The Legend of Zelda Producer Asks, “Why Does It Have To Be Traditional?”

In addition to the recently released The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, series producer Eiji Aonuma has had his hands full working on two other games—The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and a new Zelda title for Wii U. During a lengthy interview with 4Gamer, he briefly talks about the new game and what makes The Legend of Zelda what it is.

[jc48573]

doesn't he has a son that plays his games? How old is his son?

[SaulGoodman]

His son is 33, and still lives with him.
It doesn't have to be traditional, but you risk alienating 33 year and elders.
(Afterthought, theres no way the new zelda will look that good. No way. If somehow it does end up looking that good i will actually buy a Wii U!) Sorry, it's not possible.

[NintySonySoft]

I love Nintendo but that was a Tech demo. The game won't be like that remember the GameCube TLOZ tech demo? lol :P But we can just hope and wait till we see some "Official Footage" :D so in all sense i agree with ya

[Pozzle]

Eiji Aonuma's son is 12. He was born the same year that Wind Waker was released.

[jc48573]

so he only has one son right? 33 is not correct?

Oh wait, I think Goodman was just joking around.

[3-4-5]

Basically, we can create our own link, Zelda will be some other character you aren't saving, Art style will be different ect....

Can't wait

[gpturbo81]

6-7-8 Cant wait!
bart scott me
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[NintySonySoft]

I'd love a change but that's just me, Lvl system perphaps hmm who knows what is in store for the new TLOZ series on WiiU

[tweet75]

should offer a "traditional" and non traditional mode to keep everyone happy.

[NintySonySoft]

Now that's more like it.

[tweet75]

to me it would just feel strange playing a zelda game and not having a major item to find in each dungeon. That to me is like a zelda trademark.

[FamilyGuy]

That's so true, it's a huge on going theme of the series. Using that new item to fight or gain access to the next boss also falls in that line.

[Big_B0SS]

So true...that feeling you get when Link opens a chest and holds the itme above his head followed by that trumpet noise is one of the tiny things that makes me love Zelda.

I want them to keep the gampplay the same but give us an HD version...also I really wish Nintendo would explore Links personal life more, like give him a brother or sister that he did not know he had and make them as awesome as him or make a game about Links dad or mom.

[mydyingparadiselost]

I would love to see some things mixed up with the Zelda world, I'm always in favor of trying new things with franchises. If anything I would like to see some deeper storyline and character interactions with a large explorable world. After Wind Waker and Skyward Sword I would like to see a more vast and sprawling overworld again and maybe some reworking on the puzzle system. I'm still confident whatever winds up being made will be fantastic so I have no worries for the next Zelda game.

[Pozzle]

I agree. Nintendo don't need to change any of the core designs of Zelda (e.g. the dungeons, the gameplay, etc). They just need to update certain things. A deeper storyline would definitely be great.

And making the overworld larger and more explorable would be awesome too. My problem with Twilight Princess (and even Skyward Sword to an extent) was that the world was fairly large and empty. There wasn't a whole lot to do besides fight monsters and find items. Even the sidequests weren't very imaginative. I'd love to see a world that feels more "real"....like Majora's Mask where every area has a different look, a different culture, and was filled with people who go about their lives and do different things depending on the time of day/night.

[Goku781]

Nintendo games never really move on or grow up, that's why I have a hard time with them, I did enjoy Metroid Prime though.

[Xof]

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say.

If you're attempting to argue that Nintendo games are immature in theme, that's patently false. If you're trying to argue that their game design is overly iterative in nature and they have a tendency toward conservative game structure, you might have more of a point.

But if the latter is the case, I would argue that Nintendo has made some very liberal design choices with their new IPs, and that there's a very good reason why sequels to established franchises are more conservative--that's what good sequels should be.

There's a reason gamers with good taste are pissed off about the Kain MMO, after all.

[DoggyBiscuit]

ZeldaU will be Epic I just know it

[Xof]

What they've said about moving ideas back and forth between the Wind Waker port and ZeldaU makes me hopeful we'll see cel-shading in the new game.

All I want is a cel-shaded Zelda with an open world.

And some customization would be nice, but not strictly necessary. I'd love to be able to customize Link's armor and weapons, or see Link with a female character model, but in general the Japanese industry seems very insistent on acting as though girls don't play "core" games. I mean, just how long it took them to make Peach playable in a proper Mario game.