Aonuma on BotW reaction and last boss difficulty, next Zelda will use HD Rumble but is a long way off, more
At Japan Expo this week, GameReactor caught up with Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma. The discussion included talk about Breath of the Wild and Zelda in general.
Regarding Breath of the Wild, Aonuma reflected on the game’s reaction and those who say that the final boss was too easy. He also spoke in (very) vague terms about the next main Zelda – wanting to include HD Rumble, but it’s a long way off. Also, Aonuma basically said that Link is ambidextrous.
We’ve included what we feel are the more notable comments from Aonuma below. The full interview is on GameReactor here.
On the reaction to the game…
Excellent obviously. But I realise that during these four months I have not stopped working on the DLC, so we kept our nose to the grindstone and we never felt like our work was done and that it was time for us to review it. One thing is for sure: for the last four months, we have focused on the player’s feelings, analysing their feedback and possibly changing via the DLC what they did not like. That said, we are still very cautious with fan-service, because too much fan-service can make the game tasteless. What I enjoyed during these four months was seeing the players and the sometimes unique and unexpected ways in which they play our game. Because the truth is we designed a game by saying that they were going to play as we wanted, or at least we knew how they were going to play. But when you see on YouTube how some people use the content we’ve created, we’re extremely surprised. We really did not expect that type of use.
On the next DLC…
…On the other hand on the next DLC we will tell stories about the champions in the game, to discover some of their backgrounds. What made me happy is the reaction of people. Many players have become fans of some of the champions, and it’s really nice. And then we will add the Amiibo as we go along.
On Aonuma’s regret of not being able to use Switch-specific features…
To give a concrete example, there are what are called ‘HD vibrations’ which are specific to the Switch and which allow you to almost experiment what the character feels when it touches something, for example when you take an object in hand you can feel it thanks to the vibrations. It is a rather interesting approach, it adds more realism too, simply it would have been necessary to develop scenes around that. The real problem that made it impossible to use this technology is not so much a matter of time problem but rather that we were going to have too many differences with the Wii U version and they both had to be identical games. But now that we can free ourselves from this connection, this constraint, since the Switch is developing well, we will be able to use this in the next Zelda.
On the next Zelda…
No, you will not get a scoop! Sorry, my dear friend [laughs]. We have no plans for a future Zelda, we are still far from all this unfortunately for you. Today, I’m at a stage where I’m trying to gather a number of ideas for a sequel, but I cannot do it alone. It’s a lot of work that will have to be done over a long period of time, and we’re still far from having planned anything. Leave us a little time…
On those who didn’t enjoy the final fight in Breath of the Wild…
You know, it’s very difficult to harmonise the fight against a last boss because we have this desire that whatever the level of the players, they could reach the end of the adventure. And if you put a level of difficulty that is too high on this last boss, there are some who will never be able to finish it and it will lead to frustration too. So the balance is really very hard to find. We indeed prefer to lower the level of difficulty so that everyone can enjoy the end. And going back to Expert mode, it will be much more difficult, it will be a lot more challenging for those who want it. And then, keep in mind that Zelda is not just an adventure that will end with the fight against Ganon. For us, this final fight is just a way of finishing the game. The real end of the game is when you really get to the end of the adventure, having completed all the quests and discovered the secrets of the game. But we noted the complaints on that point too.
On Link being left-handed/right-handed…
It is a matter of chance that Link is left-handed in the first episodes, for a reason that we could not really explain today. When we developed the game on Wii, we actually had to change and adapt to the majority of players – and that’s my case too, I’m right-handed – so we had to make sure that Link was right-handed on that version. But it was to adapt to the gameplay, so in the end I think we can say that Link is ambidextrous [laughs]. When the developers at Koei Tecmo, who are in charge of Hyrule Warriors, asked me a few months ago whether he was left-handed or right-handed, I replied that it was absolutely not important to me. Nor for Shigeru Miyamoto for that matter [laughs].
On the Link he relates to the most…
It’s very difficult to answer this question, but it’s entertaining. You know, I’m a dad, I had a child when I was developing Windwaker, and I have a special attachment to the Link of this game. It’s a bit like seeing my own child to be honest. Since then, it’s true that Link became part of myself. And when we were developing Twilight Princess, I remember a day when I was walking my son in his stroller and I started crying just because I heard the music. I saw Link as my own child and I did not know what his future was going to be. But I really have a hard time choosing one in particular.
