Aonuma says Upcoming Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was Influenced by Skyward Sword Complaints
Eiji Aonuma talked to Polygon during E3, and discussed how the upcoming, highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was influenced by negative comments about Skyward Sword, the previous console game in the franchise. Just from watching its trailer, longtime fans of the series can pick up on how much is being changed in Breath of the Wild, but the response to this shift in the franchise has been overwhelmingly positive.
Here is the E3 trailer:
“A lot of the fans that played Skyward Sword said that they were really bummed out that they couldn’t find the hidden element of the game,” Aonuma said. “A lot of the users, when they looked at the map, they said, ‘OK, there’s these places I can go, but how come I can’t go over here?'”
This feedback was particularly influential, as Breath of the Wild heavily emphasizes the open world nature of the game, a first in The Legend of Zelda.
Aonuma had worries about players getting lost, however. “I’ve always thought that when creating a 3D game where it’s easy for users to get lost, it’s really important to tell the users what they need to do,” he stated. “But then, after creating this larger world, I realized that getting lost isn’t that bad. Having the option to do whatever you want and get lost is actually kind of fun. I think fans that enjoy a more linear type of gameplay will also enjoy this type of gameplay.”
The divisive motion controls of Skyward Sword seem to not be returning, as Aonuma added, “Fans that enjoyed the motion controls in Skyward Sword may actually be a little bit disappointed playing this game.”
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be released in 2017 on the Wii U and the upcoming NX console.