Daily Debate: Are There Any Concept Art Ideas in the Zelda Series That You Wish Made it into the Final Game?
Posted on May 27 2020 by Michaela El-Ters
During the development cycles of each Zelda game, a lot of ideas are often scrapped for one reason or another. With the release of art encyclopedias and concept art books, however, fans can get a first look at some of the ideas and concepts Nintendo considered incorporating into each game. The different character designs and locales are interesting, and on rare occasions the books even offer different glimpses into a character’s potential backstory. In most cases, it makes sense why the ideas ultimately are scrapped, whether character arcs change or a certain atmosphere is trying to be achieved. The Breath of the Wild Master Works book features a stunning array of artwork and concepts for characters in the titular game (although some of the artwork was cut in the English release of the book, and why that happened is beyond me).
While there is a lot the book offers, I find that the most interesting — and disappointing — characters that were cut involved Link’s family. Link almost never has any family to speak of in the Zelda games, and this concept offers a rare glimpse at Link’s possible father and younger sister. It’s a shame they were cut in development as I think Breath of the Wild Link in particular suffered from having a rather stiff, unremarkable characterization in comparison to previous incarnations. Having a family could have helped develop his story and offset his unusually quiet personality. What was his life like before he became a knight? Did he accept his duties because of pressure from his father? Did Link join the knights because he wanted to protect his younger sister? How did he feel after the timeskip, knowing that they were long gone? Princess Zelda’s backstory in Breath of the Wild was rich and fleshed out, and it’s unfortunate that Link didn’t get the same treatment.
What do you think? Are there any concept art ideas that you wish made it into the games? Let us know in the comments!
Michaela El-Ters is a Senior Editor for Zelda Dungeon. She is also an Senior Writer for Boss Rush Network, and writes blogs and streams games on Objection Network. Her favorite Zelda game changes with the seasons, but the series as a whole is near and dear to her heart.
