The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Developers Say The Depths Were Made in a “Surprisingly Short Period of Time”

Posted on September 25 2023 by Kora Burton

In an interview with Famitsu, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi recently revealed that the game’s Depths “were made in a surprisingly short period of time.” Alongside The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma, Fujibayashi shed some light on some of Tear’s of the Kingdom’s darkest corners, and thanks to Nintendo Everything’s English translation, we’re able to gain a little of their insight.

Fujibayashi elaborated that it was the “base landforms of the Depths” that came together “in an extremely short period of time.” Given the inverted relationship between the Depths and the surface, with the surface’s highs mapped onto the Depths’ lows and vice versa, the game’s programmers were apparently able to finish a prototype quickly.

Aonuma noted the value of this “automated approach,” adding:

“I am the first to stop things so that they do not take too much time and effort. The way it went when we decided to implement something was, ‘No, this surprisingly will not take much effort to create,’ and then “Well then, let’s do it.”

The interview also goes on to discuss how the game’s programmers were able to give Link the ability to move seamlessly from the sky to the surface to the Depths and what challenges this effort presented.

Be sure to check out Nintendo Everything’s English translation article here, and, if you’re so inclined, you can read the original Famitsu interview here, which covers many more topics beyond the Depths’ development.

Does it surprise you that the geography of the Depths in Tears of the Kingdom came together so quickly? Why or why not? Would you rather have wanted the Depths to be developed differently? Let us know down below!

Source: Famitsu (via Nintendo Everything)