The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been nothing short of a smash hit with critics and fans alike, who are still exploring everything and everywhere in the new world of Hyrule. What is next for the series juggernaut though?
It may be years away before production for the next Zelda even begins, but series producer Eiji Aonuma has hinted at what the future could hold. Interviewed in the June issue of Japanese magazine Nikkei Trendy (translated by Japanese Nintendo), he discussed his reactions to Breath of the Wild's reception outside of Japan along with his thoughts for the future of the Zelda series.
Firstly Mr Aonuma describes The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's decision to go 'Open Air':
When I first created a Zelda that’s played with 3D in Ocarina of Time, what we put our attention on is: To cope with how we were still not familiar with 3D yet, we show ‘routes’ so that you could progress forward without getting lost in even broad worlds.
At that time, I thought that was the right thing. However, as we stacked on the series, ‘not getting lost’ would produce feelings of blockages like ‘cannot do anything but that’ or ‘cannot run away’, so more and more people felt dissatisfied with that.
‘Open Air’ are words that really liberates us from those ‘feelings of blockages’. You can freely explore a vast world connected seamlessly, and you can progress to find out your own ‘answer’. So I think if there are 100 people ‘experiencing’ it, there will be 100 ways [to progress].
Before moving onto the topic of reactions overseas and what the future will hold for the series:
First of all I think the point that ‘this is a Zelda’ is big. It’s a series that has been continuing for a long time, if I am to put it in words then perhaps everyone would have thought it’s not that simple to do a ‘reform’.
Furthermore, that reform causes a ‘surprise’ to all our users who have played Zelda until now, since it exceeds their imaginations by a bit, and I think perhaps that’s why they, including the media, have welcomed it with the ‘zeal’.
It’s not an easy thing to be able to answer expectations of all our users, but through this game, I recognised again that the significance of continuing to create the series is right there, so in the future I’d like to repeat doing “great fusses*” and provide ‘surprises’ that exceed everyone’s expectations.
The interview will be interesting to revert back to once the next Zelda installment has been officially released. Please note that credit goes to Japanese Nintendo for translating the transcript.
What do you think the future will hold for the Legend of Zelda series?
[source japanesenintendo.com]
Comments 75
I honestly rather have a new F-Zero, Metroid, or Kid Icarus with the same budget.
Alien invasion maybe? That concept art was extremely random but witty. Just goes to show the ideas that get thrown around at concept meetings, nothing is off limits. Maybe that will be the dlc 😅
I inmensely enjoy the freedom the game gives you to explore, but I miss the difficulty curve a linear game gives you. Because for example all the Divine Beasts are beatable from the start they al have approximately the same difficulty level, which is challenging in the beginning of the game, but when you have acquired 25 heart containers it doesn't pose any challenge at all.
I personally wouldn't mind an approach more like Zelda 1, in which you have an open world where you have to find the dungeons and can enter them at any time, but you need items from dungeons in a specific order to progress, which forces a difficulty curve.
Breath of the wild is great. I hope they pull a majora's mask or two, releasing a new zelda with lots of great ideas within this similar engine within a relatively short timeframe.
I don't want it to take another 7 years
@erv Same. I've put in 80 hours plus. Still have to face two divine beasts. But i'm sure if i went to face Ganon i would win at this stage. The only reason i haven't is because i don't want to "finish" the game yet.
The thoughts of waiting at least another half decade for the next zelda installment is daunting hopefully the New Dlc campaign will be substantial.
See Anouma needs a pay raise, he was the largest reason for the switch's successful launch. Very happy Miyamoto wasn't as involved because he can ruin a project so easily.
I doubt it will be years away before they start production on the next Zelda.They'll probably start on it as soon as the DLC for BOTW is done.I'd imagine it's always been this way considering how long it takes to make one.
Like a new costume?
@Xaessya I don't even know how you could get F-Zero to that budget. Metroid and Kid Icarus yes but F-Zero could be done and well at 10% of that budget.
@Xaessya budget I don't think so, but development time definitely. So far the best released games this year were games that had long development cycles because of delays (Persona 5, BOTW, and RE7 are the best examples).
If metroid or F-zero got the time put into it it would be a masterclass game that attracts a lot of people new to the series. Compared to just another nintendo series because lets be honest the casuals got no clue what F-zero or Metroid is aside from Smash.
Surprise me with a bit of a better story please Aonuma-San? Thanks
...And we're already onto the "Miyamoto secretes toxic sludge" comments. Sort of. I'm not saying there've been no instances of his input having a negative effect on a game, but I feel the narrative's getting a little bit overplayed.
Anyway, I'd like to see something Majora's Mask-ey too. That was one of the most socially connected games in the series, and having a renewed emphases on people and townscapes would create a nice contrast with BotW's desolate wilderness. Between the old and the new style, there's plenty of uncharted space, and lots more to throw into the mix on top of that. Here's hoping the next game can be just as unique and compelling as Breath.
Might as well go full tilt at this point and give us zelda in space with a dozen planets to explore, with each planet being the size of BotW. I'm ready for it.
@ieatdragonz Development time and budget usually go hand-in-hand. The longer people are working on it, the more you have to pay those people. You could have a long development time and a small budget, but that just means a very small team of people working on it, which doesn't really sound like what everyone wants.
Please consider exceeding our expectations by producing more DLC beyond what already has been announced. I think the first pack is fine and I'm excited at the possibilities of the 2nd one. However, with a game of this magnitude, there are endless possibilities for expansion. What I'm trying to say is I really want to tame and ride Lynels and Guardians please
Give us some more voice acting. You do not have to have Link talk, but come on more. This is by far the best Zelda game ever. I do think they are similarities to the first Zelda in a weird way because of the exploration factor. @Snader is right though about the items in the dungeon and the hearts. I love this game so much.
Sorry to nitpick but how can the author misspell Aonuma three times in the article, including the title?
Aonuma didn't lie or disappoint when he said he would go back to the roots to refresh Zelda. Awesome game.
Link could fix the ruins to there original state like he did in Terry town.
I would like a totally immersive Metroid, first/third/2.5 blend to explore an alien planet like this "open air" theme.
I am on a Zelda break - a little ..not sick of it, but past the honeymoon now. Some sections (guardians, weopen degrading, mini-bosses like those horse/man are just really brutal for me).
Hope it hooks me in next time I play it again.
BotW has renewed other Zeldas for me too. I approach them differently now and they feel new all over again!
@Xaessya I agree especially for Metroid and F-Zero. Metroid and Mario Kart are my favorite Nintendo franchises. I don't care for Zelda much, but my favorite is still Ocarina.
@Xaessya Those don't sell Zelda numbers, and probably never will.
@sinalefa Haha, my brain did its own autocorrect and I didn't even realise.
@Forde999 As Sinalefa's noticed, it might be worth addressing the spelling of Mr. Aonuma's name. Thanks for the article though.
Just give me my dungeons back
BOTW was actually a little too dense for my liking. That sounds like a strange complaint but some areas didn't really feel 'natural' and felt a little too game-y, like how the Gerudo desert was just stuck in the corner of the map. The game needs a little bit more space to breathe.
I would love though some wind waker spinoffs .
Make a game with the same engine, but let the story be from another perspective, so something like what happened in the 100 years that this current Link spent in a cave. Kind of like a prequel to the cave awakening.
The goal would then be to ensure that the hero is locked in the cave and protected so that he can awaken to battle the evil forces of Ganon once more.
Great, now to you, GameFreak. Make a Pokémon game like this! A land where Pokemon with vast differences in levels roam free (like in Xenoblade where you could run around in early game areas and meet high level enemies). Sneak up on wild Pokémon to confuse them for the first round. Anything remotely like BotW, please, GameFreak! I'm begging you!
@Maxz Corrected. Thanks!
@ThanosReXXX A Zelda spin-off not starring Link? They toy with playing as Zelda every once in a while, and that would be a perfect backdrop. Or Linkle. I'd rather go more "weird" than that, go back to the Great Calamity 10,000 years ago when Sheikah tech civilization was at its peak. The world map would look VERY different, but you'd still be exploring the same Hyrule. An all high-tech Zelda would be weird. But it will still feature Link and be familiar. We already know that the Great Calamity 10,000 years ago was long, long, long AFTER Ocarina (it says so somewhere in-game.) So there's a big timeline to explore!
@GoldenGamer88 That sounds incredibly awesome! It would still have to be turn based in the battles (Japan would never forgive them if it were not) but that sounds like an ideal Pokemon world. Although GameFreak has always priced their games below average to make them very accessible. I'm not sure I can see them doing a $60 game with AAA budget any time soon. But we can dream...
@Xaessya F-Zero shouldn't NEED that kind of budget. Metroid would (might still be?) awesome that way. Kid Icarus....I feel like he's the big looser among Nintendo characters, beyond the other two. They just don't know what to do with him. Kid Icarus was originally an almost identical idea to Metroid, Metroid took off better, so they killed Icarus. They tried rebooting him with that Sakurai-led almost Bayonetta-esque reboot...which was cool, but there's only so much you can do with an on rails action game, and as cool as that one was as a stand alone, it doesn't feel like a game concept to build the identity of Kid Icarus around. I think they're going to need to reboot him again next time if they want to recreate him, but since Nintendo likes to have a particular franchise/character associated with particular gameplay concepts, as Miyamoto has said, where they design a game idea then determine which franchise fits that design, what game design concept would make them say "I know, Kid Icarus is the right fit?"
Which makes me sad because I LOVED the original KI on the NES, and actually preferred it to Metroid, so I wish he weren't the forgotten mascot.
@NEStalgia No, not without Link, just with another boy hero. Remember: Link is not a person, but only an avatar of the gamer, the connection with the game, so he or she can literally be anyone.
And something interesting must have happened in those 100 years and what came before may very well have prompted some "lazy little boy" to don the greens and become his generation's hero...
@NEStalgia Most certainly, even in a dream game, I'd never touch Pokemon's core battle system, especially since I prefer turn-based battle systems in rpgs. But yeah, looking at GF's track record and stance on Switch, I doubt it'll happen.
@GoldenGamer88 I second that. I would really enjoy a real Pokémon world with true freedom and more natural encounters.
I hope they don't abandon the 2D games as those are the ones I prefer. No 3D Zelda has managed to surpass Ocarina of Time for me. The 2D games generally take more interesting chances and are more creative than the 3D games. I really dislike Breath of the Wild; I miss the feeling of progress and the creative bosses of older Zelda games. And the camera in BotW is awful.
Add new areas like Skyloft(with the birds) and underwater(diving). Where's good old Zelda-items like slingshot, hookshot, hand net and fishing rod? Proper boat for fishing and a recipe book would be nice.
@nilcam I don't dislike BoTW, however, while I feel its a good game, I don't feel its a very good Zelda game. It abandons the core Nintendo game design philosophy at the heart of the older Zelda games - a series of challenges, progressively leading to a climax, all wrapped in a compelling story. In comparison, BoTW focuses on the experience, the story, over puzzles, challenges. It gives players a huge map and scatters these little samey puzzles everywhere, there's far less genius behind it all, the overall structure, the simpler mechanics of the entire game. There is no 'mastermind' overview at work, and once you've spent enough hours to dispel the magic of the open world (i.e. understand the rules of the game), it begins to feel... tedious. Another shrine, another Koro seed, another weapon... another puzzle you can fudge with the janky physics. It's all more akin to an Elder Scrolls game than Zelda. Never mind.
Just give me back some secret tunnels and Link's roll-escape move and I'll be happy.
The only thing left to do for the franchise is literally build on BotW and offer 4 player online co-op, ala 4 Swords.
Imagine playing BotW with 3 other "Links" complete with voice chat.
One guy off in Faron Woods slaying some sh!t, another up in Hebra, maybe one guy wrecking some dudes in Hyrule field.
In an interview prior to BotW release, Aounuma said he'd like to do games other than LoZ one day and that his days to do that are limited due to his age.
But I just really hope he'll continue producing LoZ games for a long time.
@idtgatt That's how I felt at first and, over time, I started to dislike it. I started Oracle of Ages last night and the first boss in that game is more interesting than anything I face in BotW.
Im sure they already started with the new zelda
Well he has definitely exceeded my expectations with the Zelda DLC and Trial by the Sword. 45 rooms!!! Man I was totally expecting around 20. Phew!!!!!! Blown awaaaayyyyyy!!!
Any bets on how many years (many!) before the next all-new installment?
I'd also bet Switch won't be the home console for it - likely some games in the series and spin-off's but I highly doubt there is time to so another big new NEXT ZELDA in the next few years.
@shani I think he was on the fence about that. At the end of the interview he said that his other games would probably end up just being Zelda-like because he's so used to it so it might not be a good idea. BotW probably counts as that new direction he wanted to work with anyway
@ThanosReXXX Good point, 100 years time means another Link could have lived and died while this Link was in the shrine. ALTHOUGH, what about the sword? I guess we don't know how long it took to repair. Maybe someone else used it then put it back again. Hyrule doesn't seem to have been touched too much though since the last battle and most people seem to have given up hope after the Champions fell 100 years ago. It might need some Miyamoto retconning to do that. Actually most of the ruins we see have been that way for 100 years....so it would really be the same map. That might be a good DLC pack.
Tech Sheikah and an army of friendly guardians would still be awesome though!
I also need the "old woman"-mask for buying alcohol from Gerudo bar.
@gatorboi352 That....sounds like pretty much every reason I have no interest in half the games that are popular on other platforms Playing the same game but "with other people on the phone" doesn't really sound particularly fun. I'm not against coop, Fantasy Life was a blast that way, but it played a lot on the different players playing together and a mix of the different classes. But that description isn't really co-op....it's just a bunch of people playing separate single player games while talking about it
@Xaessya
That'd be great!
@NEStalgia Haven't thought about it that deeply, so the sword hasn't come up yet. This idea was just the first thing that sprang to mind, and it seemed interesting and logical to at least do something with these "lost" 100 years, and the nice thing would be that they can use the same engine, much like with the two N64 games.
@NEStalgia "Playing the same game but "with other people on the phone" doesn't really sound particularly fun"
Blame Nintendo's Switch setup for that one, but I digress...
I mean yeah obviously there'd be more to it than that brief scenario I painted. Also, each action one player would be doing in one part of the game would have an effect on the other players. And tailored gameplay to co-op situations as well.
These news pieces are always rather interesting. It'll be interesting to see how future entries handle the open world concept.
@gatorboi352 That sounds a bit better. I'd be interested if it supported local coop across 2 consoles (like MK8, Triforce Heroes, etc. do)...but DIDN'T have the poor scaling of TriForce and Federation Force for having 2 instead of 3/4 players. Those games are a joke with only 2 players. Adding online doesn't work well if you have some local players. I'd end up firing up a third 3DS and trying to play them both simultaneously
@NEStalgia Oh you're right, that's probably it. In that case Aonuma should just continue to push the LoZ formula (without abanding its core, of course) and hopefully he can enjoy doing that.
@ThanosReXXX Yeah. I never think about Zelda lore, canon, and continuity, but BotW for some reason has me doing so Maybe because it has history scattered around in certain places that pin a time on some things (though not all of it makes sense....Aonuma said this takes place before WW which contradicts some things in the game.... Never before have I been one of those "timeline " people )
I hope Aunoma surprises us again with some 1:1 joy-con sword/weapon combat. I wonder where the series will go from here.
There are so many places my wife and I explore in Breath of the Wild that would be perfect places for dungeons. I hope the DLC ends up adding new classic style dungeons where you can unlock previous Zelda game abilities that are absent from BotW.
Also, btw. Has anyone here tried using a tree as a mode of transportation in this game? I'm telling you, once you try it you won't want to stop.
@NEStalgia Me neither, but I do have the "The Legend of Zelda Retrospective" DVD from GameTrailers...
It was quite an entertaining DVD, and it was available to download for free.
Unfortunately, the original DVD isn't available anymore, but GameTrailers did re-upload the six episodes that it consisted of on YouTube and they also made a re-edited three part HD version of it called Timeline, so in case I somehow peaked your interest, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgzPeVe5P0Q
Both series are entertaining enough to watch, regardless of whether or not you're a timeline fan, since it still is a nice and elaborate stroll down memory lane, which in the case of Zelda is always good.
@Sidon_ZoraPrince Alien invasion crossed my mind to. Something from another world that isn't steeped in hyrule lore would be an interesting direction. That idea makes me think of games like Earthbound.
@ieatdragonz Miyamoto apparently didn't much like Splatoon and was very hands-on with Star Fox. So, yeah, that happened.
I love the guy, but he's sort of in the Walt Disney/John Lasseter phase at a creative company... pioneers with a reputation for micro managing who might not be super supportive of new visions that are different than what they created. I don't think it's an accident that the best PIXAR movies have come from Brad Bird (who operates largely independently of the company).
@ThanosReXXX
That would mean 2 Links at the same time, one sleeping and one running around, kinda like the 4 Toon Links.
The thing is that it would be a little depressing because that Link's efforts would amount to nothing if it links to BotW's beginning.
I would actually love to see a spinoff focused on the 4 champions and their lives.
@sinalefa More like a new one rising up in absence of the other one. Someone has to keep Hyrule safe while BotW Link is napping...
EDIT:
And of course we would already know how it would end, but it wouldn't be sad or useless, since (like I already speculated in my original comment) the main goal would be protecting the sleeping hero, and keeping his location secret so that they can be sure that Hyrule will be protected in the future as well. Besides, it's a hundred years, so they could even do two new Link stories in the space of that period.
@sinalefa People actually asking for Zelda spinoffs? What is the world coming to?
Ask for that and we'll get StasisBall. On New 2DS XL.
@Muddy_4_Ever To be fair to Miyamoto he got stuck with Star Fox as it was mostly because Iwata tasked him explicitly with creating experiences that showcase (i.e. justify the existence of) the Gamepad, mostly because investors were pressing him on that problem with the WiiU. I'm not sure StarFox would have been what it was had he not been handed that very explicit direction to basically make truffles out of poo. He tried too hard, and the result was a game that circled in development heck forever, got outsourced, and came out sideways, late. It actually IS a fun game in its own context. But I don't think that result is "Myiamoto designed his perfect SF game" as much as "Miyamoto was told to fit a square peg into a round hole and the result actually doesn't completely suck."
And he's partly responsible for Splatoon being what it is. He's actually responsible for the squid/kid motif. He rejected their EARLIER design when they had only squids, so whether he liked the end result or not (not sure) he's actually largely the inventor of the game's vibe. I think they try to downplay his (good) influence on things because they're afraid of associating everything good they have with being his invention because there could be investor panic if he retires.
No argument on Bird vs. Lasseter however Ratatouille is a classic for the ages. Bug's Life is the last truly timeless Lasseter film. Some say it's "Up", but I see that as trying too hard to be arthouse after Ratatouille.
@ThanosReXXX That video is gold! Not that ANYONE can make sense of the Zelda timeline. Whatever Miyamoto broke in the 80's & 90's, Aonuma glued together than smashed it in the 2000's
@NEStalgia Did you already watch ALL of them? It's not just one video: the retrospective consists of six parts, and the timeline series of three.
But glad you liked it. Personally, I downloaded the DVD simply because I think it's nicer to watch on the big screen. Not because of the graphics, but because it gives it more of a documentary "feel" if you get what I'm trying to say...
Open Air is probably the dumbest thing I ever heard.Second would be FPA, first person adventure
@ThanosReXXX
Sound like an interesting thought: shift the narrative to a more personal perspective and, depending on the amount of characterization, allow the player to relate rather than project themselve onto, like Link. Plus, if we're talking prequel, it could act as a before shot of Hyrule before Link was resurrected; relatively functioning, but bordering the end, populace losing hope, that way the actions we perform in botw carry even more weight.
Of course that's just off the top of head.
@EdFairway Exactly. Kind of like the Zelda version of Star Wars Rogue One: you already know how the story is going to end, but in order for the BotW saga to start well, you still have to bring quite a few quests to a successful ending...
@Xaessya
Very unlikely they would ever get the budget. I can't speak for Kid Icarus but F-zero they don't know how to innovate further(their words). Metroid is not worth it fiscally. Not trying to rile anyone but the fact that the entire series has to date sold 16 million games in 26 years with their best sellers not even cracking 3 million speaks volumes. Essentially it's the series everyone loves to pay lip service to. Which is a true shame as it has a lot of potential and has some amazing games thus far.
I do hope the next one is a bit less downright cruel to players who aren't hardcore gung-ho about the difficulty and combat aspects.
We need Skyward Sword HD, because I doubt we will get another new "real Zelda game" on the Switch. I would also accept the spin off games, like a definitive Hyrule Warriors (or a new one!). All I know is I want the Switch Zelda to keep on coming.
@ThanosReXXX
Although the protagonist in this hypothetical zelda is more active than passive: perhaps a crisis of duty or doubt of position, following theme established with Link and Zelda, this doubt could be one motivation to leave their post.
I was hoping BOTW would let you travel to the past, or that this would have a dark world, or some twist to it like that. That's one of the things since link to the past that I always loved. Ocarina had time travel, link to the past had the sacred realm, wind waker had Hyrule under the sea, and skyward sword....well it tried. Anyway, while I loved BOTW, and it's a huge awesome world, I didn't miss the structure of the past games as much as the feeling that there is more to it than what you see. I don't mean this critically, I think it was a fine game. I just like that kind of game or element. One of the reasons I loved Chrono trigger. And who wouldn't love to see Hyrule in its prime, or is ancient past... Maybe if they do a majora style game with this engine they could pull a creative twist.
I really "enjoyed" BotW. It gave me the "pleasure", after some initial "hesitation". I'd still like to see some more the "dungeons" in future, and Ganon was a bit of a force with no the "agency", but it was a b@llsy "move" by Nintendo. And I'm interested in how the next 2D version plays out.
It wouldn't "surprise" me at all if they were working on another title right now.
@arpaktiko i want wind waker 2 hd next
loved that game so much
twilight princess too, i liked the whole midna/wolf thing
Gave us a 2D Zelda for the Switch because Link between World is amazing.
My pants were very suprised. Thank you Aonuma for giving Zelda a nice booty <3
@Muddy_4_Ever In my Opinion Miyamoto is now more like the Uwe Boll of gaming. Sure, Miyamoto invented Meiro Dankey Kang, Pikmin and so on but that is it. His games reflect very well that he does whatever he wants but not the Fans. Latest Paper Mario games are a good example or F-Zero.
A personal Opinion of mine is that Nintendo gave Miyamoto way to much space to work and let them do whatever he wanted, but every franchise Miyamoto did develop, others surpassed him. An Example is Zelda. Oot from Miyamoto was awesome back then but then Aonuma stepped in and created Majoras Mask, which for a huge amount of people, me included surpasses Zelda by a landslide.
Another good example is Mario. His 2D games are great but he is stuck in his own 2D demension, the dude we more often with the switch, is the guy who did alot of work on Mario 64, and Sunshine. He is probably also responsible for letting Mario Oddysey exist.
You can now really see that Nintendo is changing. Thank god. Miyamoto is now finally in the background where he now belongs. What he can and should focus on, are movies imo. His Pikmin shorts are great.
Breath of the Wild was tremendous, and Nintendo deserve nothing but praise.
But next time, please hire some talented writers and voice actors. Give us something a little more left field than 'Ganon wants to take over Hyrule'. Give us a new threat, a new purpose to fight, and maybe something more complex than a big bad guy?
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