Discussion with Game Creator Volume 9: Thecrie of Zelda: Kingdom of Tears - Episode 3
In the much-anticipated sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, players are in for a treat as the game's world has undergone a significant expansion. This expansion, however, is not just about increasing the map size horizontally, but also adding vertical layers to create a more immersive and varied gaming experience.
The new title, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, now allows exploration of the skies and caves, areas that were previously out of bounds due to development restrictions. This expansion effectively nearly doubles the size of the explorable map compared to Breath of the Wild.
One of the key challenges faced by the development team was to create a seamless transition between the ground and the skies, both in terms of gameplay and sound. The gameplay now utilizes height, adding a sense of verticality to the three-dimensional world. This vertical expansion offers players a richer environment to explore beyond the ground-level terrain present in Breath of the Wild.
From a sound perspective, the team had to clarify the dividing line between the surface and the skies. The background music needed to change according to the situation, and finding a fitting sound for the sky proved to be a difficult task. Connecting the ground and skies seamlessly presented difficulties, and transition triggers were needed to indicate where the music should switch.
The game features a new action called "dive" and a new outfit for the skies, making exploration of these new areas even more enjoyable. Players can travel from the surface to the skies seamlessly, and the entrances to cliffside caves have been added to the game, allowing for more exploration.
The developers discussed these challenges and circumstances during the ninth volume of the Ask the Developer interview series. The interview was translated from the original Japanese content. Aonuma, one of the developers, mentioned that when viewed from the ground, sky islands appear small. Dohta, another developer, explained that the designers had to adjust the appearance of sky islands to make them less cluttered.
The setting for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom remains the same as that of Breath of the Wild. The game is scheduled to launch on May 12. The team compiled and implemented ideas that couldn't be included in the previous title, making this sequel a worthy successor to the critically acclaimed Breath of the Wild.
[1] Polygon [2] IGN [3] GameSpot [4] Nintendo Life [5] GamesRadar
- Exciting news for Nintendo Switch gamers as the upcoming title, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, introduces a new action called "dive" and a new outfit for sky exploration, moving beyond the ground-level terrain of the original game.
- This new game in the Zelda series, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, is set to launch on May 12 on the Nintendo Switch, continuing the adventures in the same setting as Breath of the Wild, but with significant expansion and refinement, now allowing exploration of the skies and caves.
