Dante Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 Nintendo Dream Profile Eiji Aonuma Born in 1963, in the prefecture of Nagano. He earned his masters degree on design from the Fine Arts University of Tokyo. Ever since Ocarina of Time, he’s been involved in the development of every game from the Zelda franchise. He was at first the producer of Twilight Princess, but halfway through the project he became the director and guided the team more closely. His blood type is A. –Congratulations on the release. Aonuma: Thank you. –Today we can ask you some things you couldn’t talk about when you were interviewed by Mr. Iwata (a reference to Aonuma’s interview from the “Iwata Asks” series, available on http://wii.nintendo.com/iwata_asks_vol5_p5.jsp. Aonuma: Ha, ha, ha (laughs). That just reminded me, when I went to the Wii experiencing event on November, I saw a huge billboard of Twilight Princess there. That’s when I first noticed that “Wii” is in the title. –Twilight... Of course! Aonuma: The “L” is in-between, but I thought it was fate that we decided to develop a Zelda game for Wii (laughs). And then I remembered my talk at GDC (a conference for game developers held every year in the USA) three years ago, entitled, “Revolution of Franchises.” After my lecture, the Revolution (Wii’s code-name) was unveiled. So, it really was meant to be. Well, that’s just my strained interpretation, though (laughs). –(laughs) Still, it turned out to be a large-scale game. What’s the average time for clearing it? Aonuma: This is all data from the staff of the Super Mario Club who debugged the game, but I’m told it would take someone used to videogames around 107 hours if he plays normally and clears most mini-games. –That’s amazing!! No wonder it was under development for three years... Aonuma: (smiles bitterly) While it’s true that it was under development for quite a long time, we didn’t really intend it to be so big from the beginning. When we chose going down the realistic path, there came up many details from Link and his surroundings that we simply could spare no efforts on... If all the events happening in the vast land of Hyrule took place in a very compact world, the motivation to save the world would be weaker. To convey that feeling of “I’m saving the world on my own!” we needed a huge extension of land, so we decided to have a lot of people living in various places, and that’s how the world got larger fast. But the truth is I never thought we’d end up with a game this big (laughs). At first, I told the staff the ideas I had in my head and they created the maps, but when they were done, they had exceeded the image in my mind by 20%. –And it became known as the 120% Zelda game that exceeds Ocarina of Time, right? Aonuma: Well, I don’t think so (laughs). –But that extra 20% piled up fast... Aonuma: Yes. When a single part gets bigger, it adds up to the size of whole thing. With a realistic Link, the horse too became realistic in order to keep the style. Just like that we built a world sparing no efforts whatsoever, and that also increased the scale of the game. –But it didn’t just get bigger, it’s also packed full of contents. Aonuma: True. It’d be stupid if it was large enough but didn’t have any contents, don’t you think? (laughs) I feel extremely grateful to the staff, who worked with all their strength for enlarging the world and filling it with things that feel real. –How long would it take to go around this world on Epona? Aonuma: I haven’t checked that out (laughs). –And on foot...? Aonuma: On foot, it takes a long time. Early in the game, when you can’t ride Epona, you have to cross Hyrule Field on foot, and it takes some time. As you progress in the game, the areas get larger. Riding Epona across the world through all its connected areas is very nice. –Yeah, riding Epona is nice. Aonuma: You can actually feel the wind, right? –You definitely can feel it. And you can attack the enemy while riding. Aonuma: Yes. Wielding your sword while riding the horse is one of the selling points of this game; you can’t get such a pleasant feeling like that when you enter a dungeon. Going around the world riding Epona and fighting enemies after clearing an important event can be pretty liberating, I think. –This new game’s not just wide, but also high and deep, so high that jumping down from some high places could destroy your hips (laughs). Aonuma: Actually, I’m afraid of heights, so I don’t really like high places (laughs). However, we have the claw shot, an item to hang on to things from far apart, so it’d be weird if you couldn’t reach those high places. And the world got higher and higher because of wanting to get to those places. –Getting to a high place and pressing the C button to enter the first person perspective and take an extensive view of the world is another thing that feels nice. Aonuma: While the designers were creating this world, they arranged for each location to have a superb view. So, I’d like every player to go out and find their own superb-view points. Plus, the landscape changes drastically according to the time of the day. A 16-YEAR OLD LINK FULL OF EXPRESSIONS –The expressions of Link and the other characters are very rich. Aonuma: As a matter of fact, we gave it a lot of thought because we didn’t know where to stop. Once you start with the facial expressions, there are no limits. I think it’s important that Link changes his expressions in order to show some sympathy during scenes where the player can feel human emotions. It’s obvious in the cinema displays, but it’s also there in scenes where we wanted to make a point, like when Link has bad luck in fishing. –His face also changes when he opens a treasure chest, depending on the item inside (laughs). By the way, in this game Link’s 16 years old, right? Aonuma: Being 16 years old is right before turning into an adult. The TV ad of the disc system game Adventure of Link said, “16 years [i have no idea of the context, so that’s just my guess],” so now Link’s 16 years old (laughs). Both: (laugh) Aonuma: At that age you’ve matured a little, and if your parents tell you not to do something, you go and do right the opposite. That’s why Link turns his sword when fighting an enemy. –He provokes his enemies. Aonuma: That move reflects Link’s mischievous side, and he shows some style when he overuses his physical strength. –I think I’ve seen that in an old American movie... Aonuma: Exactly! To me, it’s like George Chakiris from West Side Story (a musical film from 1961; George Chakiris had the role of the leader of the villains). The origin of those elements is old, but I asked the staff to include them. –I see (laughs). And then we have that cool sword-sheathing move. Aonuma: Have you learnt that trick? –You have to push A right after beating an enemy, before you give a single step! Aonuma: That’s it! It’s not very easy to notice how to do it. There are many scenes where it’d be nice to sheath your sword in that cool way, so I hope all the players can master that move. THE REASON BEHIND THE CHANGE OF LINK’S VOICE ACTOR –The sword fights are fun this time too. Aonuma: It was in Ocarina of Time that we first included precise sword-wielding enemies. This time, the designers included many techniques for having cool sword fights. Among those techniques, Mr. Miyamoto (Shigeru Miyamoto, the game’s producer) is especially fond of the finishing blow... (laughs) –The scene when you learn the finishing blow is very exciting, depending on your point of view. Aonuma: Yes, quite. We weren’t sure of having that move in the game, but Link fights for justice, so we thought that he needed great techniques to kill his opponents. That’s why we decided to include them in this Zelda game. –That “finishing blow” is a “hidden skill,” and there are many stones located in various places that lead you to learn some sword techniques. Aonuma: They’re called “wind stones,” because the wind blows through them, producing that sound. –I put a bomb in there, but it didn’t blow up. Both: (laugh) Aonuma: You don’t have to do the same things you did in Ocarina of Time! That could be troublesome (laughs). –But the stone had a hole on it, so I tried doing something with that (laughs). Anyways, the hidden-skills system is nice. Aonuma: That comes from the A button reaction attacks from The Wind Waker (attacks you can perform when the A button shines on the screen). Many people worked on this game, and I entrusted them with the events and the dialogues, but I wanted to include something of my very own, so I wrote the script for the skeleton warrior that teaches you the hidden skills. He’s my child inside this game (laughs). –Really? (laughs) Aonuma: In The Wind Waker it was the King of Red Lions. –Yeah (laughs). By the way, you changed Link’s voice actor too, didn’t you? Aonuma: Yes. At first, we had doubts of whether Link’s former voice actor was suitable for this game. Then we got a message from NOA (Nintendo of America) saying they felt Link’s former voice was out of place. This Link is more sensitive, so we decided to have a voice that conveyed an image a bit different from the one in Ocarina of Time. We received many voice samples, even from women, we tested some of them inside the actual game and the one that suited the best was the voice of Mr. Akira Sasanuma (a voice actor from Arts Vision; he’s famous for his role of Dearka Elsman in Gundam SEED). His voice has a mischievous tone in it too; we wanted Link to sound a little like a bad guy. THE WORLD A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE PEACE RETURNED TO HYRULE –When does Twilight Princess take place? Aonuma: In the world of Ocarina of Time, a hundred and something years later. –And the Wind Waker? Aonuma: The Wind Waker is parallel. In Ocarina of Time, Link flew seven years in time, he beat Ganon and went back to being a kid, remember? Twilight Princess takes place in the world of Ocarina of Time, a hundred and something years after the peace returned to kid Link’s time. In the last scene of Ocarina of Time, kids Link and Zelda have a little talk, and as a consequence of that talk, their relationship with Ganon takes a whole new direction. In the middle of this game [Twilight Princess], there's a scene showing Ganon's execution. It was decided that Ganon be executed because he'd do something outrageous if they left him be. That scene takes place several years after Ocarina of Time. Ganon was sent to another world and now he wants to obtain the power... –And now we wait for the game to enjoy the rest of the story, huh? (laughs) Aonuma: Well, that’s how things are. (laughs) –There’s a reference to King Zora (the king of the Zora race in Ocarina of Time; his official name is Do Bon, the third), and there are some pictures of the man from the fishing pond (the owner of a fishing business near Lake Hylia in Ocarina of Time). You can get the feeling here and there that the events from Ocarina of Time happened some time ago. Aonuma: Those things have a connection to Ocarina of Time, and we were not very sure of whether to include them or not, but the staff was having a good time, so those details just kept increasing. –Kakariko Village and Lake Hylia haven’t changed their names, did you have in mind for their design that a hundred years had passed? Aonuma: We clearly didn’t design Kakariko Village to reflect that a hundred years had passed. We had this town and when we decided the events that would take place there, we also decided it to be Kakariko Village, just the way it was. In this game, there are two places named, “Forest Firo-ne [Faron Woods]” and “Orudin [Eldin]”; they received their names after the three goddesses from Ocarina of Time. During Ocarina of Time, there were no such places, but after a long time, the names grew on the people living there and so those names were passed on. THE CAT ON THE WEATHERCOCK –OK, now I’d like to ask you some questions while we go through the game up to about half of it. First, Toaru Village [Ordon Village]. Aonuma: You’re not pronouncing it correctly, it’s ToaRU (with accent on the RU) (laughs). –I’m sorry (laughs). So, ToaRU Village, right? I think there are many people who had problems with the cat. Aonuma: That’s a point that Mr. Miyamoto and I were concerned with, but in the end we thought that it wouldn’t work if the player was given the answer right from the beginning. –But there are some hints. Aonuma: There are, but if someone doesn’t notice them... –Well, that person is bound to have a tough time with this game! (laughs) Both: (laugh) Aonuma: If you can’t solve the cat puzzle, you can’t advance in the game. Many items are introduced in this village, and the curiosity of trying out many things with them will be useful later on in the game. That’s how a Zelda game is, its foundation is trying out many things to solve the puzzles. In order for the player to understand that foundation, we just can’t have a character from the village telling him exactly what he must do to solve the cat puzzle. But to tell you the truth, in the beginning it was just like that (laughs). –You can carry the dog inside the water mill, and you would think the same can be done with the cat. I thought that was mean. Aonuma: I see. But we then thought that while dogs are pretty obedient, cats are not. –Well, that’s true (laughs). So, since you can’t carry the cat, you need the falcon to catch it. Aonuma: That’s close to the demo version we had at E3. There was a cat on the weathercock that couldn’t get down, so the falcon had to fly there to get it down. But then Mr. Miyamoto said we couldn’t have something that unrealistic and got mad (laughs). He said there’s no way a cat could get all the way up to a weathercock by himself. From Mr. Miyamoto’s basic way of thinking, you can’t show something unreal to the player and expect him to come across with an idea to solve the puzzle. So, in order for this game to work, Mr. Miyamoto and I came up with a new keyword: the Zelda etiquette. We would show each other casual objects from our daily lives, experiment with them and if the results were just like we had thought, we’d get happy. Without visualizing that common idea, we somehow managed to do things properly, but they wouldn’t be suitable for the Zelda etiquette. So we definitely couldn't have something as unrealistic as a cat on a weathercock. –And that’s how you ended up with the cat on the riverside, looking like it wants a fish. Aonuma: When the planner thinks of an element, he must first think of the structure. He had to imagine a situation in which a falcon could save a cat. He had some abnormal conditions for saving the cat with the falcon, and so he suddenly placed the cat on the weathercock. –I see. Aonuma: (embarrased) Uh, I just said the planner thought about it, but it was actually me who put the cat on the weathercock (smiles bitterly). Both: (laugh). THE SUMO ACTION BORN FROM THROWING GOATS –There’s also a ranch in Toaru Village, and the goats there get mad if you tease them (laughs). Aonuma: (laughs) The whole thing of herding goats came from thinking of what could be Link’s everyday activities. He was raised up in the country, there’s a ranch, he can ride a horse, and he could also raise goats. So we decided Link should be a shepherd, and herding goats was a straightforward event for having fun. However, Mr. Miyamoto wasn’t satisfied with just that; he wanted to have another way of interacting with the goats, so we created the event of throwing the rushing goat. –Is that goat-throwing move related to the interaction with the Gorons and the sumo? Aonuma: Of course they are. When we included the goat-throwing move, Mr. Miyamoto indicated us to use it in at least three different situations, and also in boss fights. –That’s showed in the extra movie after the opening, when you see Link throwing away the Goron mid-boss. Aonuma: Yes. In short, if you apply an element to many situations, that element comes to life. That’s why Mr. Miyamoto told us not to stop with the goat-throwing move at all. –And so you have to use that move in the very end too. Aonuma: Yeah, I can’t say anything so that I don’t spoil it, though (laughs). This game’s all about throwing goats, from the beginning to the very end. –Since that’s so important, didn’t you think of including it in the game’s title? Aonuma: What kind of game title would that be? (laughs) –Something along the lines of, “The Goat-Throwing Hero”... No, I guess it would not work at all (laughs). Aonuma: It’s half-joke all this of goat-throwing all the way to the end, but the non-joke part is that we thought thoroughly of how many new elements we should include for the first time in the series. Moreover, we considered how those actions would affect Link’s character, and they became an important factor for sketching the young man that is Link. Once we included the goat-throwing move, all the developers started getting so familiar with it in such a way that it was just natural when we thought of it when Link was standing before a dungeon entrance, and then we had him open the entrance door with his hands, using his strength. Until now, in all the games in the series you just pushed the A button and the doors opened automatically. –I see! Aonuma: The game’s aimed at an older audience, so this mischievous, physical image of Link suggest that he trusts his physical strength because he grew up in the country. –He was raised in a wild way, huh? Aonuma: Yes. If it hadn’t been like that, he couldn’t have grown up to become a young man throwing goats and living in the middle of the nature. Originally, Link’s been portrayed as a neutral image, but in this game I think we firmly reflect a manly, strong image. And I think all the female fans out there will be especially fascinated with a certain scene... Right? (laughs) –What do you mean? (laughs) Oh, the sumo scene, right? Aonuma: Exactly (laughs). Even when we were working on that half-naked Link, the women from the staff were saying things like, “That’s wrong,” or “The light exposure’s not right.” They had some pretty strict criticism. Both: (burst into laughter) LINK’S SUDDEN TRANSFORMATION INTO A WOLF –Right after you leave Toaru Village you’re transformed into a wolf, just when I thought I’d get to play as a cool Link, wasn’t it too early in the game? Aonuma: Actually, at first we had planned it to be even earlier. You were going to be suddenly transformed into a wolf from the start, before you got to taste the cool Link, but Mr. Miyamoto refused to that idea. –And so you came up with the three-day tutorial in Toaru Village. Aonuma: In The Wind Waker we had something similar, when you have to go save your sister to Forsaken Fortress without even understanding the situation. I like that in a story, when you are thrown into a situation you don’t understand at all and you have no idea of what to do, but somehow you manage to advance and realize it was your fate. It’s not that I hate stories that develop little by little and have unexpected twists in the middle, like Ocarina of Time, but this time I wondered what would happen if you suddenly woke up one day transformed into a wolf. Both: (laugh) Aonuma: By the way, the wolf transformation idea started some three years ago in the GDC, when we were thinking of what we should do with the next Zelda game. I woke up in my hotel in San Francisco completely disoriented, like if I had lost my memory. Some seconds later I remembered I was in the US to give a speech at the GDC; maybe it was because of the stress (laughs). I then thought how surprising it’d be if in the next Zelda game Link started off being imprisoned, or turned into a wolf. –I see. Aonuma: Back then we considered making it the sequel of Ocarina of Time, some years later… But then we thought of the first-time players, who wouldn’t understand a thing if you started as a wolf, so we changed it and had human Link from the start. –When you’re a wolf you can feel a stress different from that felt in the dungeons, with the darker surroundings, and Midna riding on your back. Aonuma: In the previous games, the dungeons and the field were completely separated, but we came up with the concept of gathering the tears of light in order to have some dungeon-like fun in the field. –The world’s darker and a bit unpleasant, but that acts as a motivation to return the light to that place, doesn’t it? Aonuma: Yes, that’s why we needed to make the twilight realm uncomfortable. It had to be unpleasant enough to make you feel uncomfortable after spending some time there, but not too unpleasant to discourage you from continue playing. We drew that thin line and had an appropriate BGM: discordant and with an unpleasant echo, but with a melodious flow. I asked the sound staff for a melody a little unpleasant, not too much, that could make you feel the atmosphere, and they were confused, they didn’t know what kind of melody to compose (laughs). But in the end, we got a beautiful musical piece. Wasn’t it nice to get out of the Twilight Realm? –Yes, it was. It was like if you had arrived at an unknown place late at night, but then recognized the place in the morning when you woke up. THE OBA-CHAN YOU MEET INSIDE THE DUNGEONS –Let’s go to the first dungeon, the Forest Temple. The Oba-chan [That’s how Oocoo’s known in the Japanese version; literally, “lady”] you meet there took me by surprise (laughs). Aonuma: (laughs) We wanted an item to warp the player out of the dungeons easily, but before we could notice it had turned into Oba-chan (laughs). –As her name says, she looks like she has a double punch impact (laughs). Aonuma: At first we thought of introducing something like a magic sphere inside a pot for the player to use, but we considered it was dull, and so we created this item that links to a dungeon of the second half of the game. I won’t mention any details as to not spoil the story, but you’ll solve the mystery later. –But why did you call it “Oba-chan”? Aonuma: I have absolutely no idea. The person in charge of the script referred to her as Oba-chan when he wrote her lines, so we started calling her like that. And her son gives you a wrong feeling when he appears (laughs). Both: (laugh) –Anyways, the scale of the dungeons is huge from the very beginning. Aonuma: Originally, we created the Forest Temple for last year’s E3 [E3 2005] to give people an idea of what the dungeons were going to be like in this Zelda game. All the staff worked hard on it. And it was that big for a reason, you had to rescue all the monkeys trapped in each room of the dungeon in order to advance. At E3 we only showed the first half of it, but you also save more monkeys in the second half and they’re all connected to a big incident in the end. –I see. I saw four monkeys when I played it at E3, but I never thought there were going to be that many monkeys. Aonuma: Regarding the scale, there’s another important factor, the wind. We were able to create small valleys inside the dungeons where the wind blew through, which contributed to the large-scale feeling. –The dungeons of this game will go down in dungeon history for their large scale and many themes. Aonuma: These dungeons may be the best ever in the history of adventure games. They sure are huge, but normally dungeons are closed spaces. In Ocarina of Time I designed some dungeons, and most of them were closed areas, but this time there are more open-air dungeons. –One part of the Goron Mines is like that, you can see the sky and it feels nice. Aonuma: But it’s organized as a dungeon, it has doors and is divided into separate areas. The truth is that it’s easy to create closed dungeons, like the ones in Ocarina of Time. In open-air dungeons, their relationship with the exterior needs to be more conscious, and it’s very difficult to achieve that. Although it was hard, the dungeon team wanted to create things never seen before, and I think that lead to the large scale of this game. MEETING THE POSTMAN ONCE AGAIN IN HYRULE FIELD –Once you clear the first dungeon, you can go to Hyrule Field. The freedom you feel there is very nice. And there’s where the postman (his first appearance was in Ocarina of Time as the marathon man, in Majora’s Mask he got a job as a postman, and in The Wind Waker; he’s a recurrent character in the series) appears. Aonuma: I bet you thought, “Is he coming this way?” (laughs) –True (laughs). And the character design is nice too. Aonuma: In The Wind Waker we introduced the letters system, so we thought of guiding Link via mail in this game too. Midna tells you many things in order for her to achieve her own goal, but we thought the guidance of the people living in Hyrule was important too. You run into him very frequently when you are in Hyrule Field, so I hope you look forward to meeting him in Hyrule Field right after clearing a dungeon. –The postman doesn’t appear just in Hyrule Field, he’s hidden in many places. Aonuma: The staff did that not only for him to meet Link, but to take the player by surprise. They worked pretty hard in the last development stages to include that. –There’s a weird, fast one-legged creature that runs across Hyrule Field. Aonuma: It runs around too much, don’t you think? (laughs) When the game was under development it was known as “crazy runner,” or just “this ridiculous monster.” Since it was boring that you just got rupees for killing him, he gives you a rare item. –What kind of item? Aonuma: The kind of item you can store in a bottle to use it later… –You can store it in a bottle? Aonuma: Well, he gives you earthworms you can use as bait. You can fish in many places, but you can catch different kinds of fish if you use the bait, so please kill the crazy runner and have fun fishing. THE GORON RACE PROUD OF THEIR STRENGTH –You leave Hyrule Field, enter Kakariko Village, and it’s time to gather the tears of light one more time. Aonuma: It’s a little different from Faron Woods, here they’re also hidden indoors. Also, the terrain is more complicated, so even if the map indicates the location of the tears of light, you won’t find them right away. –It’s very fun. Kakariko Village seems like a deserted town. Aonuma: This time only Hyrule Castle and the Castle Town are flourishing. The rest of the areas are pretty much in a decline. –Light returns to Kakariko Village after getting all the tears of light, but then Colin is kidnapped once again. Aonuma: Sometimes when you progress in the game you forget why you’re out on an adventure. We had the frightened kids in Kakariko Village to boost the player’s motivation. Wolf Link made an effort to return the light to that village, you sigh relieved, and just when you thought a dungeon was next, Colin is kidnapped again. Then you save him after a horse fight, he asks you to help the gorons and your motivation increases. –The scene where Colin pushes Beth just carries you away. Aonuma: Colin was created by the script writer of the Zelda series, Mr. Takano (Mitsuhiro Takano, the cinema scene director). He thought of the sub-story of Colin, a weak boy that grew up admiring Link. He really wanted to include the scene where Colin gets caught for saving Beth, so that’s how that scene was developed. Mr. Takano likes making people cry. Both: (laugh) –Let’s head on to the Goron Mines. I suffered a bit with the sumo match in the dungeon’s entrance; don’t you think Don Corone [Gor Coron] was too strong? Aonuma: But of course. You see, their physical strength is the pride of the gorons. –He easily threw me away even when I was wearing the iron boots… Aonuma: Well, you have to overcome a difficult obstacle before getting into the dungeon (laughs). –But the obstacle was so difficult it gave me muscular pain (laughs). Aonuma: You can win in a sumo match without that much effort. –But you put you effort unconsciously. Aonuma: Yeah, you do (laughs). Real sumo matches are like that, you can’t tell someone to go out there and hold his force. I think it’s important that sumo is connected to the game by that feeling. –The use of the iron boots inside the dungeon is innovative. Aonuma: We wanted to include a new way to use the iron boots because we thought it wasn’t interesting just to have them for the traditional use of walking under the water. We decided to have the gorons live in a mine that had some magnetic rocks. And so you could walk on the walls and on the floor if you got near them. I think, and so does Mr. Miyamoto, that walking upside down on the floor can reflect Link’s comic side. I believe that mixing this kind of silly things with very serious ones is typical of the Zelda games. We had many doubts regarding the representation of the magnetic rocks. We tried many looks, but we ended up with a blue mineral. We left many details to the designer… He must’ve had many troubles. LOTS OF FUN GATHERING RUPEES –Once you clear the dungeon and go back to Kakariko Village, you can see the gorons have started raising funds. Aonuma: That was developed from the money-saving system in Majora’s Mask. Trusting your money to someone else must leave you thinking, “Huh?” Now, if it’s about fund-raising, there could be a reward, isn’t it exciting? –It’s like you have to choose between this fund-raising and the one in the Castle Town. But I’m determined to help the gorons, so I prefer this one. Aonuma: Once you get an item, you don’t need to have a large amount of money. We came up with this fund-raising system when we were thinking what rupees could be useful for. We also had a new system within the dungeons so that if Link has his wallet full of rupees, he’ll close the treasure chests. –You can always go back to open them later. Aonuma: There are pros and cons to it. Everyone said that an open treasure chest becomes the mark that you have already been to that room, and you wouldn’t know that if the treasure chest was closed. Some people said it’s always been like that in the Zelda series, and it’d be weird if we changed it this time. On the other hand, you struggle to get to a room, and the treasure chest there has some 50 or 100 rupees, but your wallet is full; it’d be cruel if you took those rupees without actually getting them. –That’s true. Aonuma: We were hesitant on what to do, but since shopping is a feature to have fun with, we decided to give everyone the opportunity to get some money. We wanted the player to remember he left rupees behind in a dungeon and then go back there when he needs the money. And that’s why we ended up using this system. THE FISHING POND A PROGRAMMER PUT ALL HIS SOUL IN –Now let’s get to the topic of the Lakebed Temple, the climax of the game’s first half (laughs). Aonuma: We finally got to it (laughs). –The scale’s huge, once again. Aonuma: Makes you wonder what a thing that huge is doing sleeping in the bottom of a lake, huh? (laughs) –You obtain the claw shot in this dungeon. I thought that, unlike the hook shot, you couldn’t use it on the ivy, so I lost some time there. Aonuma: The debuting claw shot has hooks as claws, so it can stick to surfaces similar to a mesh, but we weren’t sure if it was obvious, so we put the mark on the ivy. That way, the player would realize it can also be used on the ivy when he sees the mark. –Since there was a mark on the ivy, I thought the only thing left to do was to aim at it. Aonuma: You realized it, didn’t you? –Yes, but it took me some time (laughs). The dungeon’s scale is so large that there were many times I thought I couldn’t go anywhere anymore. Aonuma: In those cases, you’ll find a way out if you try many different things. Isn’t that Zelda’s promise? The term “Zelda equation” is often used, but this time it’s the “Zelda etiquette” that’s important. –Like that when you get a special item, there’s immediately an opportunity to use it? Aonuma: Exactly. We’re not betraying the players that have learnt that etiquette. –The swimming action was very difficult to do, right? Aonuma: It was the same with Majora’s Mask; we were worried about the comfort of the swimming controls. This may be an eternal issue (smiles bitterly). –You get some freedom after clearing the first three dungeons. Aonuma: Yes, because the field’s all connected by then. You get to go here and there freely, giving you the feeling of returning to the usual Zelda. –And you can enter the fishing pond, which is so well-developed it could be a complete game on its own. Aonuma: Mr. Morita (Kazuaki Morita, the program director) kept developing it with all his soul ever since Ocarina of Time. –Fishing is Mr. Morita’s hobby, isn’t it? Aonuma: He really likes it. He’s being working hard on it for his love for fishing. I guess he felt frustrated with The Wind Waker because you couldn’t fish in that game. “Who was it!? Who turned the sea opaque!!?” (laughs) Both: (burst into laughter) –You can’t fish if the water’s opaque? Aonuma: Well, you can’t see the fish, so you wouldn’t know when one has bitten. This time, I gave Mr. Morita the freedom to do whatever he liked and he came up with such a wonderful thing; he even developed the input operations for the Wii remote. For me, the fishing pond’s a sacred place; I was totally speechless. (laughs). –The compatibility with the Wii remote is incredibly good. Aonuma: It even makes you wonder if the Wii remote was created for fishing (laughs). There’s a married couple from NOA who enjoy bass fishing. When they came to Japan, we let them play with the remote. We didn’t tell them how to use it, but they started fishing all of a sudden, caught a fish and were amazed. When they asked us why they were able to do it without being told the instructions, we simply replied that it was because they had done exactly the same things they would’ve done had they gone fishing (laughs). I thought the Wii remote was awesome. –By the way, there are seasons inside the fishing pond and the weather changes too. Is there any difference in the difficulty when it rains, for example? Aonuma: But of course (laughs)! The water gets all muddy after it rains so the player has to observe the changes and enjoy fishing. When Mr. Morita told me he wanted to include weather changes, I thought, “Eh? You want to go that far? If you have some extra time I’d rather”… But he said that there would be no fishing without that, so I told him to go ahead (laughs). Both: (laugh) Aonuma: That’s how compromised he was with the fishing pond. A REALISTIC TINGLE AMONG THE RESIDENTS OF CASTLE TOWN –Castle Town’s very lively. How many people live there? Aonuma: The number of people you see in Castle Town depends on the time of the day you enter the town, in the day or in the night. However, we couldn’t get them to be inside the castle because during the second half of development we took that time to focus on the Wii operation. I asked the staff to give them many different activities (smiles bitterly). We didn’t go as far as scheduling precisely their activities like in Majora’s Mask, but they change their activities. For example, if you get into the town as wolf Link… –Ah, that’s fun. Some people also react different when you become a star (laughs). Aonuma: There are many variants, so have fun with them. –The inhabitants of this town are charming, especially Telma! Aonuma: (looking happy) She is, isn’t she?! If there was a bar like this in real life with a motherly bar tender, I’d really like to go there. –She seems very dependable… Aonuma: She’s pretty much like an elder sister, right? (laughs) –Yes (laughs). And the little Agitha’s the exact opposite. Her dialogue is nice too. It’s refreshing to find such lovable characters like these in a Zelda game. Aonuma: These characters were born thanks to the addition of younger generations to the development team. I could never have imagined those characters. The people living in Castle Town made the place more interesting. Those ill-air characters, Agitha being one of them, have an important role in the Zelda games. And there’s a realistic Tingle living in Castle Town too, did you notice? –Eh?! Is that true? Aonuma: (with a little upset face) But he’s there, in Castle Town (laughs). –… Could it be that Star Man? Aonuma: Exactly (laughs). Tingle was busy in another game (Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rose-Colored Rupee Land), so we couldn’t use his name… But in early development stages Mr. Nakano (Yusuke Nakano, the main character designer) designed him after a realistic Tingle and that became the base for this character. –Tingle’s cooler that you could imagine. Aonuma: His character was born after the idea of what would happen to someone pretty cool if he wore green clothes. We took him from a previous game, but we did some changes. –By the way, there was a forest giant in the trailer you showed at E3; was he left out? Aonuma: He is in the game. You can see him when you get the Master Sword. –… Oh, those gate watchers… Aonuma: Yes, that’s them! –They changed a lot. Aonuma: They got harder. –That puzzle was disgusting (laughs). Aonuma: Disgusting? (laughs) –Any hint for solving that puzzle? Aonuma: Just persistence. –There isn’t any trick? Aonuma: You’ll solve it if you try many times. It’s curious, if you square off thinking it’s difficult, you’ll be falling into a labyrinth, but if you go to the bathroom and give it another try, you’ll solve it easily. –Ah, that may be true. Aonuma: If you think it too much you’ll fall into a cesspool, so just try solving it with your mind in blank. Of course there’s a fast way to solve it, though (Those who wish to solve this puzzle easily and get the Master Sword, don’t miss our visual guide released on January 2007; more info on http://www.nindori.com/books/kouryaku/zeldatwilight.html). But struggling has its good points too. –Well, when I solved it I didn’t feel as having achieved something as much as relieved that I somehow managed to do it. Aonuma: It was for getting the Master Sword, so you had to struggle for it (laughs). DECIDING THE TITLE –I think there are some “Zelda traditions.” The game titles, for example; they’re all “The x of y [in Japan, this holds true for all the previous games, except for Link’s Awakening],” but this one’s “Twilight Princess.” Was using something new in this respect a big decision to take? Aonuma: Actually, a couple days ago I wanted to organize the development process and so I checked the mails Mr. Miyamoto and I had exchanged. In one of them, I told him I had decided to name the American version “Twilight Princess,” but it sounded a bit stupid when translated into Japanese. He replied that we could keep the English title for the Japanese release, and I thought it was OK. And that ended it (laughs). Both: (laugh) Aonuma: Regarding that, I wrote him it gave me a slight sloppy sensation, but his reply was, “Ha, ha, ha. Not at all (laughs). It doesn’t sound bad either.” –It does sound nice. Aonuma: Changing patterns like those “X of Y” titles, or “left-handed – right-handed” is also a way to keep developers from feeling ferreted by past. Fans may freak out, though… –Link’s right-handed in the Wii version, but being a lefty was his trade mark. However, playing the game has no relationship with being left-handed or right-handed. Aonuma: There’s no relationship, but we just used what was best for the gameplay. You won’t have fun if you just dwell on the left-handed – right-handed issue. –You’re right. Finally, could you give a message to the people enjoying this adventure? Aonuma: This time you need five heart containers to get a complete heart. It took many people by surprise, but getting them all is pretty hard. When you beat the final boss, it’s customary of the series to let you continue to play with the same file, starting from some moments before the last battle. I’d like the players to use that opportunity to walk around the world once again and complete the events they missed. They might make new discoveries, and they might have missed some nice events. I’d like them to challenge the game many times after beating it. –By the way, how’s the DS game coming along? Aonuma: We’re giving it the final touches. The team developing the DS game is very small; it has less than 10 people. While we were making a lot of noise during the development of the Wii game, they kept working silently next door. After finishing Twilight Princess, I wondered how the DS game was doing, and I really liked it when I played the game a couple days ago. It reflects pretty good the passion of the team that’s been quietly working on it, and they have polished up the touch screen controls. The team in charge of the Wii game’s demo movie has recently joined the DS team. The demo is different from The Wind Waker, different from the Wii game, but wonderful. You can control your boat and write down notes with the stylus. Our society has become able to do this kind of things, but it still is impressive. It’s full of elements I would’ve been very happy to include in previous Zelda games. Please enjoy the DS title after Twilight Princess. –Is there a definitive release date? Aonuma: (throwing back his head) Oops! (laughs) Sorry I can’t give you a definitive date, but we’d like to finish it early on 2007.
Dante Posted March 12, 2007 Author Posted March 12, 2007 Game Daily: Eiji Aonuma Interview What will you be talking about during the Zelda: Twilight Princess port-mort? I plan on speaking to the audience about how developing Twilight Princess will affect how I work on future Zelda titles. What would you say those effects would be? When developing for Wii because it was a new hardware system ... there were various things we needed to take into consideration, and we'll speak more specifically about that tomorrow. [Laughs] I guess we'll have to attend your session. Artists are never happy with their work. Musicians always want to go back and change parts of recorded songs, writers always want to go back and change their work -- Is there anything in Twilight Princess you want to go back and change? Yes, you're exactly right. It's true because with Twilight Princess, we were developing a version for Gamecube and for Wii, I left feeling I could have done more for both of the projects. You have two different hardware systems -- I could have customized them to suit either one of them better. There just wasn't time for that. What would you have done differently for the Wii version of Twilight Princess? One example would be with regard to the pointer. We spend a lot of time trying to perfect that and how it worked in the game and that was about all the time we had to do -- if we had a longer deadline we probably would have more mini-games that took advantage of that feature. Is the Wii revolutionizing gaming? Oh definitely, every time I work on a game I feel like I'm having a conversation with the Wii ... it felt like the hardware was really speaking to me and all of its many features. So, it's definitely revolutionizing gaming. That sounds like a sculptor, they say that before they sculpt a piece of wood, the wood tells them what form to take. Do you see it like that? If you put it that way I sound like a real artist. The more I develop for the Wii, the more the possibilities became clear to me. So in that sense, maybe ... What was your real-world inspiration behind Twilight Princess? Any forms of entertainment? Or is it more about staying true to the Zelda legend? It's not as though a movie or specific scene from a movie influenced me ... it may have, subconsciously. It's just the core essence of Link that continues to inspire me. Most recognize certain game characters, even if they've never played games. Generally that's Mario, Master Chief and Link. Why does Link and the Zelda games have such a broad appeal? Master Chief? From Halo. Ah, Halo. I feel that Zelda appeals on so many levels, and it has that essence from when Miyamoto-san created it, way back in the day. Um, and Miyamoto-san's always speaking about entertainment, games aren't just about playing, it's more about feeling and that's why Zelda has the appeal it does. Some people say Zelda just rehashes the same story over and over again. Why is that? Or do you even agree with that? Our main emphasis in creating a Zelda game isn't the story, it's the experience. It's kind of a tool in which the player experiences the environment ... so I don't know if I really believe that the story is really the same, but for us the story isn't the most important part of the game. I have this friend who always runs around yelling, "I love Link!" and we always laugh about it. But she was wondering why we have this legendary character, Link, but then you can rename him whatever you want -- which seems a little ... random. Why not just let Link, be Link? The playable character of Link ... that's actually why we decided to name him Link because he he links the player to the game. There's always the argument between which is better -- cartoony Link or the more realistic Link? Who wins? That's a tough question. When I look at the toon-shaded Link, I look at him as my son. When I see the more realistic Link -- that's who I want to be, that's the man I want to be. How did the whole darker, more realistic Link work in Twilight Princess. Did it come off like you wanted? Would you do it again? When we were trying to come up with this kinda cool Link -- it went through several iterations -- it's a combination of Miyamoto-san's Link, the staff's version of Link and my vision of a cool link. I think they were able to produce a very effective visual representation of this cool Link. So, moving forward they would like to use it. So speaking of that -- what's next for Link? We introduced the cool Link in Twilight Princess and that story ended but there are other features of his character that we'd like to focus in on ... so you can look forward to something... What, like a Midna spin-off? [Laughs] Midna's fate revealed itself in the Twilight Princess, so I guess that will be up to your imagination. In Twilight Princess, the cool Link -- you know, the one in the green, is one that I'm very fond of, but I was really really happy with the cowboy Link ... so maybe he can do something with that... I hear you're a big cooking aficionado -- when will we see the cooking game? I don't know about a game specifically about cooking because, you know, I've still got Zelda on my plate, so I've actually thought about it before -- adding a cooking element to Zelda. So that'd be a definite possibility. --------------------------------------------- Game Informer With Twilight Princess out the door and Phantom Hourglass approaching release, Nintendo’s Zelda master Eiji Aonuma hasn’t missed a beat since he took the helm of the franchise. While we weren’t able to go into too much detail about future details of the Zelda franchise due to the company’s stock situation, we get a retrospective look at Twilight Princess, an update on the status of Phantom Hourglass (it’s almost done), and the future of the franchise on both the Nintendo DS and Wii. Game Informer: Let’s start out talking about Twilight Princess. Looking back at Twilight Princess, were you happy with how everything turned out in the end? Eiji Aonuma: Yes, in North America to hear that most people who bought Wiis also bought copies of Twilight Princess for me makes me feel as if the hard work paid off. GI: Originally, as most people know, the game was supposed to come out for the GameCube–solely on the GameCube. How far were you into development of the GameCube version of the game when the whole Wii concept was brought up? Aonuma: We were actually at the finishing stages, adding the finishing touches on the GameCube version, when Miyamoto made the Wii announcement and explained the features on it. After hearing those, we thought that it may be a good move for us to create a Wii version as well, so we started to work on a Wii version of the game about a year before it was released. GI: So that was basically around Tokyo Game Show 2005? (ed: September 2005) Aonuma: Yes, around that time. GI: GameCube had the power to do progressive scan and widescreen with other games, why was the widescreen not possible for Twilight Princess on the GameCube? Aonuma: If you try to show that much more of the screen on the GameCube, the CPU can’t really handle it. But the Wii can handle it, so we did do it on the Wii. GI: This is the first game you’ve really experimented with widescreen. Is this something that you plan on continuing with? Aonuma: Having created a game with 16:9, I don’t think I could ever go back. It’s just a richer experience. GI: I remember after Wind Waker was out and we had our first interview about Twilight Princess, originally there was not a plan for widescreen for the GameCube version and we talked about that, and I was like, “please do it!” It was nice to see that was something you added. Aonuma: (laughs) Ah, yes! I remember that! GI: I think it was right after I got a new TV. (laughs) With Wind Waker, you had to cut a few dungeons out of the game to have it released on time–was there anything that you had to cut for Twilight Princess? Aonuma: With Wind Waker, it wasn’t that we removed dungeons because of time constraints or anything like that. Actually, we thought that there was just too much volume. So we reduced it to something that we thought was much more manageable to the end user. But having released it, we heard from North American end users that there wasn’t enough and they wanted more. So with Twilight Princess, we added one more dungeon than was in Ocarina of Time. GI: We always want more. (laughs) Many people thought—at least this is what I read in reviews—that there was this “been there, done that” kind of thing, because it was Hyrule based, and Twilight Princess was this spiritual successor to Ocarina of Time. Would you like to continue in the future in Hyrule, or would you like to venture to other places or other lands. Aonuma: With regard to the games kind of feeling similar, with Twilight Princess the scale is so large that in order to make sense of this space I spoke to members of my staff, and we thought it was still probably best to make the focal point Hyrule. Because this time, you have the realistic Link the game experience is completely different. So it shouldn’t feel like “been there, done that”—it should feel like a completely different adventure in a new setting. But Phantom Hourglass is not going to take place in Hyrule. GI: Will we ever see Midna again? Aonuma: (laughs) Do you like Midna? GI: I loved that character. I was very skeptical at first. She was a cool character. She was different. It’s fun seeing Link get messed with, I guess. I was sad at the end of the game. It was a very good moment at the end of the game. Aonuma: (laughs) In Japanese, there’s a phrase called “tsundere,” which means in the beginning you’re kind of snobby and cruel, but towards the end your shell kind of breaks off and you become sort of sappy. Women with that kind of personality, I think guys are really attracted to. Both Miyamoto-san and myself are quite fond of characters like that. GI: Sounds like a lot of my ex-girlfriends, actually. (laughs) Aonuma: (laughs) Because of the way Twilight Princess ended, I don’t see her making a reappearance, but who knows. If we hear enough voices for her to come back, how can we not. GI: Have a lot of people asked about her in other interviews? Aonuma: There weren’t many Midna questions. There was one. GI: Now that you’ve finished with Twilight Princess and have your first Wii title under your belt, was there anything that you didn’t put in the game, or gesture-based controls with the Wiimote and Nunchuk in afterthought that you go, “Oh this would be cool for the next one.” Aonuma: I knew that the Wii was capable of many more controls than we added to the Wii version of Twilight Princess. I was kind of afraid of adding too many, because I didn’t want to confuse the end user or make the game intimidating. Moving forward, though, that was a launch title so we had to keep it kind of “at the basics,” but moving forward I can definitely see us incorporating more controls into the game. GI: I was at Koji Kondo’s speech yesterday, and I’m a huge fan of his. He showed a lot of old clips of previous Zelda games, and one was Wind Waker. Seeing that old toon-shaded link, I was like, “Oh I miss that on the console.” Are you planning on keeping the toon shaded link on portables and then the realistic Link on Wii? Aonuma: When a player plays on a large screen, to make them feel like they’re actually a part of it I think that requires something very different from a small screen, where the player is interacting with a stylus. The big screen has to be convincing, so for that I think the realistic Link fits really well. The toon-shading style looks like a moving animation, so letting the player control that at their fingertips works out really well, too. So that might be the direction I’m going in. GI: Talking again about Phantom Hourglass, I guess it was a year ago this time that the game was announced and we got to play it at E3, and we get to play the multiplayer aspect here. It was also announced that when the DS was first shown that there was a Four Swords Zelda game also coming to the DS. Are you think of incorporating the Four Swords concept into Phantom Hourglass as a sub-game much like when you released Link to the Past for GBA? Aonuma: I remember talking about that game. I think there was something lost in translation. The staff of Four Swords Adventures is working on Phantom Hourglass, not that we’re creating a Four Swords Adventure game for the DS. GI: Ahhhh. There was a Four Swords game listed on the product list when the DS was originally revealed. Aonuma: At the time, we were thinking of creating a multiplayer Zelda game for the Nintendo DS, and right now the multiplayer is on the show floor. That is something that we’re always working on. GI: Will there be multiple multiplayer modes for Phantom Hourglass? Like mini-games? Aonuma: In the single-player game, the actual amount of data there is quite large. If we were to add too many multiplayer games, it would start to effect how much gameplay there is in the single player. So even within the single player, we’re having to limit the number of maps we use to the most interesting. That’s not to reduce variation but we want the players to experience each map to its fullest. So it’s actually enhancing gameplay as opposed to limiting it. GI: Is there only one multiplayer mode? Aonuma: Yes, but there’s also going to be a tag mode. So there will be variation. GI: Right now its one-on-one. Will there be more than one-on-one play? Aonuma: No. I would like everyone to battle one-on-one. GI: Will you be able to battle over the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection? Aonuma: Yes. GI: How far into development is Phantom Hourglass? Aonuma: We’re actually in the fine-tuning and polishing stages of development. When I get home, the first thing I have to do without taking any breaks at all is get into the office and see that it gets done. GI: I know you haven’t announced a release date, but it’s safe to say the game is almost done then, right? Aonuma: Yes, I’d like to finish it. (laughs) GI: Will it be released in Japan first? Aonuma: Yes. GI: You know I play Zelda games in Japanese first. Aonuma: Let’s battle over Wi-Fi! (laughs) GI: That would be great! I’ll send you my friend code! (laughs) How big of an adventure is Phantom Hourglass, and how long do you think the average gamer will take to play through the game? Aonuma: Because this game is on a handheld, the approach has been a little different than with the Wii or the GameCube. In this Zelda, there are several islands, and each kind of has its own story. It’s pretty full because of this, and we’ll explain more how this works closer to release. There are some dungeons that you’ll have to play more than once. It’s a very full, fleshed-out game. GI: Is it safe to say that you have two Zelda teams? One for portables and one for consoles? Aonuma: Yes. However, it’s not as though there are always two teams. If there’s multiple projects, then that’s how many teams there needs to be. It all is kind of one giant Zelda team. Depending on the needs of the department and other departments, if there are other projects going on that are not Zelda that require manpower then they’re sent out. GI: Capcom has traditionally been the team that’s done portable Zelda titles previously. You’ve worked on Four Swords, obviously, and Minish Cap a bit. But what was it like working on a full-fledged portable Zelda title? Aonuma: Whether I’m creating a game for the handheld or a console the thinking is always the same—I’m always thinking about the experience for the game player. Because the screen is smaller, the graphics might look different, and the interface is different so we always have to keep that in mind. It’s always the essential gameplay that I keep in mind. GI: Are you intrigued to get back to work on a new Zelda game for the Wii? Aonuma: I am always looking forward to making new things, and because the Wii is a new piece of hardware there are so many possibilities with that I am looking forward to also creating games for it. But I don’t know if I can handle it physically right now. (laughs) I need a little break. GI: You’ll have to ask Mr. Miyamoto to stop “upending the tea table!” Aonuma: (laughs)
Lens of Truth Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 Aonuma: "With Wind Waker, it wasn’t that we removed dungeons because of time constraints or anything like that. Actually, we thought that there was just too much volume. So we reduced it to something that we thought was much more manageable to the end user. But having released it, we heard from North American end users that there wasn’t enough and they wanted more. So with Twilight Princess, we added one more dungeon than was in Ocarina of Time" So they removed dungeons DELIBERATELY after they'd already made them?!! That's madness! Nintendo are getting very namby-pamby about their software these days.. they worry too much about overwhelming the gamer, when in fact gamers want MORE, they want to be challenged, to be surprised, engrosed. It's like they deliberately limit themselves sometimes. TP had a lot more content obviously, but you still get the sense that they're holding back in some ways. I think Nintendo really underestimate the sophistication of contemporary gamers - it's not like we're still in the 8-bit era! Concerning Midna - Aonuma: "(laughs) Because of the way Twilight Princess ended, I don’t see her making a reappearance, but who knows. If we hear enough voices for her to come back, how can we not" Oooooooo, so there's a chance! We'll have to make our voices heard. She was hands-down the best thing about TP!
Konfucius Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 So they removed dungeons DELIBERATELY after they'd already made them?!! That's madness! Nintendo are getting very namby-pamby about their software these days.. they worry too much about overwhelming the gamer, when in fact gamers want MORE, they want to be challenged, to be surprised, engrosed. It's like they deliberately limit themselves sometimes. TP had a lot more content obviously, but you still get the sense that they're holding back in some ways. I think Nintendo really underestimate the sophistication of contemporary gamers - it's not like we're still in the 8-bit era! I think that's because Zelda doesn't have such a cult status in Japan as it holds in the western world. So they don't want to spend lots of hours while we don't want it to end at all I suppose. Concerning Midna - Aonuma: "(laughs) Because of the way Twilight Princess ended, I don’t see her making a reappearance, but who knows. If we hear enough voices for her to come back, how can we not" Oooooooo, so there's a chance! We'll have to make our voices heard. She was hands-down the best thing about TP! The should absolutely let Midna reappear or star in her own game. Some 18+ rated game preferrably
ShadowV7 Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 Well that clears up the timeline a bit.Also Links old VA FTW!!! Hell of a long posting there Dante and shame on you Konfucius.
DCK Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 So they removed dungeons DELIBERATELY after they'd already made them?!! Tell me, Wind Waker would easily be the best Zelda ever with some additional dungeons... Nintendo should be concerned with what we like opposed to what we don't like. Give us dungeons.
motion Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Aonuma: "With Wind Waker, it wasn’t that we removed dungeons because of time constraints or anything like that. Actually, we thought that there was just too much volume. So we reduced it to something that we thought was much more manageable to the end user. But having released it, we heard from North American end users that there wasn’t enough and they wanted more. So with Twilight Princess, we added one more dungeon than was in Ocarina of Time" That makes no sense and I'd venture him not being 100% truthful or accurate here. Why would they leave a glaring hole like that in WW (when Jabun gave you the pearl). And they've gone on record anyway saying they had to cut dungeons out because of time contraints. No way would they spend all that time making them only to cut them out at the last minute because they 'thought there'd be too much content'. Please.
Lens of Truth Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 Yes. Not quite convincing is it. I do worry when they come out with this kind of crazy talk.. I don't know what's madder, actually ditching stuff they'd already spent time making, or thinking that it's a good cover story for running out of time! DCK's spot on. WW would be a real masterpiece with a few more dungeons to fill it out (unless they were removed for being substandard or overly repetitive). As it stands tho, I still love WW. Cel-Link can't return soon enough!
motion Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 Improvements to Wind Waker that I think would make the game a masterpiece: - Give us those two extra planned temples. The one for Nayru's Pearl and the accompanying temple later on (We've had Wind, Earth... perhaps Light?), bringing the total tally up to 8. This would also involve adding one more Wind Waker song and 2 extra items. - Make the triforce hunt more interesting by adding a mini dungeon for each piece. Nothing huge, maybe a 20 minute one or something. - One other town island, I don't know what the developers problem is with having more than 1 town in a 3D Zelda. OOT Kakariko/Castle Town sorta worked but apart from that... - End credits need improving. Bubbles?? Though that final Epilogue scene was perfect in my opinion.
Lens of Truth Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 I actually kinda liked the bubbles! But if there had been some sort of sequence revisiting characters and locations from the game that would've been nice. There should have been one for Nayru's Pearl as you say, but I always felt that an extra 2 dungeons in the last section (all four points of the compass) were in order.. Earth, Wind, Fire... Water *resists desire to sing Captain Planet* Triforce hunt definitely needed spicing up come to think of it, though I always assumed that they threw this in at the last minute as a way of adding length?? If they did indeed make more dungeons and it's not a complete crock, then I'd love to see a WW-Redux for the Wii at some point! Edit: Didn't they say at some point that they wanted to incorporate some of the potential WW dungeons in TP? I wonder which they might be???
motion Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 Personally I don't think having 4 dungeons in the second half of the game would have worked. Certainly not Fire and Water because they would resemble the DragonRoost Cavern and (unamed third dungeon) too much I think. Also the Earth and Wind temples paralleled the Forest Haven/Dragon Roost, what with a character from each helping you along the way. If you introduced a third temple after Forest Haven you could only have a third temple after the Earth/Wind ones to go with it. I'd suggest Light. It's one we've never seen and it fits with the whole Earth/Wind/Light thing. Triforce hunt probably was to lengthen the game so that puts even less certainty on Aonuma's words.
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