Tears of the Kingdom Development Team Discuss the Theme of “Hands” Within the Game
Posted on May 13 2023 by Emi Curtis
Are you enjoying The Legend of Zelda: Tears of Kingdom after all this time? You really have to hand it to the team that they made it worth the wait. Okay, I promise that’s the only hand pun I’ll make. That being said, have you noticed a lot of hands in Tears of the Kingdom? That’s no coincidence, it seems. In the second part of Nintendo’s “Ask the Developer” interview with the development team of Tears of the Kingdom, the team explains that the idea of “hands” was actually an ongoing theme throughout the development of the game.
The theming is so prolific that the whole team chimes in on the matter, including series producer Eiji Aonuma, game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, technical director Takuhiro Dohta, art director Satoru Takizawa, and sound director Hajime Wakai.
[Interviewer]: Now let’s move on to the things that have changed from the previous game. Speaking of which, I immediately noticed that Link looks a little different in this title, doesn’t he?
Aonuma: Yes, his right arm. We wanted an iconic feature that would make it obvious at first glance that it’s the Link from this game. Speaking of Link’s arm, “hands” is a major theme in this title.
“Hands”? Can you elaborate on this?
Fujibayashi: Titles in the Legend of Zelda series intertwine all the elements of gameplay, mechanics, and story, and combine them all into a single game. For this title, we chose “hands” as the key theme to bring them all together. For example, abilities that Link uses to solve puzzles are all released from his hand and arm. We even included this symbolically in the game’s mechanics, such as having scenes that use hands when opening special doors. This “hands” theme also crops up here and there as a key element as the story develops.
Dohta: The previous game was a relatively lonesome game, or rather an endurance game where you made full use of Link’s body and strength alone to traverse the vast world. What’s unique this time is joining hands and cooperating with various characters, and at times, creating items with Link’s own hands and utilizing them as you progress.
Takizawa: We were intentional about making this “hands” theme show through in the visuals as well as in the story direction. If you watch the trailers that we’ve released so far, I think you may be able to get a sense of this atmosphere.
Wakai: We also expressed the “hands” theme by implementing handclaps and such in the game’s music.
Aonuma: Well, simply put, “hands” expresses the idea of “connecting.” This applies to the story too, which connects to Hyrule’s past. It also talks about a major struggle called “The Imprisoning War,” which until now was considered a myth even in Hyrule.
Fujibayashi: And the protagonist’s name is “Link” after all.
Aonuma: Oh… I just got the connection… (Laughs)
Everyone: (Laughs)
Aonuma: It’s funny how these things work out, isn’t it? You don’t notice these things when you’re developing the game. But then after you’re done, you see that all sorts of things were actually connected. And you realize, “Oh, so that’s what we were doing…” you know?
Reading this, it was very much one of those, “I didn’t consciously notice it before, but now that you point it out, I see it everywhere,” kind of things for me. As I’ve been working my way through the game, I’ve even been saying, “Haaaands,” in a sing-songy voice every time I see a hand motif. I’m very glad my partner has a deep patience for me. It’s really clever though how it works its way into a lot of the design without the player noticing too much.
This is just one of the many topics discussed in this interview. The team also discusses why they chose to return to Breath of the Wild‘s world, the reasons for implementing the sky region, the efforts they took to not make the game too familiar, and, of course, the return of traditional dungeons to the game. Be sure to check out our coverage of those, and if you’re intrigued, read the whole interview yourself here.
What are your thoughts? Have you noticed an irregularly large number of hands in Tears of the Kingdom? What other themes have you noticed in the game? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Nintendo
Emi Curtis is an associate editor with Zelda Dungeon, having originally joined the team in late 2020. She is a freelance artist, programmer, and streamer with a healthy love of both the creative and analytical. She can frequently be found playing RPGs and Adventure games, her favorite of which being The Wind Waker. She is also quite fond of playing Zelda Randomizers. Currently, she hosts a tabletop RPG series on Twitch and operates a freelance illustration business. She can be found on Twitter and Twitch as her VTuber alter-ego Gwen Myoty, creating nerdy artwork, dungeon mastering tabletop games, and playing RPGs.
