Interview:Game Informer December 10th 2011: Difference between revisions

'''Because it's so tied to the motion controls, do you have any concern about future gamers being able to play and discover Skyward Sword the way that they can use the Virtual Console to play titles like Ocarina of Time or A Link to the Past?'''

'''Skyward Sword's story doesn't follow the predictable path of earlier titles. As you create more Zelda games, do you have the desire to create stories that stand out from the more simplistic tales that the series started out with?'''

'''Eiji Aonuma:''' I wouldn't say that we were striving to create a deeper story this time around necessarily. We started with the idea for the overall game. One of the main themes that drove us this time was wanting people to explore the world. The impetus for Link going out and exploring the world became Zelda falling down below and Link needing to find her. But of course the challenge with a story like this is, once you find her, there's no longer any need to continue exploring. We were looking for ways to draw that experience out… so when it seemed like you were just about to get back together with Zelda, something would happen, and it would shift. The goal has really been not necessarily making the story deeper, but making it more interesting so that it keeps the player wanting to play all the way through to the end of the game.

'''Eiji Aonuma:''' The game is The Legend of Zelda, so every time we're making a new game, we struggle with how we're going to portray the title character. This time what stood out for us was that Link and Zelda start off as childhood friends. We felt it was important to make that clear to the player. We look at this game as the earliest in the Zelda timeline, so we wanted to create a story where Zelda had a role that would help explain why it is The Legend of Zelda.

'''Eiji Aonuma:''' With Wind Waker, the graphics were suited to handheld gaming. Also the game ended with Link embarking on a journey, so it left open the possibility of what comes after the game. With Skyward Sword, positioning it as the first Zelda game means everything else connects to it and comes after it. It becomes a little bit difficult to do something else within that world and certainly much more difficult to do something that comes before it.

Of course, this was the first time we went with fully orchestrated songs in the game, and we've seen what that can do to help bring the world alive and make the game that much more fun. We're continually looking at ways that we can evolve the series. We're not confident that we can find the right balance with full voice, so we'll see. The other issue is that everyone would be speaking Hylian, so even if you heard them speak, you wouldn't understand them. [laughs]

'''Eiji Aonuma:''' I started working on the series not at the beginning, but part-way through its history. I think because of that, early on I was more looking objectively at the series and how we could change small, individual elements within it, rather than looking at how the series should evolve. As time has passed – particularly in the last few years – I've started to think a lot more about how I can take the series and really make it my own Zelda and evolve it further. As Mr. Miyamoto has allowed me to take the reins on the Zelda series, ultimately that's what I need to do. Perhaps some people will think it's a little bit late for me to start thinking about that, but as time goes by, that's becoming more of a theme in how I'm approaching the series.