Iwata Asks Vol. 5 Details

Another day, another talk with Iwata. This new 5th volume of Iwata Asks  may not have much in terms of new info, but hey, a bit of insight never hurt anybody! The  article tells a bit on the streamlining of Skyward Sword, Skyloft’s density, and how sound effects were composed. Hop inside for a summary.

  • The sound effects team was originally 2, but when they realized how huge the game would be, it gradually expanded to 10. Every character has a voice, every scene has it’s own sound.
  • There’s 22 designers for the landforms alone.
  • Before, areas used to overlap with roads and fields to connect things. In this game, they removed those extra pathways to get rid of wasted space and make things denser.
  • Thus, the sky acts as a sort of level select used to get to areas quickly. It’s compared to Mario.
  • The level select music of Mario tends to get stuck in Iwata’s head, but Zelda music usually doesn’t have that kind of atmosphere.
  • In order connect areas, they made the starting point the sky.
  • Fujibayashi wanted to see Link skydive and use a parachute after seeing a TV program.
  • He thought of using a big tower from which Link would jump, but they thought it would be silly if Link were to just land where he wanted to be despite it not making sense geographically.
  • This gave birth to the Loftwings, the method of transportation through the sky.
  • Floating Islands were dotted all over to prevent the sky from being empty. From then on, it was more than just a way point to get to the other areas. It became dense as well.
  • For Skyloft, they decided upon a boarding school setting in which Link and his classmates become knights.
  • Before, you couldn’t really tell what a character was like at first glance.
  • Expressing many of the characters was difficult, but they came through perfectly.
  • The beginning had to introduce the player well and grab them.
  • They adopted a system from Phantom Hourglass that allowed planners to edit text and events to an extent, putting less burden of the others.
  • Skyloft is meant to be a hub you want to explore every time you visit, taking on new things each time.
  • You can upgrade your weapons at the Bazaar and buy things to store in your adventure pouch.
  • Your pouch is meant to be personalized and optimized. Put lots of potions in to be extra tough, or maybe some medals to get more treasure.
  • Since you can’t just throw everything in the pouch, you need to optimize and select which items to bring with you.
  • The Bazaar was made to be a centralized one-stop shop. Convenient and efficient.
  • Many platforms were dispersed throughout the town so the player could quickly get on his bird and go.
  • Batreaux is a member of a clan of demons who wants to become a human, he’s very unusual, even for a Zelda character.
  • There are many sidequests and subplots to check out in Skyloft, enough for a whole game.
  • Mizuta points out the wind as an important sound, like the swooshing sounds when you fly or the ambient sounds of a dungeon.
  • Since natural sword swings are so integral to the experience, the sound your sword makes is important as well.
  • There’s a harp in the game. Unlike previous entries’ instruments, you can play it while moving.
  • The harp is more so based on playing with the background music than playing out the notes of a song.
  • They tried really hard to manage all of the harp sounds for the events they were needed for.
  • All the different teams had a leader meeting where they notified other teams of the changes they had made.
  • Many things got changed from these notifications. From little stuff to pretty significant things.
  • The 4 themed worlds of the game: Forest, Volcano, Desert, and Sky were made to not be too big or have too many ideas, or else the development teams would’ve gone crazy.
  • Bird riding was designed to have the feeling of soaring be at it’s fullest.
  • Fujibayashi says each area is  quite distinct. He compares them to different cultures of cuisine. French, Chinese, Turkish, and Japanese.

The side quests really peak my interest. Majora’s Mask’s integration of them really made the world feel alive, so I’m hoping Skyward Sword will achieve something similar. What about you? Anything in this sound particularly interesting?

Source: Iwata Asks

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