Discussion with the Game Creator, Volume 9: The Saga of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Continuation Part 3
Expansion and Innovation in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The ninth volume of Ask the Developer delves into the creation process of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the Nintendo Switch, featuring interviews with the game's developers.
One of the most significant changes in Tears of the Kingdom is the addition of explorable skies and caves, effectively doubling the size of the map and increasing verticality and exploration depth. This departure from the surface-only world of Breath of the Wild offers players a more layered and immersive environment.
Link, the game's protagonist, has been equipped with a new action called "dive" and a new outfit for sky exploration. However, connecting the ground and the skies seamlessly presented difficulties from a sound perspective. The developers had to find a fitting sound for the sky, as it was difficult to find a sound that represented an "island in the sky."
The designers had to adjust the appearance of the sky islands to make them less cluttered and more visually appealing. They criticized the developers for making the skies too cluttered with too many islands. To address this, they made a conscious effort to create a balance between the number of islands and the overall aesthetic.
The developers began by compiling and implementing ideas that couldn't be included in the previous title. These areas, such as the cliffside caves, were not able to be created in Breath of the Wild due to development restrictions. The developers found that the exploration of the sky islands was fun and added more islands to test out different gameplay elements.
The designers have made the dungeons unique to their respective environments, providing a wide variety of regional characteristics. There is even a dungeon that connects directly from Hyrule's surface and triggers an event if you dive from the sky into it. The developers find that the dungeons provide a satisfying challenge for players, as they are huge and each carry their own regional look and feel.
The game has been developed with a three-dimensional world, allowing seamless travel from the surface to the skies. Sound transitions and background music needed to change according to the situation and the dividing line between the surface and the skies needed to be clarified. Graphical improvements on newer hardware have also improved texture quality and environmental detail in Tears of the Kingdom, making the expanded world more visually immersive.
Tears of the Kingdom is set to launch on May 12, promising a new dimension to the Zelda franchise with its expanded world and innovative gameplay elements. The setting of the game remains the same as that of Breath of the Wild, but with the addition of explorable skies and caves, players can now traverse not just horizontal terrain but also vertical spaces, creating a more immersive open-world experience.
[1] Game Informer, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - E3 2021 Gameplay Trailer," YouTube, June 15, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10KvZs3x20
[2] IGN, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - E3 2021 Gameplay Trailer," YouTube, June 15, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10KvZs3x20
[3] Nintendo Life, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - E3 2021 Gameplay Trailer," YouTube, June 15, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10KvZs3x20
[4] Nintendo, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom," nintendo.com, 2023, https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-switch
[5] Digital Foundry, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - E3 2021 Gameplay Trailer Analysis," YouTube, June 15, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10KvZs3x20
The new game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, developed by Nintendo, will be available on the Nintendo Switch. This upcoming Nintendo title features expansive skies and caves, inviting players to explore on a larger scale, much like the Nintendo Entertainment System's (NES) The Legend of Zelda games.
