Eiji Aonuma Questions Linear Gameplay of Zelda Franchise

In a recent interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma discussed the traditional gameplay in The Legend of Zelda franchise. Mr. Aonuma recently finished work on A Link Between Worlds and implemented a very drastic change to how the player progressed through the game. He threw away linearity and embraced exploration instead. This had many positive effects, and according to the interview he makes a notion towards the traditional style of Zelda games saying the following:

“The recent Zelda games have been rather linear,” he explained, “as I

thought players didn’t like getting lost, wondering what to do, or where

to go. However, I’ve come to question this ‘traditional’ approach as I

felt that we couldn’t gain the sense of wonder that existed in the

original Legend of Zelda, in which you made unexpected encounters and

where what used to be impossible would suddenly become possible.”

Given that his team are likely tunic-deep in the making of the next

Zelda game for Wii U, we can only imagine what effect that’s having on

the his next project – but it’s pretty clear that he’s not afraid to

mess with our expectations: “We will, of course, continue to question

and reconsider the approaches we have taken in the past without any

reservations.”

Speculation begins to what this means for the highly anticipated Zelda U. Will Mr. Aonuma keep linearity in the next game or will he use the same freedom used in A Link Between Worlds? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Source: ONM