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Nintendo has shared some interesting insight into the early development behind The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, specifically how some of Link’s new abilities were initially designed using Breath of the Wild.

Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the game’s director, came up with the idea of attaching objects. To show this to the team, he “tried creating vehicles using only the mechanisms and parts available in the previous game and presented them.”

Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma said in a recent interview:

Dungeons have been a staple of the Zelda series, and they’re back once again in Tears of the Kingdom. However, it sounds like they’ve received an upgrade since the last game, Breath of the Wild.

Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, technical director Takuhiro Dohta, and art director Satoru Takizawa had a few words to say about the dungeons in a Nintendo interview. One of the more notable aspects is that they were made “unique to their respective environments”, according to Dohta. That’s in contrast to the Divine Beasts in Breath of the Wild that had similar designs. Takizawa said they were challenging to create.

Here’s the full discussion:

The developers behind The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have talked about implementing ideas for the game that weren’t possible for Breath of the Wild. Series director Eiji Aonuma, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, technical director Takuhiro Dohta, and art director Satoru Takizawa commented on this in a new Nintendo interview.

Dohta mentioned how with Breath of the Wild, “there were restrictions in development” since it was originally being made for Wii U. That meant even though the team was interested in flying, that wouldn’t be possible. Also, Aonuma actually wanted to dig underground, but that idea was scrapped as well – but brought back for Tears of the Kingdom.

Here’s the full discussion:

Zelda Tears Kingdom Hyrule

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a bit of an outlier for the series in that it’s not only a sequel (to Breath of the Wild), but also reuses the same Hyrule – albeit with many changes and additions. Nintendo has now spoken more about this in a recent interview.

Series director Eiji Aonuma, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and technical director Takuhiro Dohta confirmed in a recent interview that it was always the plan to reuse Hyrule. Fujibayashi mentioned that “there were no objections” in keeping the same setting.

The comments from Aonuma, Fujibayashi, and Dohta can be found below. 

Klonoa design

Yoshihiko Arai, the original creator of the design for Klonoa, has provided a bit of insight into the character. This comes as part of a recent interview with Lost In Cult.

“Namco wanted to create some catchy designs that would appeal to a variety of customers,” Arai said. One inspiration here was Sherlock Hound, an early animated series from Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli fame.

Mario movie backstory

Mario games are always about the gameplay, with the story often having a minimal impact. However, with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the plot and its characters needed to take center stage. This created an interesting dilemma of sorts for Nintendo.

If you’ve seen The Super Mario Bros. Movie or any of its trailers, you obviously know that there’s more to Mario compared to the games – including a bit of a backstory. But Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said Nintendo felt some hesitation there since “we want Mario to be without restrictions” and going into more of his character “might become a disadvantage for future games.”

Dr Mario Shigeru Miyamoto

In the words of Shigeru Miyamoto, Dr. Mario is a character that shouldn’t be trusted.

IGN recently spoke with the Mario creator as part of an interview for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Miyamoto talked about how the film brought out a new side of the character as an everyman hero. However, when it comes to Dr. Mario, he’s a character shrouded in shadiness.

Nintendo movie adaptations

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has discussed why Nintendo has been hesitant to have its games adapted into movies.

To say this is a field that Nintendo hasn’t explored much would be an understatement. After taking Mario to the big screen with a live action film in 1993, the company hasn’t done much with other adaptations. That finally changed this week with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which was created in partnership with Illumination.

Nintendo Illumination movies

The Super Mario Bros. Movie marks the first collaboration between Nintendo and Illumination. The two sides haven’t announced any additional projects, but it’s likely that their partnership will continue in the future.

Recently, Screen Rant spoke with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination’s Chris Meladandri. Miyamoto noted how he’s “sure we will continue working on this partnership.” Meladandri also brought up how he’s a part of the board of directors at Nintendo and mentioned that “we’re working together into the future with me in that capacity.”

Shigeru Miyamoto violent games

Speaking with Variety, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto clarified that he’s not against shooters and violent video games.

Some have had the perception that the Mario creator is opposed to violence in these types of experiences. That’s not the case, but Miyamoto feels it’s his “mission to find other ways to make an interesting and fun game.” When it comes to Mario, he’s “a character that never hurts other people”.

Miyamoto’s full words:


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