Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma were not done playing in the sandbox they helped create.
Fujibayashi was the director and Aonuma the producer of Nintendo鈥檚 鈥淭he Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.鈥 The 2017 release eschewed the beloved series鈥 familiar conventions and presented gamers with a massive adventure in the inviting open world of Hyrule.
It was arguably the most ambitious game Nintendo had produced, but even with two releases of extra downloadable content, the development team felt they left a lot of ideas on the table.
With this week鈥檚 release of 鈥淭he Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,鈥 a direct sequel to 鈥淏reath of the Wild鈥 six years in the making, gamers get to see many of those ideas finally take form.
鈥淟ooking at the Hyrule we created, I became convinced that there were still a lot of different opportunities and possibilities to play in that world,鈥 Aonuma told 香港六合彩挂牌资料 from New York through a translator in a recent interview.
鈥淎nd we kind of became excited about that idea.鈥
With a solid foundation in place, the development team set to work expanding Hyrule. 鈥淭ears of the Kingdom鈥 includes sky and underground realms that map out in direct relation to the existing surface world.
鈥淚 think the biggest thing that鈥檚 now in 鈥楾ears of the Kingdom鈥 is the idea of having it be seamless,鈥 Fujibayashi said through a translator. 鈥淭here's a whole range of vertical axis that is made available, and to be able to explore that seamlessly was something that I really wanted to make happen."
鈥淵ou can call it a souped-up, powered-up version of what we were able to experience in 鈥楤reath of the Wild,鈥欌 he added.
Another notable addition is the ability of Link, the game鈥檚 hero, to manipulate objects in the world and use them to strengthen weapons or build devices. Fujibayashi said this ability highlights how the development team was able to use the foundation laid by 鈥淏reath of the Wild鈥 to create something new.
鈥淚n 鈥楤reath of the Wild,鈥 there are assets that are in there like perpetually spinning cog wheels,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o, we thought: 鈥榃hat if we put a plank on top of four of those?鈥 And then we were able to create an impromptu car.
鈥淚n the same vein, some staff members put together four wood planks and created a makeshift cannon you could drop a remote bomb into. With those two elements together, we were able to create this kind of DIY tank using just the mechanisms and assets from 鈥楤reath of the Wild.鈥欌
While the development team was able to hit the ground running in making 鈥淭ears of the Kingdom,鈥 other challenges arose during the game鈥檚 six-year development cycle. The COVID-19 pandemic began in the middle of the creative process, and Aonuma said the development team dealt with the same workplace disruptions felt worldwide.
鈥淏ut I can say our desire to create an interesting, captivating experience for players didn't change and is something that we adjusted to and continued pursuing,鈥 he said.
Fujibayashi says part of creating that experience is finding ways to surprise players.
鈥淔or me, and my team, the people clearly on the ground making it, it's really just a collection of people who want to provide something new,鈥 he said. 鈥淓verybody has that same desire and same dream. What kind of delight can you provide players next?鈥
Fujibayashi said the development team knows they are on the right track if they can impress Aonuma.
鈥淚t just so happens that the closest kind of monitor tester that we can get our hands on is Mr. Aonuma,鈥 Fujibayashi said. 鈥淲hen we hand it off to him and the producer is like 鈥榦h wow,鈥 we鈥檙e kind of like 鈥榓ll right, we鈥檙e in business.鈥欌
This report by 香港六合彩挂牌资料 was first published May 12, 2023.
