Aonuma wants Zelda Wii U to feature brand new Hyrule

The new Zelda title to be released for Wii U is somewhat shrouded in mystery. Although very little is known if the upcoming game, it has been said to change the way we as fans see the Zelda formula. With A Link Between Worlds‘ extreme alteration of dungeon structure, it has become obvious that developers are working tirelessly to give uniqueness to each game; distinguishing features that leave lasting impressions on the player. Eiji Aonuma, director of the Zelda Wii U project, has revealed in a recent interview that he wishes to achieve this partly by changing the game’s setting. By creating a brand new Hyrule.

Hit the jump to see exactly what he had to say!

“There are no limitations on what kind of place Hyrule can be, other than that it is a country where Zelda exists as its Princess. We now have many titles in the series, so we are seeing characters and location names from previous titles coming up again. We are using these when it adds to the fun, but there is no rule that we have to use these at all. We may even need to change things you might take for granted like Zelda being a Princess. I would really like the next Hyrule to be a setting no one has ever imagined before.”

Wow, there’s a lot of substance here! Not only does he plan to flip Hyrule on its head, but he even suggests removing Zelda from her consistent position of royalty, not to mention, hinting at the removal of common repeating characters. This raises a multitude of questions: is this the best method of creating uniqueness in a new Zelda game? Will there be absolutely no Zelda character at all, or will she receive a new role? How will they maintain the feeling of Zelda?

Overall, I’m not very much worried about this, but instead rather excited. We have had multiple games in the past taking place outside of the kingdom Hyrule, and even games without Zelda as a main character. I find that it always works out very well and makes for a decent change of pace that is quite often well-received. A good example of both of these is Majora’s Mask, which functioned beautifully despite introducing a brand new overworld and keeping Zelda at low importance. So long as they don’t go overboard, this could certainly work out for the better.

But what do you think? Is this too large of a change? Or do you like the ideas Aonuma brings up? Leave your comments below!

Source: NintendoLife