The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have frequently been hailed as the refresh the series needed, but there remains a contingent of fans who still prefer the old ways. They’re the fans who have fond memories of Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time, and wouldn’t mind returning to the days of intricate, if relatively linear, experiences.
“Well, I do think we as people have a tendency to want the thing that we don’t currently have, and there’s a bit of a grass is greener mentality,” said producer Eiji Aonuma, who has been with the Zelda series since it first went to 3D on the Nintendo 64.
Aonuma and his colleague, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, were on hand for The Game Awards 2023, where Tears of the Kingdom won the prize for Best Action-Adventure Game. In a new interview with IGN, they reflected on it success, talked about why they didn’t put much stock in the chronology of the series, and explained how they came up with some of its biggest twists.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Quiz
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When was ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ released?
March 3, 2015
June 14, 2016
March 3, 2017
April 25, 2018
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What is the main objective of the player in the game?
Collect as many items as possible
Defeat all enemies in the world
Save Princess Peach from Bowser
Save Princess Zelda and prevent Calamity Ganon from destroying the world
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What is the primary gameplay feature that allows players to approach puzzles and challenges in various ways?
Alchemy system
Puzzle solver
Chemistry engine
Sheikah Slate
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What is the unique feature of the Master Sword in the game?
It can fly
It can shoot projectiles
It can transform into different weapons
It is unbreakable
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Which development team assisted in designing landscapes and topography for ‘Breath of the Wild’?
Monolith Soft
Square Enix
Capcom
Rockstar Games
Game on, no worries! You got 0 out of 5 questions correct.
Aonuma in particular isn’t shy about sharing his perspective on how he thinks games — and the series — have evolved.
“It’s interesting when I hear people say [they prefer the old entries] because I am wondering, ‘Why do you want to go back to a type of game where you’re more limited or more restricted in the types of things or ways you can play?’ But I do understand that desire that we have for nostalgia, and so I can also understand it from that aspect,” Aonuma says.
His comments are a useful window into where the series might go next,
