Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma aren’t done playing in the sandbox they helped create.
Hidemaro Fujibayashi was the director and Eiji Aonuma the producer of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from Nintendo. The 2017 release eschewed the familiar conventions of the beloved video game series and presented players with a massive adventure in the inviting open world of Hyrule.
It was arguably the most ambitious game Nintendo has produced, but even with two releases of additional DLC, the development team felt it left plenty of ideas on the table.
With the release this week of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdoma direct sequel to Breath of the Wild which spanned six years, gamers can finally see many of these ideas take shape.
“Looking at the Hyrule we created, I became convinced that there were still a lot of different possibilities to play in this world,” Eiji Aonuma told The Canadian Press from New York via a translator. during a recent interview. And we became enthusiastic about this idea. »
With a solid foundation in place, the development team got to work expanding Hyrule. Tears of the Kingdom includes celestial and subterranean realms that are in direct relation to the existing surface world.
Mr. Fujibayashi believes that the greatest novelty in Tears of the Kingdom, is the idea of being able to explore it in a fluid way. “There’s a whole range of vertical axes available, and being able to explore that seamlessly was something I really wanted to achieve,” the director pointed out through a translator.
“You can call it a bloated and optimized version of what we were able to experience in Breath of the Wild “, he added.
Another notable addition is the ability of Link, the game’s hero, to manipulate objects in the world and use them to strengthen weapons or build devices. Mr. Fujibayashi mentioned that this ability highlights how the development team was able to use the foundation laid by “Breath of the Wild” to create something new.
” In Breath of the Wild, there are objects which are like cogwheels which turn perpetually. So we thought, ‘What if we put a plank on top of four of them? “And then we were able to create an impromptu car,” he gave as an example.
“In a similar vein, some of the staff put together four planks of wood and created a makeshift cannon that you can drop a bomb into from a distance. With these two elements together, we were able to create this type of DIY tank using only the mechanics and assets of the game. Breath of the Wild.
Although the development team was able to quickly jump into creating Tears of the Kingdomfurther challenges arose during the game’s six-year development cycle. The COVID-19 pandemic began midway through the creation process, and Mr. Aonuma argued that the development team had to deal with the same disruptions in the workplace that are felt around the world.
“But I can say that our desire to create an interesting and engaging experience for players hasn’t changed and that’s something we’ve adapted to and continued,” he said.
Mr. Fujibayashi explains that part of creating this experience is finding ways to surprise players.
He said that for him and his team, these people who are on the field and who make the game, their goal is to bring something new. They have the same desire and constantly wonder what new pleasure they can bring to the player.
Mr. Fujibayashi said the development team knew they were on the right track if they could impress Mr. Aonuma.
“The closest type of monitor tester we can get our hands on happens to be Mr. Aonuma,” Mr. Fujibayashi said. When we hand it to him and the producer says, “oh wow,” we tell ourselves we’re in business. »