Aonuma Shares About the Decision to Remake Link’s Awakening, Rather Than Create a Sequel
Posted on June 20 2019 by Kristen G. Rosario
The Zelda series has been thrown back into the gaming spectrum thanks to the Breath of the Wild sequel, Cadence of Hyrule, and the upcoming remake to Link’s Awakening. Series producer Eiji Aonuma and his team have definitely been very busy with getting these projects up and running. And of course, the Link’s Awakening has been in the main spotlight thanks to its most recent showing at this year’s E3.
In a recent interview with Kotaku, Eiji Aonuma talked with Jason Schreier about why Nintendo decided to remake Link’s Awakening. According to Aonuma, he’s been wanting to create a remake to Link’s Awakening for a while now:
“Aonuma: The original game was released 26 years ago on the Game Boy. Getting that Game Boy version is a little hard to do these days. So I’ve wanted to remake this game for a while.
When I create a remake or reimagination, I don’t want to just make it completely the same; I always want to incorporate new elements. For even people who have played the original, I want it to be a fresh experience. So I was looking for that opportunity.”
Schreier then asked how the Zelda team decides if their next project is going to be a remake, or a straight-up sequel, like A Link Between Worlds was to A Link to the Past. Aonuma basically says that’s it’s pretty much just depends on the situation:
“Schreier: When you guys are planning out Zelda games, what makes you decide to go with a remake as opposed to a sequel like Link Between Worlds?
Aonuma: Everything’s case by case; each title’s a little bit different. There could be times where we start with the idea of “let’s make a remake,” and then add new elements. Or if we’re creating a sequel, sometimes it could be that there’s something that would be fitting for a sequel versus a remake or something else. Again, it’s case by case.”
Apparently, the new Chamber Dungeons system was even one of the core inspirations for the Link’s Awakening remake coming to be:
“Aonuma: Once we landed on the idea of arranging dungeons, we were thinking, in Link’s Awakening, pretty much every room is about the same size, so we thought this would be a perfect fit for incorporating the Chamber Dungeons, and that’s how this reimagination came about.”
The two then discussed the challenges of making a remake without making any major changes to the original core of the game. According to Aonuma, it is a bit tricky not adding all the new ideas the team had for Link’s Awakening:
“Schreier: Developers tend to be creative people who want to be doing new things—is it challenging to do a 1:1 recreation without having the urge to tweak and change things?
Aonuma: I guess in some ways yeah, we are a little bit restricted on going wild and free with new ideas. But at the same time we have the creative opportunity to think about how to maintain the original essence. We would have to think about things we would change or improve on or polish to make a remake. In that way, I think it’s a very creative process.
For this game specifically, we thought about the original game and people who have already played it, but we also wanted to make it accessible for new players. So we incorporated both perspectives, and that’s how we tweaked the game this time around, with both ideas and the feedback.”
What do you think of this news? How much do you want the Link’s Awakening remake to the exact same, and how much do you want it to try new things? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Kotaku
Kristen G. Rosario is an Editor who joined Zelda Dungeon back in September of 2015. His current goal is to become a full-time video game journalist, hoping to eventually gain a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism. While he pursues that dream, he not only takes care of his adorable dachshund Angel, but also helps run a YouTube channel with his brother. The Zelda series is a quest he hasn’t fully completed yet, but hopes to get there one day.
