Interview:Nintendo Online Magazine August 30th 2007

Eiji Aonuma directed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii and has said that with Phantom Hourglass on DS he "would like to make a Zelda that somehow surpasses the Ocarina of Time," which is often considered the best game ever made (in the Zelda series or all-time, depending on who you ask).

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Nintendo Online Magazine: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is controlled with the DS stylus. But wouldn't it be easier to keep using the + Control Pad?

Eiji Aonuma: "If you haven't played Phantom Hourglass, you may have the impression that the game has been forcibly adapted just to suit the stylus and Touch Screen controls of the DS. Well, even among the development team there were those who thought the same thing at first, and of course there was a period during development when we re-examined the control method.

"I am fully aware of how well the +Control Pad worked with previous Zelda games, and there were times we thought that it might be easier to control the game using the +Control Pad. It did cross our minds that perhaps we should give up on the stylus control idea altogether.

"The process of making controls exclusively using the stylus and Touch Screen came about during development, once we felt confident that this method of control wouldn't present any problems."

"The important thing to stress is that we came to feel that the stylus held more possibilities than the conventional control method – that it was inspiring all sorts of exciting gameplay ideas.

"While the player controls Link with the stylus, they can touch various objects on the Touch Screen and Link will react in a range of different ways. Basically, this method of control feels great to use. It removes the need to consider separately which way to move and then what sort of action to perform.

"We felt liberated from the slightly stilted convention that you had to first move up to any object in question and then press a button to make something happen. And the really interesting thing is that, as we worked on this system, it became a source of inspiration for all sorts of new ideas.

"For instance, when we were considering how best to control the boomerang, opinions would emerge quite naturally such as 'The player should be able to choose the path it follow when it flies...', or 'It would be great if it followed the line you draw on the screen!'

"I feel that while developing this game, we developed as a team as well. It's not as if from the start we had all known that the game could be totally controlled by the stylus. But in the end, precisely because the stylus was used for manipulating items and solving puzzles, we were able to pack the game with all manner of interesting things.

"I think that even if you are harbouring some doubts about stylus control for Zelda, once you have a go you will soon see how well it works."

NOM: Can you explain exactly how control using the stylus has added to the gameplay, and will it still have that essential 'Zelda-esque' quality?

EA: "While I wasn't certain about it from the start, developing this title for the DS really brought home to me the fact that a lot of the fun of a Zelda title lies in the complexity of the controls. But working on Majora's Mask for the Nintendo 64 and then The Wind Waker for the GameCube in succession, I began to worry that, due perhaps to the growing number of buttons necessary to control the game, or the 3D environment, new players might find these games intimidating and avoid them. I felt that there were sure to be many players who thought 'Zelda looks fun, but there's no way I can play it', and give up before even giving it a try. For that reason, ever since then I have been thinking of ways to square this circle: how to make the controls easier without losing any of the unique fun-factor of a Zelda title.

"That's how we hit upon using the stylus, which makes the game simpler to control without being inferior in any way to using the buttons. Thinking about it, the very first Zelda title for the NES was controlled using only the +Control Pad and the A and B Buttons, and that game was still a lot of fun.

"But this is in no way to suggest that you can trace a direct line between the original NES Zelda and Phantom Hourglass. In the Zelda titles up to now, there have been all sorts of different innovations, such as 3D gameplay; we have looked at these ideas and thought: 'We can use that!' Phantom Hourglass is an amalgamation of all these different elements from other titles which we have selected. If the Zelda series from the NES up to the 3D incarnations all form one continuous process of development, then I feel this title is a new development achieved by going back and then setting off again in a different direction."

"One aspect of what makes a Zelda game is that feeling of satisfaction – when you say: 'I did it!' – once you finally work out how to solve a puzzle after a lot of hard thought. To let the player experience that, there need to be all sorts of things the player can try: 'I wonder if this works...' But inevitably this means that the controls become complicated.

"If a player hasn't grasped those complex controls and consequently cannot fully enjoy the game, it's natural that some of them stop wanting to play the game. But I think there was a period when, without meaning to, we were developing Zelda games like this.

"In a sense, the DS has resolved those problems that had found their way into the games over the course of the development of the series; it has got rid of anything unnecessary, allowing the pure fun of Zelda to shine through. The elements that remain allow both first-time players and experienced players to enjoy the same feeling: the true pleasure of a Zelda title."

NOM: Is the only thing new about Phantom Hourglass the fact that you control Link with the stylus?

EA: "This time round, there is a dungeon with a time limit called the Temple of the Ocean King* which the player will enter on a number of occasions. It struck us that it would be interesting to see how the gameplay would differ if the player was racing against the clock in a dungeon.

"On top of that, we thought: 'What if we have enemies appear that can't be defeated?' You would have no choice but to run away, right? We thought that trying to clear the dungeon within a certain time limit, while also having to outrun an enemy, would really make the game exciting and fun.

"In a sense, this style of dungeon broke the 'promise' between the developers and players about what a Zelda dungeon should be like. For that reason, we thought it might be difficult for newcomers to the series. But, funnily enough, something that we discovered during development was that players who had never played a Zelda game before were relatively comfortable with this dungeon, whereas players who were familiar with Zelda would be taken aback and say: 'Hey! This is difficult! What's going on?!'

"In this dungeon, it is very important to move in as efficient a manner as possible, so taking notes in order to solve puzzles becomes a very effective means of saving time. If you continue doing that, you will able to get through the dungeon increasingly quickly, and have the satisfaction of progressing deeper and deeper into the dungeon. This sense of achievement you get as you feel yourself developing in the game is actually a very important part of what makes a game 'Zelda-esque' and is something you can enjoy in this game in a new form."

[* In the Temple of the Ocean King, a curse means that even while Link is moving around as normal, his energy will be drained. The only ways Link can avoid losing energy are to move before the sands of the Phantom Hourglass run out, or to stay in the few remaining sacred areas of the dungeon unaffected by the curse. Ed.]

"In previous Zelda games, we couldn't have puzzles which could only be solved by remembering information you gained earlier. For a start, the player wouldn't even know that they had to remember that particular information – if you told the player 'Make sure you remember this!' that could give away what's in store later! (laughs) Of course it's up to the player what they think needs to be remembered, but if a player hasn't memorised the correct information they could end up stuck. They would then have to go back to the place where they first learned that information and end up thinking: 'This game is unfair!' or 'There shouldn't be puzzles like this!' So in the previous Zelda titles, we always guaranteed that the clues would be hidden in the same place as the puzzle. But, because this time round the player can take notes, we have put in lots of things which the player should take care to remember.

"This addition has influenced many different aspects of the game, allowing us to include lots of ideas which have not been seen before in Zelda titles. But as taking notes is a new function in the game, you will get not-so-subtle reminders from the characters in the game to 'Make sure you note this down or you might regret it later!' (laughs)

"Due to this, the scope of puzzles has grown to encompass the entire gameworld. Once you have had one experience of solving a puzzle using a hint you noted in an entirely different area, you will learn to pay more attention to various things, increasing the overall scale of puzzle-solving."

NOM: Which aspects of the Battle Mode are most enjoyable?

EA: "As both the controls and the rules are very easy to grasp, this isn't a game where simply mastering the controls is going to ensure victory. But it is not true to say that this mode is overly simplistic. Actually, the very simplicity of the gameplay means that you can soon grasp the opponent's tactics and the particular tics unique to them, giving the game real depth as a form of psychological battle. So it isn't a matter of whichever player is the most skilled in the game's controls always winning the day: even an experienced player can lose out to a beginner if they let their guard down.

"We wanted to make this a Zelda title which could be enjoyed by more than one player, so we developed the game to make use of the connectivity possibilities of the DS which allow both cooperative and competitive multi-player action.

"In the battles in this title, Link cannot see his opponents and must wait until they make a move. This was an idea that we have been sitting on for a number of years. There are also aspects of the multiplayer mode, such as taking the pieces of the Triforce back to your base, which connect the game to The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords on the GameCube. The fact that one player controls all three Phantom Guardians pursuing Link brings in a cooperative aspect to the gameplay. While controlling the Phantom Guardians, the player can decide: 'Okay, you're responsible for this area!'

"And controlling Phantom Guardians, which are enemies that also appear in the main game itself, means that you can play the Battle Mode then go back to the Temple of the Ocean King in the game and find that you have picked up some useful tactics for defeating these enemies.

"Also, as you can customise the ship that Link controls, you can actually find new and unusual parts for the ship in the battles, so I think players will really enjoy the multiplayer mode."

In closing...

EA: "Every day, more and more people are telling me how daring we were to make a Zelda title controlled solely with the Touch Screen and stylus... (laughs) I've been really taken aback by it! As a result of our decision, the game differs substantially from Zelda titles of the past, but I think the finished product feels completely natural.

"Of course, I would highly recommend the game to anyone who hasn't played a Zelda game before. But I would also really like players who have fond memories of the very first NES Zelda to play this title. I think the pure fun which the early Zelda possessed has returned with Phantom Hourglass."