Zelda: Skyward Sword details from the latest Iwata Asks

The eighth volume of the Iwata Asks interviews featuring Zelda: Skyward Sword has gone live. This time, the speakers discuss the 25th Anniversary Symphony Concerts and then go on to talk about feedback received from debuggers. The information comes from Eiji Aonuma, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and Satoru Iwata.

Symphony concerts

– Many people had tears in their eyes as they listened, including Aonuma
– Aonuma remembered making the games as images from the series were projected on a screen during the concerts overseas
– Everyone cheered during the Los Angeles concert
– Iwata believes that Western culture might be less hesitant to express emotion while Japanese culture encorages a certain restraint
– For the concert in England, the audience was quiet at the beginning and during the middle of songs, but clapped/cheered loudly at the end of songs
– Everyone went wild in London when Zelda Williams appeared on stage
– Kondo played “Grandma’s Theme” as a solo for the encore, and did so without practicing
– He chose that song because there was no way he could mess it up
– Aonuma says Kondo was “jittery” over the speech he gave after the song
– Everyone rose to their feet after the concert
– Critics known for their harsh reviews gave the concert high remarks
– Many people were telling Aonuma that Skyward Sword was the greatest game in the series, including one fan who hadn’t even played it yet (they said they could tell just by the videos)

Zelda: Skyward Sword/

– Debuggers played the game for 600-700 hours; some played as much as 1,000
– Even after playing it for all these hours, the debuggers said they want to buy the game and play it again when it comes out
– Aonuma played the same areas multiple times during debugging and was okay doing so because, for example, he was able to try out strategies he heard/seen from others
– There is limitless puzzle-solving in the battles
– Even though Zelda was a single-player at first, Aonuma has thought that Skyward Sword might be more fun played together with other people
– The team was able to put in a great deal because of the game’s simple structure
– Aonuma believes Skyward Sword’s simplicity will make you want to play it over and over
– New save system implemented to avoid stressful situations in the past (ex: starting all over at the beginning after losing to a boss in a dungeon)
– One French debugger was able to find his way through the game even though he didn’t understand the words
– Aonuma has worried that players won’t be satisfied if Zelda games aren’t complicated
– Aonuma believes you hardly ever feel like you’re being forced to do something
– Aonuma: The developers think that a more sophisticated game will provide surprises and awaken the player’s inquisitiveness. But that isn’t necessarily true. At first glance, it appears contradictory, but I really learned that this time—like in The North Wind and the Sun. (laughs)
– Enemies have personality
– Regarding Bokoblins, Fi will say that they are obsessed with underpants
– Aonuma: The extreme simplicity is linked to a return to the origins of the series, giving birth to a newness that is similar but different.
– Ocarina of Time became the standard for console Zelda games and needed to keep things mostly the same from then on
– Once Twilight Princess was done, Aonuma assumed an objective position for Phantom Hourglass and made many unreasonable requests to Fujibayashi (subdirector)
– Fujibayashi received many unreasonable requests, and this led to Skyward Sword
– Aonuma: I really don’t know what to do! (laughs) For the next one, if we will build on the methods we established this time, we might end up getting into a rut.
– Fujibayashi has been thinking about the next Zelda game, believes the hurdle is really high
– Aonuma feels that there is a lot left that the team didn’t do this time around
– Iwata wonders if they can make a new Zelda game in three years instead of five next time
– Fujibayashi: Sorry, I’ll think of something that can happen in three years!
– Fujibayashi: When I’ve made games, I’ve always thought, “Why is it that Miyamoto-san’s games sell for 10 or 20 years?” What I thought was that Miyamoto-san’s games are about intuition rather than culture. To make an extreme example, the exciting points would be the same for cavemen as it is for us who’re in the present. You don’t need linguistic or cultural knowledge.
– Aonuma knows this isn’t the end of Zelda and feels as though they can keep moving forward