Interview:Iwata Asks: Skyward Sword (Volume Eight: Those Who Played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Hundreds of Hours): Difference between revisions

●The design of this game is simple. I can't say it enough. This Legend of Zelda game is simple. Simple in every way.Aonuma This is another deep comment. (laughs) Iwata As this person says, the basic structure is simple. The role of each element is clearly defined. And the thoroughness of each one is…dense. (laughs) Aonuma Yes. (laughs) Precisely because of the simple structure, we could put in so much. Iwata It's simple and deep. Aonuma That's right. I think that simplicity makes you feel you can play it over and over. Leaving the hub of the adventures, Skyloft, to go down to the surface feels so easy it's like taking a little jaunt out into your neighborhood. (laughs) IwataThat idea is like the course selection screen in Super Mario.10 You can just hop on down and have an adventure.

10. Course selection screen in Super Mario: A screen on which players move a player-character across a world map to select a course to play. The system for travel in the sky game field in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is based on that concept.

Aonuma The fact that we changed the save system for this time around must have something to do with it too. Until now in The Legend of Zelda, you could always save anywhere, but when you started again, you were back at Link's house or at the entrance to a dungeon, rather than where you saved. The point was that starting in a place you had already been through would help you grow accustomed to the world and feel as if you were proceeding smoothly. Iwata That was the "Zelda method" up until now. Aonuma But now, if you lost to a dungeon boss, for example, and had to start all over at the beginning, you'd mostly just find that stressful. If you thought of a way to beat that boss, you wouldn't be able to try it out right away. Iwata I see. So you devised a way to shorten that time cycle so you could try out what you had thought of right away. Aonuma That's right. This time, we set save points at specific locations. It's structured so you can try out all sorts of things from that point. That also led to simplicity. Iwata This time, the trial-and-error mechanism, including the way to save, is done really well. In a simple step, you can try out your ideas right away, so you don't feel stress in various scenes of the game. In the same period of time, you can do one thing after the next. That's why you can have such dense play experience in the same playing minute.

●The first version of this game that I played was the Japanese version, but I didn't understand the Japanese at all. But when I played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, I wasn't aware of that and played without any trouble. People use languages like English and Japanese to communicate, but in the world of The Legend of Zelda, that wasn't necessary. Aonuma That comment is from someone in France. He said that even though he didn't understand the words, he could tell what he should do next just from the character's demeanor and other events taking place in the screen. Iwata Aonuma-san, this is incredible. This is the comment that I would never hit upon for myself without being told from a third party's perspective. I mean, we've always thought that The Legend of Zelda was a game that you couldn't do without a certain amount of verbal explanation. Aonuma Yes. As developers, we want to explain little by little what lies ahead and have the players move ahead as they figure it out. We thought it was impossible to convey that without words, but this time, it appears it got across without that. Iwata It seems so. Aonuma But I suppose it got across and you can then enjoy its unfolding depths precisely because it's so fundamentally simple. This reminded me of how important simplicity is in The Legend of Zelda. Iwata It's a tricky area for developers. There's fear over whether that simplicity will satisfy the players, isn't there? Aonuma Indeed, a lot is demanded of the Legend of Zelda series. I always worried that the players won't be satisfied if it isn't complicated. Iwata Especially as the series builds up, it tends to get overwrought. Aonuma The developers think that a more sophisticated game will provide surprises and awaken the player's inquisitiveness. But that isn't necessarily true. At first glance, it appears contradictory, but I really learned that this time—like in The North Wind and the Sun. (laughs) Iwata Yes. (laughs) That's a good example.

●People today enjoy short-term success and rewards. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword provides that. Aonuma This is from someone at NOA.11 I think what we mentioned earlier about making it easier to start over is a big part of that. I think that matches the needs of people today.

Iwata And, you constantly experience moments of how fun it is to swing the sword, so you never get bored. Aonuma It's true that you hardly ever feel like you're being forced to do something. Especially overseas, they tend to demand a lot of freedom and don't care much for RPGs with a single path forward. In the case of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, there may only be one path system-wise, but you never get the impression that there is no freedom. Iwata Because each battle is full of freedom? Aonuma Yes, I think so. Tons of stuff shows up that you want to try. I think that's important.

●I've never been very good at video games, so I've never cleared one before. But this game tells you where to go next, with the Sheikah Stone videos to offer assistance, so I think more people will be able to play to the end.

●It's a dream come true! Link can run! Enemies guard! (Unthinkable in The Legend of Zelda so far.) And traveling through the sky! There's a high degree of freedom and it satisfies the desire everyone has to fly.

●Something different about the game is that some adults are hopeless.Iwata I introduced them together, but these are all comments responding to the question of what is the same and what is different compared to previous Legend of Zelda games. Aonuma That last person continued with something funny, so I'll introduce that, too.

●Among the NPCs [non-player characters], there's Pipit's Mother who spends all the money her son saves doing night patrol, Owlan who tells his student who is running around to save Zelda that he is looking for a new species of plant as a hobby, and Jakamar who shows no sign of looking for his daughter who has disappeared.Iwata Right, they're are pretty hopeless. They have a lot of character! (laughs) But I can sense the love behind this comment. Aonuma In general, a lot of comments said the characters are incredibly charming. Iwata I think the characters in the series have been plenty charming so far, so why do you think people say that is especially true this time? Aonuma As mentioned in the previous comment, I think the biggest reason is that aside from the regular characters that appear, you sense that the enemies have personality as well. A big part of that is the effect of their battle reactions, and how Fi provides these brief explanations, like how the Bokoblins are obsessed with underpants. (laughs) They are actually the elements needed for the gameplay, but everyone gets a sense like "I bet this guy is like this." Iwata I see. Something else that surprised me is how everyone has their own feelings and how the points and details they mention are so different. Aonuma Yes, that's right. Everyone's comments are so different. Iwata Everyone thinks fighting is fun, but when it comes to which characters they like or what things are good, they cheerfully mention all sorts of things. That is a really good thing. I'm happy about it.