Aonuma really seems to want a break

[Rummy]

So, there's an interview over at USGamer which mostly focuses on Wind Waker stuff, but it was brought to my attention by ZeldaInformer(via a zelda fanpage on fb), putting much more focus on the fact they felt Aonuma desperately wants a break from Zelda and his job. To quote the beginning of the original USGamer article;

 

With The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD arriving soon, Nintendo gave us an opportunity to speak briefly with the man behind the scenes of the franchise for the past decade, Eiji Aonuma. Through a teleconference with Aonuma in what appeared to be Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters, we asked him a number of questions about the design and thinking behind this new version of the GameCube classic.

 

USGamer: Thank you very much for meeting with us. Have you been able to take any time off since Wind Waker HD's development closed?

 

Eiji Aonuma: No, we've had no sort of break. A Link Between Worlds is going into the final stages and we're working hard. Even when I get home, I'm getting home late. I want some vacation. I want some time off.

 

USG: How much longer do you have on A Link Between Worlds before you get that time off? Or do you even get time off after that?

 

EA: What we're looking at, really, is a sort of trend. I finish one project and the next one is just overlapping. My family is not happy.

USG: But they do like Zelda games, right?

 

EA: My son absolutely does like Zelda games, and my wife has started playing the Zelda games as well. So that's great. They understand that I'm making this games, but… They're my family, and the fact that we're not taking vacations together, not going anywhere, it's not making them happy. We're trying to find a balance. It's tough. It's a whole different set of problems.

USG: I assume working on Wind Waker HD has been a little bit different for you in that it's a remake. I know you remade Ocarina of Time a few years ago, but that was outsourced to Grezzo. How has that experience been for you?

 

EA: With Wind Waker, it's been 10, 11, 12 years now since we worked on that title. Of course, I was the director, but there's still stuff that I've forgotten. And to be honest, the remembrances I have that are actually incorrect. There are things I remember – "Okay, this was this certain way" – and when I go to work on that particular issue or that particular feature, the people I'm working with say, "No, no, no, it was never that way." "Yeah, it was! I remember! This is how it used to be!" "No…" And sometimes my misremembering is actually creating problems while we're doing the development.

So the human memory is an interesting thing. When it works well, it's great. But at times like this, when you're going back and trying to work out something and you remember it in a way that it actually wasn't, it can be problematic.

 

Whilst the interview goes on much further and focuses on WW:HD - I decided to include the last bit in the above quote because it felt like maybe it was a compounded part of the problem.

 

Anyway, the point of the thread? Not to discuss the rest of the article and WW:HD so much; but really just about seeing him saying this sort of stuff. I actually feel a little sad reading those first few statements - it does seem he's under a lot of work pressure and strain.

 

I remember seeing him announcing something in an N-Direct iirc(?), and thinking he looked a bit forced or flustered then too. Those first few statements though, makes me feel kinda bad for him. He's got so much pressure, from the company and the prestige of the Zelda series, I can't help but feel for him. I really, really, really hope ALBW and/or Zelda U manage to live up to the mounting expectation for the 'next big zelda' - and I really really hope he manages to get some time off. Soon.

 

 

tl;dr : Read upto the end of the quote and express your feels/thoughts.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Rummy

[Hero-of-Time]

This isn't the first time this subject has came up and perhaps this is the reason why the series feels stale to me. If you don't really want to do something then your heart isn't going to be in it.

 

The Zelda franchise could do with a fresh perspective. I mean letting Capcom loose on the handheld games gave off amazing results. I think this is one of the reasons many people want Retro to have a crack at it.

[Guy]

He should take a break and refresh. Nobody wins if the guy is pissed off/exhausted all the time.

[Fused King]

Someone please start a Kickstarter for this man and his family!

[Hogge]

Give this guy a break. Like, before they get too far in development with the real Wii U Zelda.

Sorry to say, none of the Zelda titles he's worked on has been on par. Of course, I'm not sure how much is his fault and how much has been budget restraints, but no Zelda game he's worked on has had the same level of ambition as even Zelda 64 (yes, Zelda 64, not Ocarina of Time). It's all been about experimenting, rather than just taking the formula and just let it evolve.

[Rummy]

This isn't the first time this subject has came up and perhaps this is the reason why the series feels stale to me. If you don't really want to do something then your heart isn't going to be in it.

 

The Zelda franchise could do with a fresh perspective. I mean letting Capcom loose on the handheld games gave off amazing results. I think this is one of the reasons many people want Retro to have a crack at it.

 

Yeah, felt very much like this. How can he make the best he's got to give...if he's tired of giving all that? Definitely needs a bit better management to give him time to recuperate and ensure that he's not just slaving away but actually enjoying the product that he's making! Having said that, I AM looking forward to ALBW. It's doubly hard working in such a big series, constantly trying to live up to, and arguably failing, preceeding titles.

 

It'd be good to try and give it to someone new, and just let them go wild with it. Don't think they can really 'break' Zelda all that much now tbh.

 

Give this guy a break. Like, before they get too far in development with the real Wii U Zelda.

Sorry to say, none of the Zelda titles he's worked on has been on par. Of course, I'm not sure how much is his fault and how much has been budget restraints, but no Zelda game he's worked on has had the same level of ambition as even Zelda 64 (yes, Zelda 64, not Ocarina of Time). It's all been about experimenting, rather than just taking the formula and just let it evolve.

 

You mean MM, or you don't mean MM, or what? That was excellent, and iirc that was him. However he already had a lot there to work with, it wasn't as much from scratch. Definitely hope he gets a decent break(hell I'd take a month delay on Zelda U for him to get it) before getting stuck into Zelda U - otherwise all the working and strain could end up reflecting in the title. EDIT: Didn't realise he had so much of a hand in OoT too, but apparently so-ish.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Rummy
Automerged Doublepost

[Cube]

Let him take a break. At some point they'll need to pass on these games to someone else anyway - so why not let some new people make the decisions while all the big names who have been working hard at the games for over 25 years take a more advisory position.

 

There's still lots of people on the team who will carry on working on the game, and a franchise like Zelda really isn't one person. It may have started it off like that, and he deserves all the credit in the world for the initial idea, but games are so big and complex these days and is the hard work of so many people.

 

Let him have some time off, but also let other people carry on with the franchise.

[D_prOdigy]

Of course, the debate over whether someone else should take the reins of the franchise is a perfectly legitimate one, but let's not pretend that he was even implying that he wanted to step away from the series in this particular interview. He's complaining that his work is hectic and takes up loads of time. This isn't an uncommon theme in interviews even for Nintendo staff. Pretty sure Miyamoto often says that he's really busy all the time.

 

I for one am shocked that Zelda Informer would make a disingenuous headline like this.

[Ashley]

Yeah let someone else take over. He'll have a break, we may get some new ideas. Win win

[Sheikah]

Zelda really needs to do a Resident Evil 4.

[Rummy]

Of course, the debate over whether someone else should take the reins of the franchise is a perfectly legitimate one, but let's not pretend that he was even implying that he wanted to step away from the series in this particular interview. He's complaining that his work is hectic and takes up loads of time. This isn't an uncommon theme in interviews even for Nintendo staff. Pretty sure Miyamoto often says that he's really busy all the time.

 

I for one am shocked that Zelda Informer would make a disingenuous headline like this.

 

Waaaaait what. I didn't take it as a 'step away from the series' I took it more as a 'have a break, get it done, then do something else'. They say that apparently 'we all know he wants to work on another game besides Zelda before he retires' - which is suggestive but I never took it as wanting to step off zelda with intention. Tbh, I'm not one of all these 'we' though I'd imagine that's certainly a possibility. Second to which, I don't think they ever drew that conclusion from THIS interview. Third to which...it's not even the point of this! Go tell ZeldaInformer somewhere else please!

 

Let him take a break. At some point they'll need to pass on these games to someone else anyway - so why not let some new people make the decisions while all the big names who have been working hard at the games for over 25 years take a more advisory position.

 

There's still lots of people on the team who will carry on working on the game, and a franchise like Zelda really isn't one person. It may have started it off like that, and he deserves all the credit in the world for the initial idea, but games are so big and complex these days and is the hard work of so many people.

 

Let him have some time off, but also let other people carry on with the franchise.

 

I sorta feel like this. But then I also sorta think of people like Miyamoto, and more recently given his comments etc with Smash, Sakurai. Dedicated to their projects/works in such a way that yeah sure, someone else COULD take over for a bit but but but noooo it's cool really guys it's fine I've got this I'll just work a bit harder now and take the break later.

 

Yeah let someone else take over. He'll have a break, we may get some new ideas. Win win

 

Tbh with recent rumours of non-linearity, I'm particularly keen to see exactly what ALBW will bring to the table and then I'll judge Zelda's current state of affairs. WW:HD isn't applicable as a 10 y/o remake - so ALBW is essentially the next thing to measure/consider after SS whereas Zelda's concerned.

 

 

I really hope it doesn't disappoint, but time will tell.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Zelda really needs to do a Resident Evil 4.

 

Change the essence of what made it great in the first place and then progressively get worse with each passing game?

[Ashley]

Yeah but there's the one shining game where it's great and a character is named after me.

[Sheikah]

Change the essence of what made it great in the first place and then progressively get worse with each passing game?

 

Resident Evil 4 was a shake up to the series and a beautiful game. Much more fun to be had than if they stuck to the same formula. If they fuck up later sequels then that's their fault.

 

Point is, there was a time and a place when Zelda mechanics were novel/wowed. It's important to shake things up when they get stale.

[Josh64]

Yeah but there's the one shining game where it's great and a character is named after me.

 

I want to be your Leon.

 

 

 

But yeah, maybe they should give the series to someone else... Just not Retro.

[Guy]

Yeah but there's the one shining game where it's great and a character is named after me.

 

 

[Tamazoid]

I want to be your Leon.

 

 

 

But yeah, maybe they should give the series to someone else... Just not Retro.

 

I wouldn't change the leads on Zelda yet, Fujibayashi has only directed one mainline Zelda game (Skyward Sword, which I personally enjoyed). I want to see how he goes for the next title now that he had experience at directing a big budget game (his previous games were the handheld Zelda games).

 

Similarly, it was the first mainline Zelda Aonuma produced, with Miyamoto being the producer on Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Resident Evil 4 was a shake up to the series and a beautiful game. Much more fun to be had than if they stuck to the same formula. If they fuck up later sequels then that's their fault.

 

Point is, there was a time and a place when Zelda mechanics were novel/wowed. It's important to shake things up when they get stale.

 

It also brought along changes that haven't fared well for the series. I understand that it has done a lot for the "action" genre, but it verged on abandonment of its survival horror roots. Something that has become more apparent with each additional game in the series. (not entirely RE4's fault, but it was the starting point)

 

Personally, I thought that there were good and bad changes in Skyward Sword. Being able to upgrade your items and weapons was fucking fantastic and we need more of that. More quests, too. That sorta stuff is great and you don't need to change the entire essence of the game to do that.

 

But, the stuff that didn't excite me was to do with the overworld itself. Changing the structure of the game so that you only really visited 3 areas was a poor choice,in my opinion, and one that I hope doesn't stay implemented for the next one.

 

The entire game doesn't need changing, but there are lots of things that need addressing. Basically, I'd say it needs to do the opposite of RE4 and it rather needs to go back to its roots and identify why the series was so good in the first place (taking inspiration from ALTTP, Majora's Mask) and building on that with new and exciting ideas, like the item upgrade and the mechanic of having bosses in the overworld, the dungeons "beginning" in the overworld, etc.

[Sheikah]

But so long as it just emulates previous games it will never be better than them. It's a case of been there, done that.

 

I keep going back to RE4 because it was doing something new and it did so well, both critically and commercially. Just doing the same thing every game gets boring and stale - something that is really apparent with Zelda. You're literally going through the same motions game after game! The dungeon structure and basic gameplay has stayed the same for like 5 or more games now. And you get the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf what seems like a hell of a lot.

 

There's no reason that they can't try do a lot new and return to roots after if people don't like it. I'll bet you that's what Resi would have done if it 4 totally bombed.

 

It takes courage to try something new.

[Fierce_LiNk]

But so long as it just emulates previous games it will never be better than them. It's a case of been there, done that.

 

I keep going back to RE4 because it was doing something new and it did so well, both critically and commercially. Just doing the same thing every game gets boring and stale - something that is really apparent with Zelda. You're literally going through the same motions game after game! The dungeon structure and basic gameplay has stayed the same for like 5 or more games now. And you get the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf what seems like a hell of a lot.

 

There's no reason that they can't try do a lot new and return to roots after if people don't like it. I'll bet you that's what Resi would have done if it 4 totally bombed.

 

It takes courage to try something new.

 

I don't mean necessarily emulating the old games, but taking some of the principles from it and rediscovering why they were played so much in the first place. The exploration and story-telling aspects, both of which were heavily criticised in Skyward Sword and, to a lesser extent, in Twilight Princess and partly through Wind Waker. There are definitely problems there that need fixing.

 

Yeah, I agree that changing the structure somewhat is needed, but they already did some of that in Skyward Sword and it, in a way, made it worse. Rather than the game design itself being structured, the overworld was almost fragmented, it was essentially a level select. What I would prefer is that they took ideas from games such as Xenoblade with how to construct a whole world, one that isn't just section slapped together but is more integrated.

 

I'm certain they can add tons of new ideas whilst keeping the overall essence in tact. RE4 did new things and whilst many appreciated it, I still resent it somewhat for moving away from its roots. There's tons of scope within Zelda to do fantastic things, add tons of new things, but still keeping it "Zelda" if that makes sense. It's a balance. Saying that, if I encounter a bow, boomerang and bombs in the first third of a Zelda game again, I'll flip. That sorta thing needs addressing. I dislike in a way how certain items and puzzles keep making re-appearances.

[Sheikah]

Yeah I think dungeon content and progression is a big one. There's a lot of things they can keep the same (races, towns, rupees etc) to maintain the Zelda theme, while also considerably shaking up other things like dungeons, how Link fights, make it so nearly all the items are new (heck, even game changing stuff like a portal gun - not an actual portal gun though, heh), ditch musical instruments, leave Ganondorf out, etc.

 

There's a big gap between keeping things in that are part of the Zelda theme, and reusing tired old mechanics. They need to jump that gap.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Yeah I think dungeon content and progression is a big one. There's a lot of things they can keep the same (races, towns, rupees etc) to maintain the Zelda theme, while also considerably shaking up other things like dungeons, how Link fights, make it so nearly all the items are new (heck, even game changing stuff like a portal gun - not an actual portal gun though, heh), ditch musical instruments, leave Ganondorf out, etc.

 

There's a big gap between keeping things in that are part of the Zelda theme, and reusing tired old mechanics. They need to jump that gap.

 

Completely agree with all of that. That's pretty much what I want in the future games, just new ideas and fresh blood basically. Even having a totally different location, it doesn't always have to be Hyrule for starters.

 

Also, God...new enemies. Demise was pretty cool at the end of Skyward Sword, but you only knew him for 5 minutes. There was no character development really for his part and whilst he looked imposing, it would have been better to see more of his work. The storywriting and set-pieces need looking at big time. The last well developed and interesting character for me in a Zelda game was Midna.

[Rummy]

Personally, I thought that there were good and bad changes in Skyward Sword. Being able to upgrade your items and weapons was fucking fantastic and we need more of that. More quests, too. That sorta stuff is great and you don't need to change the entire essence of the game to do that.

 

But, the stuff that didn't excite me was to do with the overworld itself. Changing the structure of the game so that you only really visited 3 areas was a poor choice,in my opinion, and one that I hope doesn't stay implemented for the next one.

 

The entire game doesn't need changing, but there are lots of things that need addressing. Basically, I'd say it needs to do the opposite of RE4 and it rather needs to go back to its roots and identify why the series was so good in the first place (taking inspiration from ALTTP, Majora's Mask) and building on that with new and exciting ideas, like the item upgrade and the mechanic of having bosses in the overworld, the dungeons "beginning" in the overworld, etc.

 

Not sure where an emulation argument came from, given the last statement. Definitely agree with so much of Flink's post - item upgrading? AND degrading(ie shield)? Genius. Obv we don't want to turn it too much into a collect and fetch, but I felt it was done quite well in SS. More quests, definitely, and maybe a bit more soul. Skyloft was pretty good, but it felt like a lot the charm was concentrated there(not even that mind blowing either) - I did rather enjoy the little robots in the desert too though.

 

As said, I'm really looking forward to A Link Between Worlds to see how much it mixes it up, if it really does as people are wondering.

 

Still, I think post Zelda U(or even before) they need to hand this over to someone else. Or rather, try to get someone else involved. Aonuma was involved in OoT I now believe, so if they could scout out some top class talent that could contribute to Zelda U and maybe do a good enough job to take it on next, that might put a bit of freshness into it.

[Fused King]

What bothered me the most in Skyward Swords was the handholdiness of Fi and the game being too damn linear. JUST TOO DAMN LINEAR!

The pre-hyrule world was awesome though and the artstyle really made for some stunning areas.

 

All they need to do is bring back the mystery and just make it less linear.

Windwaker did a great job on the exploration part, and I want a Zelda game to feel like that again.

I want to see something in the distance, go there, and discover some weird guy looking at something with his binoculars, which in turn leads you to that place.

 

I feel that console Zelda games should really take an open-world route with exploration at its center.

Heck, you could even focus the game around you and your exploration crew and have you discover random silly things and pieces of the story, and then halfway you discover something big and you set out to a whole other world all together.

 

How awesome it would be if they could combine the air, sea and land in an openworld Zelda game: giving you the freedom, but also making you feel small and insignificant and, most of all, unaware of all discoveries, characters and races that lie ahead.

[Rummy]

Starting to fell less bad for you here, Aonuma

 

Zelda Producer On Majora's Mask Remake: 'Ha Ha Ha Ha'

 

“Please write that I laughed,” Zelda bossman Eiji Aonuma told IGN during a recent interview when asked whether Nintendo plans to remake The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

 

"Don’t make it sound like I laughed because I was troubled or inconvenienced or put out. I don’t want them to read anything into it. But if you want to say that I laughed, I think that would be a good answer... If they want to interpret my laughter as, ‘yeah, we’re making it’ or ‘no, we’re not,’ I guess that’s really up to them.”

 

This might be my favorite interview response of the year so far.

 

http://kotaku.com/zelda-producer-on-majoras-mask-remake-ha-ha-ha-ha-1302811679