Being in charge of Zelda, managing where it goes next, making tough calls. It must be one of the most difficult, highly scrutinised jobs in gaming. Eiji Aonuma has been doing it for a while now and he recently admitted he is constantly questioning some of the game’s ‘traditions’. Could we be on the verge of a new type of Zelda?
“The recent Zelda games have been rather linear,” he said, in an interview with the Official Nintendo Magazine, “as I thought players didn’t like getting lost, wondering what to do, or where to go. However, I’ve come to question this ‘traditional’ approach as I felt that we couldn’t gain the sense of wonder that existed in the original Legend of Zelda, in which you made unexpected encounters and where what used to be impossible would suddenly become possible.”
Aonuma’s first major Zelda game was Wind Waker, and I’ve always gotten the sense that the initial negative reaction to that game, made him less willing to take risks in subsequent Zelda games. There have been flashes of innovation, most noticeably in the brilliant Link Between Worlds on the 3DS. Here’s hoping it will lead to something special in the next major Zelda title.
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8 responses to “Aonuma Is Constantly Questioning The ‘Traditions’ Of Zelda”
So it’s another case of fanboys hating change?
Ooooooo! I like the sound of this, a lot
My personal thoughts on what could be worth trying with the Zelda series:
1) Voice acting. There’s really no excuse not to. It might be weird at first, but come on. We’ve had full voice acting in games for over a decade now.
2) New time period. Not new timeline, but a new time period. It doesn’t have to always be in a medieval-like setting. Move it forward a few centuries.
3) Open World. Linearity has worked well in the past but it means that the recent games tend to be more formulaic than anything else. Going open world could add some new twists on the series.
4) Make Zelda a character instead of a figurehead. She’s barely in any of the games at all, even though her name is on the freaking box. Make her a companion character for Link, such that she’s there for most of if not the entire game. Perhaps even make her playable in certain areas, or even consider having her as a 2-player co-op character.
5) More RPG elements. Dialogue trees, proper quests that type of thing. The weapon upgrades and inventory system in Skyward Sword were a good start.
A Cyberpunk-ish Zelda game would blow my mind. I can picture it now. Imagine all the awesome looking environments they could do with a neon color pallet, weapons would take on an entirely new angle, and it would be a perfect fit for the Wii U gamepad.
I agree the game should be modernised like say a modern world is dying and Link has to master (no pun intended) Master Sword to set things right. I can imagine it would be like:
“For Centuries Hyrule has been at Peace. With the defeat of Ganon and being ultimately sealed away the Hero of Time has faded into legends (this would mean that there has not been a rebirth of Link for hundreds of years). The Hyrule royal family has been dismantled (a revolution perhaps similar to Russia?) and the world moved on. A cult of the Triforce has been collecting the parts to make the whole and currently have the triforce of courage and power (stolen from Links and Ganons crypts) while they hunt for the triforce of Wisdom (held by Zelda (either an immortal based on the triforce or simply a decendant)).
Eventually the pieces get collected (zelda dies), where in they make some really shitty wishes… The godesses decided to intervene by resurrecting the Hero of Time, but to do so they must also resurrect Ganon and Zelda (as they are also tied to the Triforce) and so the race begins. Zelda intially competes against Link and Ganon but depending on how the game is played she would either join Link (or possibly Ganon).”
Doing this would refresh the series, making it more interesting for Adult gamers (it doesnt necessarily need to be ADULT but lets face it, most Zelda players are Adults). I would like to see it with free run style mechanics similar to Assassins Creed (slow pondering Link isn’t very heroic).
I know this would not happen from Nintendo but a person can wish :S
I think the difficulty is deciding what traditions go into the game and what gets changed. I personally wold argue that the time setting of a less populated era helps make me feel that I am playing a Zelda game. I do agree that there should be more upgrades and side quest though.
Agree regarding the proper quests suggestion
I’d like to play a game were Zelda is the adventurer and Link is the monarch.
The comments about Wind Waker make me really sad. That game was amazing. The open sea, mysterious Islands, freedom and Mystery.
Also, while the art style got panned when it was first unveiled, the sense of scale was amazing. The bosses looked incredible.
Aonuma isnt really the issue. He did pretty well on WW and Majora. Twilight looked promising in the 2004 /05 trailers, but Miyamoto took over late in development and we got a less than anticipated dark game.
Miyamoto and Iwata = reason Nintendo suck post Gamecube.