The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom producer Eiji Aonuma says fans who have a desire for more linear games have a “bit of a grass is greener mentality” about the series. Both Tears of the Kingdom and its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, were huge hits with Nintendo Switch fans. Praised for their open-world style, both games were a significant departure from the way Legend of Zelda games used to be. If you’re a fan of the more classic games in the series, then you know the older format.
Tightly crafted narratives and a specific way to do things were central to how the games played. Not so with Tears of the Kingdom or Breath of the Wild. Which instead allows players a lot more freedom in how to approach gameplay. You aren’t beholden to how developers want you to go about game progression. You can choose to go to this specific place and follow the main story or you can run off into the wilds of Hyrule and do, really anything else. I’ve personally spent countless hours farming materials for cooking and enhancing items.
But there’s still something about those older game styles. Aonuma reckons it has a lot to do with nostalgia.
Zelda producer understands fans who want to return to the more linear games
In a recent interview with IGN, Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the game’s director, discuss their thoughts on not only Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild but the series as a whole. Aonuma says he gets why some fans might prefer that older style. “I do understand that desire that we have for nostalgia, and so I can also understand it from that aspect,” he said.
Nostalgia certainly can have a big impact on how much we like a certain time period of games. Whether it’s games in general or a specific series that has changed over the years. So Aonuma’s comments on this in particular make a lot of sense. Some fans may always pine for the days of older Zelda games. Or for a new entry to be made in the style of those games.
Where could the Zelda series be headed next?
It’s still not clear where the series will go next. Aonuma seems to be fond of the new open-world style but there doesn’t appear to be a sequel to Tears of the Kingdom in the works. Speaking to Game Informer (via TechRadar), Aonuma said that Tears of the Kingdom was the “final form of that version of The Legend of Zelda.” This could mean different things. So perhaps there’s a chance at a return to the old style of more linear progression. However, that seems less likely.
In the interview with IGN Aonuma said the games of today have more freedom and flexibility. Whereas games with more linear styles are “games of the past.” Interestingly, Tears of the Kingdom being this version of Zelda’s final form sort of lines up with what Aonuma said about the game in September when asked if the game would get DLC.
Back then Aonuma said he felt like he’d done all he could to create fun in that world. Or that they have already put everything they could think of into the game that was launched. So, it seems unlikely there will be any sort of sequel or DLC to Tears of the Kingdom. But the Zelda series could still very much continue with open-world releases.
2023-12-14 15:07:38