Aonuma Talks Majora’s Mask 3D and Zelda Wii U

Emphasizes that Zelda games have always offered an “open world.”

By Marc Deschamps. Posted 02/16/2015 16:30 Comment on this     ShareThis

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Over the weekend, Zelda fans had a lot to be excited about with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D. The title’s director, Eiji Aonuma, has been making the rounds with a number of interviews, in order to build hype for the title and drop hints about the future of the franchise.

In an interview with IGN, the famed director talked about The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D and the struggles he often faces when handling remakes.

“T​o put it as bluntly as I possibly can, remakes kind of hurt,” Aonuma told IGN. “You’ re looking at all the decisions you were making and sometimes you’re saying to yourself, ‘I can’t believe I was thinking about it like that,’ or, ‘Why did I think it was okay to make the user do that in that situation?'”

While Aonuma’s comments might make the remake process seem a bit daunting, he also elaborated, talking about some of the positive aspects of the experience.

“This is something that Mr. Miyamoto made a point of telling me at one time,” Aonuma continued. “He said, ‘​you need to look back and learn more from the work you’ve already done, before you go on to making something new.​’ I have to say, that can be a really uncomfortable experience, but I also feel like I learned so much. I’m actually really grateful that I had the opportunity to do something like that at work.”

Majora’s Mask 3D will likely keep Zelda fans busy for a while, but Nintendo is already looking toward the future of the franchise, namely The Legend of Zelda on Wii U. Nintendo has given fans a couple of glimpses at the title’s massive new open world environment, but further details have remained slim. In a recent interview with Gamereactor Magazine, however, Aonuma discussed the new game’s open world, a bit.

“A huge, seamlessly unfolding world is something that can’t be achieved if the hardware isn’t advanced enough. Ever since we made the very first generation of Legend of Zelda games though, we’ve had as large a world as can be realised with the hardware, so you could say it was inevitable that we’ve now done the same with the new Wii U title.

“When I first showed off the new Zelda game on the Wii U, it seemed everyone was very excited and started proclaiming that a Zelda game had at last become open world! Zelda games have always allowed you to roam and explore a huge world.

“What’s changed now is that the hardware has progressed to the point that you can now explore this vast world seamlessly; the underpinning of the game hasn’t changed.”

Aonuma does raise a good point. While the concept of massive open world environments seems to be a relatively new trend in video games, the Zelda titles have always offered sprawling, open worlds. As each generation has passed, we’ve just seen them get bigger. It will be interesting to see how the size of The Legend of Zelda for Wii U’s world compares with Xenoblade Chronicles X, which also promises a massive area to explore.

What do you think of Aonuma’s comments? As always, let us know in the comments below!

Source: IGN, Nintendo Everything

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