Aonuma: Need to innovate with Zelda, Link Between Worlds a new direction for potential entries with top-down view
ONM has put up its full interview with Zelda series producer and Zelda: A Link Between Worlds composer Ryo Nagamatsu. Between the two, there’s talk about the need to innovate with the franchise, how A Link Between Worlds has created a new direction for potential Zelda games which make use of the top-down view, and more.
Head past the break for comments from Aonuma and Nagamatsu. You can find even more quotes on ONM here.
On whether Aonuma finds it difficult to make innovations when feeling such pressure to deliver a game that fans will like…
For Zelda, I think innovating is precisely what we need to do to meet the expectations of our fans. We will, of course, continue to question and reconsider the approaches we have taken in the past without any reservations.
On the hardest thing to achieve when making the game…
The hardest thing was to find clues on how to innovate and then to develop them into the best possible product within the given time.
On how the team managed to squeeze such eye candy out of the 3DS…
It was possible because many of the staff who participated in the development of this game already had a wealth of experience and know-how creating other Nintendo 3DS titles that they could use for this project.
However, converting all the 2D sprites from A Link to the Past to 3D and making them look natural in the top-down view was an unprecedented challenge. We needed to come up with even more innovative technologies in order to make it work.
On what Aonuma learned from making the game, and whether or not he can see the use of these ideas in future titles like the Merge ability…
I think the top-down view made the ability to enter the wall really interesting. Also, in this game, I feel we’ve found a new direction in regards to the potential use of the good old top-down view for Zelda. It’s the kind of point we will take in good consideration when thinking about the next Zelda game.
Aonuma on what comes first: the story or gameplay ideas…
As a result, we’ve introduced the item rental system to provide the players with the choice to complete the dungeons in any order they want. As is always the case with Zelda, we think of the story once we’ve decided on the system.
Nagamatsu on who was involved with the soundtrack and how the various tracks were divided up…
I was in charge of the soundtrack. Thank you very much, I’m really happy to hear you liked it. I composed arrangements of the music from A Link To The Past, composed and orchestrated the new music and also played the flute music for the Milk Bar myself. Koji Kondo was the composer of all the original music that I adapted for this sequel.
On who performed the Milk Bar Folk Duo acoustic tunes and whether they’re live recordings…
I performed the flute music live myself, using a recorder. Most of the string music was done using a synthesiser set to a lute. However, Toru Minegishi, who also works in the Sound Group, recorded a live guitar performance for the song, Ballad Of The Goddess, that you can hear when you fully complete the Hero Mode.
On who sighs at the end of one of the Milk Bar acoustic songs…
That’s also me! It’s supposed to be the sigh of the boy sitting at the Milk Bar. If you listen carefully, you can also hear me inhaling after a long performance, or tapping my foot to the beat of the music and various other sounds. Try to see if you can hear them.
