great fight called ‘The Prison War’, which until now was considered a myth even in Hyrule.
A third of the interview is scheduled for later today. And we will have the information here at Atomix as soon as it is released.
Via: Metro
Editor’s note: I really hope I run into something as exciting as what made Phantom Hourglass Out of my favorite games. The Switch has everything to put one or another surprise of that level that the 3DS delivered.
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