STACK NZ March 2017 Issue 82

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20 MARCH 2017
visit GAMES FEATURE
Zelda fans have been patiently awaiting the release of
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of theWild for four long
years.Whether you intend to play it onWii U or the
Nintendo's new console, Switch, the game is in-store
right spoke with the director of Breath of the
Wild, Hidemaro Fujibayashi.
INTO
THE
WILD
What makes the Zelda series
timeless?
In 2016, we celebrated the
30th anniversary since the
launch of the first ever Zelda
title in Japan. This is something
we were able to achieve all
because of our Zelda fans, who
continued to play and support Zelda
games all this time. Thank you very much.
One of the main ideas that has been our
focus throughout the series is the ‘growth of
the main character’. The game takes place in
a fantasy world, but by incorporating various
events that could happen in real life, the
players experience a realistic simulation. This is
something that could only be experienced with
this series, and that’s why our fans love it.
The Zelda series has occasionally focused
on providing the game experience that is
unique to the features of the hardware for
it’s up to the player how the game progresses.
This is not just about the story or fighting the
enemies. Players have the freedom to engage
in various activities such as hunting, cooking,
and searching for things in vast areas. This is
something that has been emphasised in our
past PR activities.
We placed a Super Bowl TV commercial in
the US, which is notorious for its extremely
high viewer rating, in order to appeal to those
who are not familiar with the Zelda series.
Given Breath of theWild’s four-year
development cycle from announcement
to release, how discernibly different is the
finished game compared to the blueprint at
conception?What are the major changes?
There haven’t been any big changes in the
concept or the main gameplay since the initial
stage. A few minor details in the game control
were revised at one stage, when we decided
to launch the title for Nintendo Switch and
Wii U at the same time. The changes were
required simply to make sure that the gaming
experience would be consistent across the
two types of hardware. The content and plans
did not change at all.
Breath of theWild has been referred to by
Shigeru Miyamoto as an 'open-air' game
as opposed to 'open-world' – what are
the significant differences between these
terms?
“Open-world” is a general phrase that
describes the kind of game, but the phrase
“open-air” specifically describes this game.
Open-air is a phrase that we initially started
using to describe the style of the graphics.
The producer, Eiji Aonuma, said it referred to
the ‘background music that blends in with the
sounds of nature’ and ‘the style of adventure
that this title offers, such as climbing to a
high place and diving through the sky with a
parasail’. Eventually the team started using the
phrase to describe the actual game.
At what stage during development did the
Switch become part of the conversation,
and when did the integration actually
commence?
It was around last spring, once the
production of the Wii U version was pretty
much complete.
Did you ever consider cancelling theWii U
version?
This title was initially being developed for
Wii U. It was decided later on that this will
launch around the same time as Nintendo
Switch. We decided to develop the game for
both Nintendo Switch and Wii U because it
allows more players to experience the game at
the same time. So stopping the development
of the Wii U version was never considered.
each title as well. The Legend of
Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been
designed to fully utilise the features
of Wii U and Nintendo Switch for a
seamless gameplay that allows the
players to explore wherever they want
to go.
Especially, Nintendo Switch comes
with the wonderful feature of portability,
so I hope our customers will enjoy being able
to take the device off the dock and play it
anywhere, anytime.
While Zelda fans were probably onboard
at the January 2013 reveal announcement,
what is the key to appealing to an audience
less familiar with the franchise?
We believe it is important to use every
opportunity possible to convey to the audience
what is great about this game.
One of the characteristics of this title is that
Hidemaro
Fujibayashi