Zelda: Breath of the Wild devs on The Champions’ Ballad DLC – approach to the story, dungeon design, new outfits, more
Let’s talk shrines and dungeons! First, how do you go about designing dungeons in the main story?
Fujibayashi: Ah yes, there were two approaches. Since these dungeons focus on physics, one approach was creating a dungeon that fully utilized the physics. The second approach was to create a dungeon that gets affected by events in the dungeon – such as dynamic movements, changes in direction, and getting transferred to different locations. By having players discover a dungeon within these large beings, it links the story and gameplay, and that’s the king of dungeon I wanted to create.
Ah, interesting. So how did this affect the new dungeon in The Champions’ Ballad?
Fujibayashi: Since the new dungeon was created with more ideas after we’ve created the four Divine Beast dungeons, I believe the dungeon added in DLC Pack 2 is the most fun and different among the dungeons we worked on.
There are many outfits in the game that are from past Zelda games, but how did you decide on which ones to use? Also, which outfit is your favorite?
Fujibayashi: All the staff got together to decide on them, focusing on the impact of the outfits, like Zant’s Helmet, the Island Lobster shirt, and Phantom Ganon armor. We really wanted to choose impactful and fun outfits like the lobster shirt, and outfits that make Link look totally different.
I’m personally a fan of the Phantom Ganon armor set because when it’s equipped, Link looks like a totally different character – it felt like I’m playing a different game while riding the motorcycle with this outfit. I had Link riding around in it while we were testing the content!
Aonuma: As producer, I was interested to see how the outfits would appear in the world of BotW. Surprisingly, it seems like most outfits would work in this game’s world.
Honestly, the outfit I wanted to add into the game the most was the Island Lobster Shirt. I own a replica of this shirt, I’ve worn it to many promotional activities, and I even wear it during my life outside of work. It’s a design that strangely looks decent even when an adult wears it. In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, where this shirt originated, the ocean appears in the game, but no lobsters. I’m still puzzled why there’s a lobster pattern shirt in a game with no lobsters.
Many players have used the capturing function of the Nintendo Switch system to post interesting screenshots and videos of the game online. Have any of them surprised you?
Fujibayashi: I think there’s a road where the Yiga Clan ambush you in the game, and I saw someone post a series of videos showing different ways to defeat Yiga Clan ambushers. In one video, they stopped an item midair with Stasis – when the Yiga Clan member appeared, the item drops and crushes them. I thought that was fun and clever. Very unique.
Aonuma: There are a ton of them shared online, so I’ve seen quite a few of them – like people hitting something several times under Statis and riding it a far distance. The one thing that really surprised me, and I don’t know how this user pulled it of, but they made a strong enemy called a Lynel chase them a far distance – leading it to another Lynel to fight. Looking at it I was worried what would happen! I was surprised with the user’s determination to do what they want and their challenging spirit.
Mr. Fujibayashi, thank you for providing tips for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild news channel. Could you give a brief rundown of how players can benefit from this channel?
Fujibayashi: Of course. Some of these articles provide items you can use in-game, so it lets players test out the tips right away. A funny example is the article that distributed eggs. If you tried to redeem the item at the wrong location, they’d fall from the sky and break. Naturally, we make sure you can retrieve the distributed items, but we thought it was funny that they’ll break if you’re not in water… so we distributed them as is. There’s no limit to the number of times you can redeem the items, so try it as much as you’d like!
We were wondering about those eggs! And finally, I would like to ask a very important question. (pauses) Why does the Yiga Clan love bananas so much?
Fujibayashi: (laughs) This is actually a secret that hasn’t been told yet. As mentioned in the main story, the Yiga Clan used to be members of the Sheikah tribe, and between you and me, the Sheikah tribe apparently liked bananas ten thousand years ago. There’s actually a scene that proves this in DLC Pack 2. It’s a secret where this location is at, but if you do manage to find it, it gives players a fun nod from ten thousand years ago. However, it’s still a mystery why they specifically love bananas so much.
I am honestly surprised to get such a deep answer from such a casual question.
All: (laughs)
Do you have anything to add, Mr. Aonuma?
Aonuma: I was also wondering “Why Bananas?”, but it’s still a mystery to me, too.
I see (laughs). Assuming this mystery will not be solved anytime soon, that’s it for today. Mr. Aonuma and Mr. Fujibayashi, thank you again for making time for us!
Aonuma & Fujibayashi: Thank you very much.
Source: Switch news
