The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild producer Eiji Aonuma spoke to French publication Le Monde, where he discussed some of the design decisions in the new open world Zelda game. He offered tidbits of information, including that the core team at Nintendo working on the game was made up of roughly 300 people, not including assist teams from outside companies.
Aonuma brought up the lack of Experience Points and traditional leveling up in the game. Instead of raising abilities through points (Aonuma said feedback from North American players showed they tended not to enjoy needing to upgrade abilities in order to progress), the team came up with the degradable weapons system. Since weapons break eventually, players have to use their wits to find stronger weapons as means for taking on tougher challenges.
Regarding the shrines and temples, and some players’ worries about a lack of traditional, lengthy Zelda dungeons, Aonuma stated that some of the shrines are much bigger than the other shrines and feature a boss battle at the end, similar to an old school Zelda dungeon. He also pointed out that the temples aren’t themed after the area they’re in anymore. For instance, a desert temple wouldn’t have to be themed after the desert at all.
Aonuma went on in the interview to talk about The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which he directed. He spoke about its reception and legacy, as well as the messages he left in Zelda games for his son. You can check out the translated rundown of the interview here.
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Written by Bryan Finch
A video editor by trade, Bryan Finch is a lifetime Nintendo fan, and he loves writing about his passions. He also spends too much time playing and watching fighting games. Bryan enjoys movies, comics, cooking with his wife, and the idea of Elite Beat Agents 2.
