Zelda Skyward Sword Aonuma Interview, my Analysis

[CM30]

Nintendo Power have recently interviewed Aonuma about the game (although recent might be a slight misnomer, the interview could have been kept secret and been taken at E3), and all kinds of interesting details about the story come out. So here are my responses to what's been said.

How would you characterize the game's story?

This time around, it's more centered on the creation of the Master Sword - the way it was born, so to speak. Link kind of forges it along the way.

So... I guess it's like how Phantom Hourglass has Link end up with the Phantom Sword, or how Minish Cap tells the origin of the Four Sword? I guess that does sound interesting, although I don't think we needed some humanoid figure to represent it for half the game.

How would you describe the relationship between Link and Zelda in this game?

The relationship between the two of them is one of being great childhood friends. They grew up together in Skyloft - this village on the clouds - and they have a great relationship.

So they're friends. Eh, the way he says this makes me feel uneasy. But then again, Link and Zelda were friends in The Minish Cap, weren't they? And might be sort of counted as such in The Wind Waker if you count Links interactions with Tetra.

Speaking of Zelda, what were your goals in designing her new look?

One of the things that I said before was that she is supposed to be Link's childhood friend, so we tried to give her a design that made her feel sort of relatable and have that warmth to her.

You failed.

She's this sweet childhood friend you have in the beginning, but as the story progresses and the gravity of the situation increases, she becomes someone who has a different side to her - someone who's willing to face the tremendous fate that's been placed on her shoulders.

Isn't this like what they intended for Tetra/Zelda in The Wind Waker?

Is there any significance to Zelda's harp? Is it the same harp that Sheik has in Ocarina of Time?

This time around, the harp comes into Link's hands during the course of the game and is used to help the player find something important. You actually need to play the harp to use it, so to speak.

So it's this game's musical instrument. Just for the record, in the past we've had:

Ocarinas:

• Unnamed one in A Link to the Past
• Unnamed one in Link's Awakening.
• The Fairy Ocarina in Ocarina of Time
• The Ocarina of Time in the game of the same name and Majora's Mask
• The Ocarina of Wind in The Minish Cap

Harps:

Harp of Ages in Oracle of Ages (Harp of Time in Japan)

Flutes:

• Recorder in the original NES game
• Unnamed one in Adventure of Link
• A possible one in A Link to the Past
• The animal calling flutes from the Oracle series (used to call Dimitri/Moosh/Ricky respectively)
• The Spirit Flute/Pipes in Spirit Tracks

Other

• Grass Whistles in Twilight Princess
• Pipes of Awakening, Drums of Sleep and Guitar of Waves in Majora's Mask
• The instruments of the Sirens in Link's Awakening (Full Moon Cello, Conch Horn, Sea Lily's Bell, Surf Harp, Wind Marimba, Coral Triangle, Organ of Evening Calm and Thunder Drum)
• The Wind Waker... in The Wind Waker

Eh... you're a bit late on the 'give Link a harp to play' part Aonuma.

As for similar design, maybe that ties Skyward Sword into the origin of the Sheikah?

Is it safe to say that the harp is the game's musical component?

Given the nature of what a harp is, and the fact that it's an instrument that one strums, this time we're using the Wii MotionPlus to really make it based on the rhythm of strumming to get across the musical element.

Oh good God. People already found the instrument from Spirit Tracks a pain to use, what with having to blow into the microphone... but motion controls for the harp? I can see this going so, so badly, even with MotionPlus. I mean, there's a reason most Zelda fans don't play a harp as a musical instrument in real life.

Given the orchestral performance of Zelda music at Nintendo's E3 press conference, can we expect Skyward Sword to have a fully orchestrated soundtrack?

I wouldn't call it completely orchestrated, because we have decided in certain situations and parts of the game to use music based on what the Wii can synthesize in order to provide more effective music. But there are quite a few songs during the course of the game that are fully orchestrated and recorded.

So like Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 then (I'm pretty sure the smaller bits of the soundtrack in those weren't orchestrated, like the pre boss themes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EHhHGJR8fo

I've also been wondering about this Lord Ghirahim. Who is he, and why is he so creepy?

Thinking about Ganon, the prototypical villain in the Legend of Zelda series - he's a very masculine, powerful, evil character that anyone can look at and realize is your archenemy in the game. This time around, I thought that if we featured a character similar in presentation to Ganon, it really wouldn't make that much of a difference and that new character wouldn't have much impact.

Correct. See, Malladus from Spirit Tracks, who wasn't too effective and felt like a Ganon rip off:

Then again, should you really be straying too far from the good villain formula? You know who else was designed with that logic? Bellum from Phantom Hourglass. You know, the... thing which made an even less menacing looking villain and had no personality whatsoever.

If you wanted a less over the top, masculine villain, why not make one based on Vaati somewhat? Or just bring him back?

I wanted to make to make a character that contrasted what people think about Ganon - someone who is a little bit mysterious and kind of makes people think, "well, I don't really know what to make of this somewhat terrifying character." That was sort of my goal in making a character like Ghirahim, and that's basically why I did that.

He's mysterious all right... pity he looks way, way too effeminate.

Is he related to Vaati from The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures? He's also very white and has similar eye makeup.

Something about this question just sounds ridiculous.

Well, the director on the project this time around is Mr. Fujibayashi, who also worked on Minish Cap. Perhaps there's something about Mr. Fujibayashi's sensibilities in regards to design that might have influenced both characters. But beyond that, I don't think so.

So he's not related, oh well.

Where does Skyward Sword fall in the timeline? Does it come between Minish Cap and Ocarina of Time?

Well, calling it the first Zelda might sort of box me in, but what I would like to say is that it does come before Ocarina of Time.

So prior to Ocarina of Time. The fact he doesn't mention Minish Cap though, why are people taking it so badly? That doesn't mean he doesn't think Minish Cap is canon, just that it isn't the first game in the series or connected to Skyward Sword directly.

That probably means we won't be seeing Ganon then, right?

Yes, that's right. Ganon typically appears in a Zelda game when the story is centered around the Triforce. This time around, the Triforce sort of takes on a different meaning and plays a different role in the story. So because of that, Ganon will not appear.

Eh, I don't care too much. We did have Adventure of Link with Dark Link as the antagonist, Link's Awakening with the Nightmares as antagonists and Majora's Mask with Majora as the villain, so another game without Ganon can't be too bad.

Who are the characters with Link at the start of the bird race? Not just the competitors, but also the older guy.

The people you saw in the opening scene are part of - we don't have an official name for it yet - a sort of academy, a knight academy, that Link is a part of and [they] oversee the school, and [the people are] also his classmates. So in that sense, this is a game that really puts Link in a different context and a different environment.

So Link's in Knight school?

When it comes to the birds, will you be riding them more than just in the race minigame that's been shown? Will they be a form of transportation?

No, the birds aren't just for racing in this game. In the context of the story, Link lives in this world above the clouds, but eventually has to dip below to the surface world in order to move things forward. So [the birds] are a key to accessing those areas.

Okay, nice to know they're not just a gimmick. But why not just jump down? You know which way gravity takes you, straight towards the planet's surface.

I know, suicidal sounding, and impossible in real life (but so is riding giant birds...), but if Mario can do this, why not Link?

In addition to that, there's a vast world above the clouds as well - little islands floating in the sky all over the place that you can explore, and there are events and scenarios that play out there as well, which are accessed by riding your bird.

Oh cool, the sky is more than just the town part of Skyloft, and this is truly a two world scenario.

But one thing I'd like to emphasize is, when you think about it - for example, how Spirit Tracks had the train and Wind Waker had the boat you rode around in - there's a lot of stuff that happens when you're in transit.

Erm... isn't the biggest criticism of both how little stuff happens when riding the boat/train? How The Wind Waker's Great Sea had tons of near empty bits of ocean with noting much to see? Why do I fear flying will have even less decoration and interesting elements?

I partly like the sound of the game, but I think some things said worry me.

 

[Dark Young Link]

The more I hear the more worried about this game I become. I thought the upgrade thing would be cool, but since you upgrade the sword I don't like the idea much. Like if I remember correctly at the beginning of ALttP it said that the goddesses created the Master Sword and the Triforce. To have this Link forge the Master Sword into what it is now kind of contradicts what was said.

Then there's the harp which sounds like a pain to use. I mean it sounds like a pain with Wii Motion Plus, but it sounds harder without it.

 

[kunino-sagiri]

Why would it matter how hard the harp is to use without the Motion Plus? (Except for perhaps making using it with the Motion Plus seem easier by comparison).

 

[Link 70222]

So the sky is the equivalent of the ocean or Hyrule with trains? I don't really like that idea.

 

[CM30]

Some more details:

I heard a rumor that this may be the longest and deepest Zelda game ever made.

It's certainly no rumor what-so-ever. It is definitely a tremendous game- there is so much content that Mr. Miyamoto and I haven't been able to thoroughly play it all.

While I have to admit my skepticism towards this claim (didn't they say something similar about Twilight Princess?), if this claim is true... then it will be a brilliant Zelda game.

Considering how quickly I beat Ocarina of Time 3D despite not knowing much about how to beat the dungeons, as well as how it was over too soon even after Master Quest was complete, I could definitely do with a long Zelda game which is about 80 hours long minimum.

Pity it's not out in summer, that'd give me plenty to do for the next few weeks.

If you had more time and an unlimited budget, what else would you do to try to celebrate Zelda's 25th anniversary?

If what we're really talking about is a sort of a "sky is the limit" approach to things, I always thought it would be really cool to have a real Zelda movie, something really grand and sweeping.

A real Zelda movie eh? I have to admit, it'd be pretty cool seeing Nintendo or a proper film studio try and make one, rather than have it made by these fans online.

But, of course, I have neither the time nor the wherewithal for all that, and even if I did have the money to make such a movie, I don't know if it would turn out well.

Erm... don't Nintendo have that kind of money? Then again, I see what he means by the time and wherewithal, that time and effort spending making a movie could be used to make a new Zelda game.

But there are those days when I fantasize about how cool it would be if something like that would happen sometime in the future.

Dream on

Now that handheld systems are powerful enough to provide the kind of Zelda experience that has previously been available only on consoles, will there be any differentiation between the two styles going forward?

Certainly in making the DS titles as handheld Zeldas, one of the goals has always been to make something you can play in little bits and pieces so that you have a little fun, put it away, and do something else, and come back to it. That's sort of the accessibility of playing the game in bite-sized chunks.

To be honest, that's how it should stay. Handhelds don't tend to do well when full sized consoles are crammed onto them, simply because most people who own them want games they can play in their free time or on the go. Hence full length blockbuster games are just too inaccessible for 'casual' gamers, or most of the handheld market.

But as you pointed out, Ocarina of Time is a fully fledged,, previously console Zelda that is now portable.

True, but was that a good move? Not sure.

So in that sense, yes, the ability to deliver that kind of experience is now available for handhelds as well; it's not just in the domain of consoles anymore. However, if that's the case and we can deliver what people previously considered a console experience, to a handheld, it makes me think, "Well, what can we do to make those home-console Zeldas that much more engrossing and appropriate for being in your room and spending the time to really dive deep in the game?" So, that's a theme that I'm certainly going to carry though into future development. One way that I've really thought about it is that motion controls, for example, are great fun when you're in your room and swinging your sword.

True.

But if you think about it, if you were to do that out in public, in front of people, it may not be the best experience for everyone. So, I definitely want to continue to think about experiences that suit themselves to long periods of deep exploration in game play at home, and also look more at what types of game play are best suited for being out and about.

Or in other words, let's not make our fans look like idiots while playing on the 3DS.

After playing Ocarina of Time 3D, the next question that comes to mind is: Will we get a Majora's Mask remake next?

Would you like to play such a remake?

Oh wow, that's a honest question. Sorry to ask, but I think Aonuma knew the kind of answer he'd get here.

Well, Yes!

It's been 13 years since Ocarina of Time was originally released, and one of the big things that we made this remake possible was that there was an outpour of emotions from people who said they would like to see this game done. We said we could do it in 3D, so we did. I think certainly if there was a similar output of emotion and clamor from fans for a remake of Majora's Mask, it wouldn't be an utter impossibility.

So people, if you want Majora's Mask 3D for some reason, get begging! Here's betting someone sets up 'Operation Majora's Mask 3D' and starts telling everyone to pre order the imaginary game.

Thinking on it now, having a handheld Majora's Mask where you could kind of just set things down on your own time - close it, set it aside and come back to it later - might be a game play element some fans will actually take to and might really appreciate. Especially considering how you really had to rush through the original game, in a sense.

He's actually thinking about it?

Do you have any ideas percolating regarding how you'd like to a see a Zelda game play on the Wii U?

Obviously software sort of evolves along with hardware and the functions that are built into hardware. I think if I was to give away all the ideas that are floating around, it wouldn't be as much fun when those products actually come to life.

Surprise does not always equal a good thing.

But one thing I certainly find myself liking is a lot - that you saw in the Wii U Zelda HD experience - is the idea of being able to pill your map onto a separate screen and really make use of that separate display in order to make your adventure more exciting and more streamlined. That is certainly something I find very appealing.

Makes sense. Not very 'creative', but an entirely functional, clever way to use the second screen.

Speaking of that demo, is the Twilight Princess art style what you'd like to use for a Zelda game on the Wii U?

Not necessarily. Really, this time around it was more about seeing what we can do with the Wii U. In making the experience, we had the Twilight Princess art style as a base more or less to gauge what we were doing. But for a Wii U Zelda in the future, there's no art style or design direction that's been laid down - we're very open to distinct possibilities.

As long as they don't try to be all Japanese with more cel shading, I don't mind. Because as much as I liked Wind Waker, you have to admit the US audience for the series is far larger than the Japanese one, and that you should probably cater this and Metroid to their tastes if you want to make some serious profit.

Source is Zelda Informer, a pretty good Zelda website and news source:

http://www.zeldainfo...ew-details.html

 

[kunino-sagiri]

So people, if you want Majora's Mask 3D for some reason, get begging! Here's betting someone sets up 'Operation Majora's Mask 3D' and starts telling everyone to pre order the imaginary game.

You were right. Not about the pre-orders (not yet at least), but about the 'operation'.
Guess what they've called it? Personally I think this name's rather clever.
It's Operation Moonfall.