Eiji Aonuma Has Wanted a Dungeon Creation Tool in Zelda “For a While”
Posted on June 26 2019 by Rod Lloyd
Fans of The Legend of Zelda, it seems, have always called for a dungeon creation or customization tool within the series. The release of Super Mario Maker in 2015 only made those calls louder, as the possibility of a “Zelda Maker” seemed that much more likely given Nintendo’s willingness to hand over the reigns to their flagship franchise. Well, we weren’t the only ones clamoring for such a feature, as series producer Eiji Aonuma has also wanted to see a dungeon creation tool in Zelda.
The E3 trailer for Link’s Awakening on Switch revealed that a dungeon customization feature, called the Chamber Dungeon, will be included in the game. Players will able to construct their own labyrinths using elements from the game’s other dungeons, such as room layouts, traps, and enemies. To many fans, the feature appears to have opened the door for a full Zelda Maker title sometime down the road. Eiji Aonuma even admitted that he’s open to the possibility considering Chamber Dungeon’s success in a recent interview.
Aonuma recently issued a lengthy statement on Link’s Awakening to Nintendo UK, in which he touched on a variety of topics, including the new Chamber Dungeon. Aonuma revealed that he has wanted such a customization tool in Zelda for some time:
“One of the new features I talked about on Nintendo Treehouse: Live was the Chamber Dungeons, which is an all-new feature for the Nintendo Switch version.
Fans of The Legend of Zelda might already be familiar with Dampé who appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and other games in the series. In Link’s Awakening, Dampé can be found hanging out in some peculiar remains on Koholint Island…
It’s here that you can try out the new Chamber Dungeons feature.
After completing a dungeon in the main adventure, you’ll earn rooms from that dungeon known as “Chambers” that you can rearrange to form a new Chamber Dungeon. Dampé will also task you with arranging dungeons that fit a specific criteria too.
I have wanted to include a feature like this in a Zelda game for a while, but I wanted to keep it simple and avoid making it overly complicated. So instead, we made it a puzzle-solving experience, where players can discover and complete the dungeon they arranged themselves.
Even if you’ve already beaten a dungeon in the main adventure, mixing elements and rearranging the chambers around can lead to some surprising outcomes. I hope you’ll have fun arranging and playing through your own Chamber Dungeons!”
The Link’s Awakening team seems to have the right approach here, treating Chamber Dungeon as a puzzle-solving experience as much as a pure creation tool. We’re certainly excited to both create and play through our own dungeons!
Link’s Awakening will release for Nintendo Switch on September 20th.
Are you excited about Chamber Dungeon in Link’s Awakening? Are you hoping for a full-on Zelda Maker in the future? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Nintendo UK (via Nintendo Everything)
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
