Informative New Video Analyzes How Nintendo Designed Ultrahand for Tears of the Kingdom
Posted on October 22 2023 by Sean Gadus
Ultrahand is one of the most radical mechanics that have ever been implemented in the Zelda series. The ability to craft practically anything (whether it is a massive log bridge or a flying machine) from materials from across the world changed the way that players could traverse the world, confront enemies, and solve puzzles. The simplicity of the system is extremely impressive; almost anyone can pick up the game and have fun experimenting with Ultrahand.
This new video from Game Maker’s Toolkit explores how Nintendo designed Ultrahand for Tears of the Kingdom. In order to discuss how Nintendo created this innovative new mechanic, Mark Brown (creator of Game Maker’s Toolkit) sifted through a variety of interviews about Tears of the Kingdom and its design. The origins of Ultrahand date back to the months after Nintendo completed work on the DLC for Breath of the Wild, when Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi initially explored the idea of letting the player build their own devices. According to Brown, one of the biggest design principles for Ultrahand was its simplicity. The more simple and more logical Nintendo could make the system, the more likely that players would embrace and enjoy the mechanic. Another key point in Ultrahand’s design was the creation of a set of building materials (Zonai Devices). The Zonai Devices were designed to resemble items in the real world, which gives players an immediate idea about how to build with them in Tears of the Kingdom.
Brown notes that the freedom that Ultrahand gives players feels like an evolution of Nintendo’s design philosophy in Breath of the Wild, and a clear contrast to puzzle design in previous Zelda games. While the previous 3D Zelda games created puzzles that have a single solution, Ultrahand (and the Runes before it) allows the player to solve puzzles in a variety of ways. Overall, the fun of creating your own solution to a puzzle is a key part of what make abilities like Ultrahand so rewarding to use. Rather than forcing the player to engage with the puzzles exactly how the developers wants them to, Ultrahand lets the player approach problems in their own distinct ways.
If you enjoyed this video from Game Maker’s Toolkit, there are a variety of there videos about Nintendo and Zelda on the YouTube Channel. Brown has created a variety of videos exploring Nintendo’s brilliant design work, as well as a series on the dungeons of the Zelda series titled “Boss Keys”.
What do you think about this video on the design of Ultrahand? Do you enjoy using Ultrahand in Tears of the Kingdom? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Game Maker’s Toolkit
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
