Aonuma Confirms the Vastness of Zelda U

We’ve been told that the footage in the Zelda U trailer was recorded from the in-game engine, and not a pre-rendered cinematic—and many fans will agree that the world we saw was absolutely stunning, and wonderfully dynamic—but what you see isn’t always what you get. Even in-game footage can be misleading if the right backdrops are added or if the world that is shown isn’t even actually part of the game. Thankfully, Aonuma decided to put any worries or doubts about the game’s capabilities to rest.

In a recent interview, Aonuma was asked just why Zelda U has been in development for so long, and what the central game themes calling for this development time happened to be. According to Aonuma, it was the sheer amount of this content that is taking the development period so long:

“During the digital event, I talked about how this was open world and we really wanted to provide fans of the series a new way of playing and experiencing the Zelda universe. In order for us to get it to a place where we can show something to the public, it just took a lot of time for us to develop the game because there is so much content that needed to be in place first.” — Eiji Aonuma

After many fans’ feeling that Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, and Wind Waker were all far too empty, this should come as pleasant news. Certainly, that much content means a world that is more detailed, and hopefully, inhabited, with no space left to waste; and with how huge the world seems to be, that is a lot of content, indeed.

At the beginning of the trailer, we can take a look at just how enormous this new world is, filled with mountains, ravines, forests, and, if you look hard enough, even a bit of water. Even from where the camera is positioned, some distant mountains still easily dwarf Link, and those orange-looking mountain ranges in the far back of the view look larger than both Link and his horse. It’s easy to think that the world may not actually be that large, that some of what we’re seeing is merely a backdrop, but Aonuma goes on to say that isn’t the case, at all.

“What you saw in the digital event wasn’t cinematic. It was actually in-game footage. So you saw, when I was sitting there with the mountains in the back. If Link gets on his horse, he can actually travel to those distant mountains.” — Eiji Aonuma

Though, it is interesting to note that Aonuma specifically says “if Link gets on his horse“—perhaps this could be another way of demonstrating how large the world is, i.e., saying you need a horse to get to anywhere in good time, and that even with warp songs or warp points, the horse is going to be an integral part of the game. Many Zelda games that have included a horse or mount of any sort usually have your steed become obsolete once you learn a couple new tunes that can take you across the map in a flash—be honest: how many of you continued to take Epona everywhere in Twilight Princess, once you opened up enough Twilight Portals, or in Ocarina of Time, once you got the first three warp songs down? Once you could fast-travel to enough places, it usually wasn’t too far between you and your next destination to merit calling for her, if you even could. This was slightly circumvented in Wind Waker, as you needed your boat to even use the Ballad of Gales. However, the fact that Link will need his horse to cross the map in Zelda U means one of two things: there aren’t warp portals, or the map is so huge that warp portals won’t always be as useful as they used to be. Hopefully, in time, we will find out which of these is the answer, for ourselves.

In the meantime—you might want to go ahead and pick a spot on the map—you’re going to have a lot of traveling to do in the future!

Source: Zelda Dungeon