Zelda: Tri Force Heroes didn’t originally have single-player, Aonuma suggested adding it in

It’s no secret that The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is heavily focused on multiplayer. Still, if players want, they can complete the entire game solo. Had it not been for Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma though, that wouldn’t have been possible.

Zelda: Tri Force Heroes was originally imagined as a multiplayer-online game. It was only after Aonuma suggested adding in a single-player mode that this was added.

Aonuma and The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes director Hiromasa Shikata shared with TIME:

“When we started, I didn’t have any thoughts of creating a single-player mode, because I was focused on a three-player mode that’s fun. So one day, Aonuma-san steps in and says ‘Can you make a single-player for this?’ And I was thinking ‘Oh no, no, that’s not . . . All of a sudden? Wow, can we?’ And so we went back and forth about it.” – Shikata

“When I created Marvelous [an action-adventure for the Super Nintendo released in Japan in 1996], it was a three-player game, and so I said ‘How about something like that?'” – Aonuma

“Yeah, so we thought maybe it’s not possible, but then we started talking about it, and we said ‘How about one course, can we do it on just one?’ And that led to ‘Can we do it on all courses?’ And it turned out it was doable. So ultimately what happened was, we were able to create a new way of playing the game that was different from the multiplayer experience.”

“I also think that because we have the multiplayer experience, the single-player stands out,” adds Aonuma. “And because we have all of these different ways of experiencing the game, these different design ideas, I think that’s what sets it apart.” – Aonuma

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