Earlier this month Nintendo confirmed that it'd give a talk at Game Developer Conference in San Francisco focused on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The presentation, called Change and Constant – Breaking Conventions with Breath of the Wild, has now taken place, and it gave some enjoyable insights into the development process and some slightly wacky ideas left behind early on.
It was presented by game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, art director Satoru Takizawa and technical director Takuhiro Dohta, and Nintendo of America has shared a series of tweets emphasizing highlights of the talk. There are some interesting slides on the design philosophies at work in the game, a neat reveal of a '2D prototype', and some particularly bizarre concepts that were floated in the early stages of development.
Nintendo of America's tweets are below.
A pretty interesting talk - a video of the panel is due to be uploaded to the GDC Vault channel in the next week, so we'll keep our eyes peeled for that.
Comments (51)
There's a reason that Zelda remains my beloved series. They just keep making it better and better. Friday can not come soon enough
Well, I almost got to see the return of...THEM.... ( )
I think Musician Link is my spirit animal
I cannot wait to play Breath of the wild. Friday cannot come soon enough.
Biker Link is basically 'LoZ meets Shadow the Hedgehog'. I'm glad he didn't come out of this alive.
Sorry Biker Link.
In fact, that whole slide looks like they had the Sonic Team over for brainstorming.
I'd quite like to have been at the meeting that led to these pieces of concept art.
Mr. Aonuma: "So everyone, how do we take the series forward?"
That Sonic Team Intern: "Link needs more 'tude man - like - WAAAY more 'tude!! WHERE'S THE 'TUDE MAN GIMME THE FREAKIN 'TUDE!"
Hipster Link looks like such a tool.
I'm not gonna lie, I would have been totally down for an alien invasion in Zelda.
Didn't aliens already appear in Majora's Mask? Kinda?
Alien invasion? Ok that needs to happen.
Am I wrong for wishing I had track suit link as an amiibo?
I would love to see videos of these type of talks from gdc Its fascinating finding how developers made decisions to get the game we get.
"Trial and Error?" Definitely error.
@Tsurii, now if they don't release that tech demo, I'm gonna throw a fit.
LOL Fantasy can be such a difficult beast. You want to present a culture that evolves on a technological level yet you don't want to lose the sword and sorcery foundation. it is a bit of a tightrope to walk some times. I can imagine they have had a time given some of the more advanced cultures that have shown up in previous Zelda games.
Biker / Rocker Link ?
LOL XD
The feels from that 2D.
Still, when I pop in my gold cart of the original game... that music.... the screen opens up... and the world is mine to explore!
@tsurii Whoa, that is pretty cool. I'd buy a full game like the 2d prototype
The concept art for a modern link definitely qualifies for "the urban legend of zelda"
@DiscoGentleman
I agree a hundred thousand times. There REALLY has to be a new proper Metroid.
That alien invasion tho! Would be nice as dlc!
Those damn aliens always taking our ideas.
An EDGE 10, 40/40 in Famitsu. Not only is Breath of the Wild something truly special but it may well go down as the greatest game ever created.
@able_to_think Spoiler: Hipster Link, Biker Link, and Rocker Link are the three parts of the Triforce, and are the final bosses in Breath Of The Wild!
@speedracer216 I get that same feeling! I love it! And then I just die forever. And then I give up.
The Hyrule Wars actually sounds pretty awesome. The expanse of story could be totally daunting.
@BAN
Haha. Memories.
aliens , bad idea , hyrule wars might be fine, rockstar link risky spin off possible, biker link can be possible if gannon comes back and is based on today's world or another evil doer. Hipster link how can, he be a silent protagonist and that? Yo hoie where's gannon's lair and can u take it there home boy?
zelda has a theme, but mostly not advanced tech, boss are from the world he lives in, mostly fantasy setting, not sci, does save some or all persons, restores peace, travel, explore, solve puzzles, deals with super natural beings.
leave aliens to Samus Aran and make a Real Metroid!
@Tsurii Thanks for link. It's worth noting the entire video will be available officially next week. Should mention it seems super spoilery, so I'm staying away. Maybe later after I've played some.
While the idea of aliens is bizarre in a Zelda game, the guardians are kind of like aliens if you think about it. And the Sheikah tablet is also futuristic, so that must have came from the idea of modern stuff for Link like a motorcycle. Neat stuff!
Crazy stuff.
I would really like to play the 2d prototype as either the paid dlc or an unlock for beating the game.
Oh man, when Nintendo makes an open world game, they go ALL OUT.
Cannot wait for this.
Link's shred-tastic guitar was named the "Tri-caster". A fairly obvious portmanteau of "Triforce" and Fender's "Telecaster" (or indeed Stratocaster) models of guitar. Despite this, it's doesn't appear to be based on either of those designs, but instead on a Gibson Flying V. Fun facts.
That mail had me laughing on the floor. I can imagine Aonuma having a troll face while writing that mail, and the director being like "oh well, we're screwed, let's go tell the team".
Just imagine Big Ben is the center of Clock Town... Not so strange now, is it!? Majora was actually... AN ALIEN SYMBIOTE! Their home world was alerted upon Majora's death, and they're pissed! It just took them a while to travel the interstellar highway...
Love this
So the rock we can push to the final boss, is it what is needed for the secret ending?
I wonder if we can push...ALL THE ROCKS to the final boss!
These look really cool
I AM ERROR
I now want a Zelda game in where an alien invasion takes place.
The invasion slide looks like Link stumbled into an episode of Fargo.
I would have loved to have seen that alien invasion. I'm sure they would've have found a way to make it work and keep the spirit of the series.
Also, I find the concepts of a more modern Link interesting. Really close to an idea I've always had thrown around in my head. A Link to The Future. A Zelda game set way far into the future. A very modern and technologically advanced Hyrule. Pretty close to our world. Where the legends of past games serve almost like our Greek mythologies or for those of us of the religious persuasion, like those fantastical stories like Noah's Ark or David and Goliath. I also imagined Link riding a motorcycle, named after Epona in some fashion.
@Tingle_The_Great
Hahaha, by looking at that picture from link, i cant help myself to imagine the voice acting like the cartoon series; Excuuuuusssssee me! Princes.
Alien invasion dlc incoming! Lol.
But seriously, it could happen and could be fun.
They even made a manga of it, with a weird (modern) Ganondorf from the looks of it.
As for the 2d concept: I first was thinking why?! But after seeing the video, actually quite cool!
The developers seem obsessed with modern Link/sci-fi stuff. One day it will happen: A 100% sci-fi Zelda (could be awesome). Or a modern day Zelda.
I legit would play the hell out of a Zelda game where aliens attack. Make it a MM sequel
@Henmii well, according to the Miyamoto-San, the triforce was supposed to be computer chips from the future or something of that nature (but in the shape of a Dorito chips for some reason...), so your idea isn't far off base actually
Mmmh so the secret ending is like rolling all the stones to the castle, then ganon comes after you, trips hard and dies. The end. Lol
Biker Link's hat looks like Santa Claus's one XD.
By looking at that alien invasion shot, the more i want the DLC too. The world is soo big l, so yeah after defeating ganon, bring some new challenging story, bosses, dramma etc.
So, is anyone gonna talk about ganondorf wearing a metalica shirt? (In the manga)
@5t3v3n,
Yeah, I know. The first Zelda was supposed to be sci-fi.
@Henmii oh ok cool 😎.
A proper sci-fi Zelda would be interesting though, as you alluded to earlier, cuz I wanna shoot laser beams again... (insert awesome laser shooting sound effect from Zelda 1)
Edge Lord Link.
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