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Hidemaro Fujibayashi

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Depths origins interview

Nintendo has spoken about how the Depths in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came to be, including how it was formed late in development. It also turns out that the area came as a surprise to producer Eiji Aonuma. Once again, this information comes from the recently-released art book in Japan.

Outside of Aonuma, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi also participated in the discussion. You can read our translation of the excerpt below.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Depths ideas

The developers behind The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have shared interesting details about the early days of making the Depths. This comes from the new art book that just came out in Japan.

The Depths are one major area of the game alongside the sky and Hyrule itself. However, things didn’t come together immediately. Art director Satoru Takizawa seemed to initially have an idea in his head about “a Cretaceous Period-like world with dinosaurs or the mythical underworld.” The team did actually make an experiment based on this. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi also indicated that the team played around with the brightness, noting that “there was a considerable amount of trial and error” before the final level of darkness was decided.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom anniversary messages

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom just celebrated its first anniversary. In honor of the milestone, Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream caught up with series producer Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and both of them shared special messages.

Here’s our full translation:

Zelda Tears Kingdom Rauru seal shrines Lightroots

Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma, the director and producer of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, have shared interesting information regarding Rauru’s seal – including what it did to Ganondorf – as well as the shrines and Lightroots. This comes as part of a recent interview with Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream that we’ve translated.

We won’t go too much into a summary here as the interview goes into (light) spoilers, but we get to hear about what Rauru’s seal on Ganondorf actually was, the appearance of shrines and Lightroots, and more.

Zelda timeline Hidemaro Fujibayashi

Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma, who has served as the director on Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, has shared general thoughts about the Zelda timeline and how much Nintendo thinks about it.

The timeline has long been a topic of discussion for fans, but there have been times when Nintendo has been coy about it. When asked by Game Informer how much consideration and importance Nintendo gives it, Fujibayashi said it’s “something that the development team recognizes and it considers, but to an extent.” This is because focusing on it way much can put restraints on creativity.

Zelda art Tears of the Kingdom

A recent issue of Nintendo Dream contained a new developer interview for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and one section touched on Zelda herself. The magazine discussed her specific story in the game as well as her character and growth, her new hairstyle, and more with director Hidemaro Fujibayashi.

We’ve gone ahead and translated the excerpt below. Just keep in mind that there is a light spoiler touching on one of the cutscenes, though only briefly.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Depths design

A recent interview with Famitsu reveals that the Depths for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom “were made in a surprisingly short period of time.”

That comes from director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. The initial area’s development came together quickly, though he did acknowledge that “it took a long time and many adjustments for it to take its present shape”. 

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom timeline

Coming off of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you might be curious as to where the game fits into the series’ overall timeline. Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the game’s director, was asked about that very topic in an interview with Famitsu.

The outlet pointed out how Skyward Sword was previously the start of things with Breath of the Wild happening at the end of the timeline. However, as players know, Tears of the Kingdom also touches on Hyrule’s founding. Given that, he was asked if it could also be the beginning.

Zelda Tears Kingdom Elden Ring

The developers behind The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom didn’t take any inspiration from Elden Ring or any other major titles for that matter. That’s according to Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the game’s director and Eiji Aonuma, the producer of the series.

FromSoftware previously said that when the studio was developing Elden Ring, it was influenced by various titles including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, it sounds like the team at Nintendo was too busy to play that game – or at least that goes for the developers at the top.

As the director and producer respectively, Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma are two of the most important people working on the Zelda series currently and they recently finished up Tears of the Kingdom as director and producer respectively. Both have been involved with the franchise for decades at this point. Fujibayashi started out with Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages in 2001 while Aonuma has been around even longer – specifically in 1998 with Ocarina of Time.

Fujibayashi and Aonuma, speaking with RTL Nieuws, were recently asked if they’re afraid of getting “stuck” in the sense that they only continue to work on Zelda games. However, both don’t seem to view it that way.

Here’s what the two shared:


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