Tears of the Kingdom developers disclosed details in an interview that they couldn’t show during game release. Learn more about subterranean space, vertical play, and the future of the game.
Tears of the Kingdom Post-Release Details
Tears of the Kingdom's Producer, Eiji Aonuma, and Director, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, recently spoke with Famitsu, offering intriguing insights into the production process and the future of the highly anticipated game. Notably, they talked about their strategy to reveal information that could only be disclosed after the game's debut.
The Core of Tears of the Kingdom
Development into Tears of the Kingdom began immediately after the completion of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Their goal? To keep the fun of the Legend of Zelda franchise alive and include new features that would captivate gamers.
Aonuma shared that for them, once they finish making a game, they immediately start thinking about what to make next. Fujibayashi thought about focusing on a new game, while Aonuma contemplated expanding on the Legend of Zelda after the DLCs were completed.
Fujibayashi recalled how an idea for a new ability came to him around the time they were developing the additional content for BotW DLCs. He gave the idea a go and tried it out after development had settled down, and this led to the creation of the new ability, Ultrahand.
When asked about Link’s new abilities, Fujibayashi stated that making them fun and simple was the main goal. Abilities such as Ultrahand are highly versatile and can be used in a variety of ways but only requires a few steps to start building with. Being able to play freely and creatively is something that the creators of Tears of the Kingdom wanted to push for, so in solving puzzles, Fujibayashi said that there is no one correct way to clear a puzzle or quest.
Several Gameplay Ideas Centered Around Ultrahand
Ultrahand is one of Link’s new abilities that allows him to manipulate objects and build vehicles and structures. Aonuma shared that Fujibayashi used “pen pineapple” from PIKOTARO’s once viral Pen Pineapple Apple Pen (PPAP) song to explain Ultrahand in an easy-to-understand way in his proposal. One can easily imagine how that imagery translated over to the game mechanic.
When Tears of the Kingdom was first announced, it was introduced as a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, akin something fans had seen before with Majora’s Mask, the direct sequel to Ocarina of Time. This made fans expect that the new game would be smaller-scaled, as Majora’s Mask debatably was. But when Tears of the Kingdom finally launched, fans were surprised that the game is filled to the brim with fun and adventure, not only having the same world and scale as BotW, but with two extra layers on top of that as well.
Fujibayashi explained that they wanted to create something completely new and have already seen how different their conceptualization of Tears of the Kingdom is from Breath of the Wild.They wanted to switch up the playstyle in Tears of the Kingdom and let players do things that focused on building, exploration, and just plain fun. Ultrahand became the key factor to this element of the game. A number of features in the sequel were essentially ideas that were expanded and worked around the new ability.
Underground World and New Game Cycle
The underground realm, a concept inspired by the need to expand the creative potential of the Ultrahand, is one such noteworthy innovation. The underground world was conceptualized as a foreboding and intimidating environment that requires careful preparation to explore. Verticality becomes very significant in Tears of the Kingdom as the sky, earth, and the underground worlds are all woven together. The game provides an intriguing and challenging environment while also maintaining the beloved open-ended gameplay and unrestricted exploration.
Fujibayashi mentioned that, similar to their approach with Breath of the Wild, they aimed to establish a new "game cycle", actions that players go through during gameplay, in Tears of the Kingdom. Preparation becomes a must and only takes place on the ground or in the sky. The idea is to explore the underground world with the items and resources players have prepared in advance. When it becomes dangerous or when resources are depleted, players are pretty much forced to return to the surface to prepare again. Once prepared, it becomes time again to venture back underground to continue exploring, thus continuing the cycle.
The developers decided to keep the underground realm under wraps until the game's release because they wanted to keep the immense feelings of exploration and discovery. Players would then be rewarded with a sense of awe as they transition from the surface to the underground, making it a magnificent discovery. The underground world proves the team's commitment to creating a setting that combines familiarity and originality for Zelda fans. It provides an intriguing and challenging environment while also maintaining the beloved open-ended gameplay and unrestricted exploration.
No DLC Planned for Tears of the Kingdom
Fujibayashi made mention of a future installment, but did not explicitly state whether it would be a sequel, a new stage, or a completely new endeavor. He again stressed the team's dedication to providing the next memorable fun experience.
To that point, according to Aonuma, a Tears of the Kingdom DLC is unplanned. He stated that because they felt they have achieved creating the fun experience they wanted to in Tears of the Kingdom, they do not plan to release additional content for the game. He further shared, "In the first place, the reason I decided to make this a sequel to the previous work was because I thought there was value in experiencing a new game in Hyrule". The idea of another sequel will only happen if the development team can think of new ideas that would be fun to do in TotK’s Hyrulean setting.
When the interviewer mentioned how Tears of the Kingdom
outperformed even its predecessor, Breath of the Wild,
Aonuma modestly reframed it as being a continuing evolution rather than a overcoming a hurdle. He encouraged players to hold onto their hopes for their next game.
Fujibayashi focused on the group's steadfast commitment to the Zelda games. He pledged to go above and beyond in creating an even more captivating experience for the next Zelda title as his response to gamers' profound and enduring satisfaction with Tears of the Kingdom.
Source:
Famitsu Interview With Tears of the Kingdom Developers
