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Nintendo has dropped a new ‘Ask the Developer’ Q&A for the upcoming release of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, in which members of the game’s development team have talked about the themes of the game.
In the second of a three part interview, the roundtable spoke to several high-profile leads on the project and gave fans eagerly anticipating the follow-up some fresh insight into what to expect. This includes the reveal that it shares a lot in common with Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, at least when it comes to what the sequel is going to be about – specifically, working together and forming connections.
As explained by the game’s technical director – Takuhiro Dohta: “The previous game was a relatively lonesome game, or rather an endurance game where you made full use of Link’s body and strength alone to traverse the vast world. What’s unique this time is joining hands and cooperating with various characters, and at times, creating items with Link’s own hands and utilising them as you progress.”
In fact, ‘hands’ are indeed the overarching theme for Tears of the Kingdom, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi reveals: “For this title, we chose “hands” as the key theme to bring them all together. For example, abilities that Link uses to solve puzzles are all released from his hand and arm. We even included this symbolically in the game’s mechanics, such as having scenes that use hands when opening special doors. This “hands” theme also crops up here and there as a key element as the story develops.”
“We were intentional about making this “hands” theme show through in the visuals as well as in the story direction,” adds the game’s art director Satoru Takizawa. “If you watch the trailers that we’ve released so far, I think you may be able to get a sense of this atmosphere.”
Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma sums up the hands theme: “Well, simply put, “hands” expresses the idea of “connecting”. This applies to the story too, which connects to Hyrule’s past. It also talks about a major struggle called “The Imprisoning War”, which until now was considered a myth even in Hyrule.”
And as Hidemaro Fujibayashi points out, a huge part of this theme was staring the team in the face the whole time: “And the protagonist’s name is “Link” after all” – to which Aonuma laughingly admitted “Oh… I just got the connection…” – you can check out the full interview here – with the third part going live tomorrow.
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom launches on May 12, 2023. For more on the game, check out our guide to Where is Tears of the Kingdom in the Zelda timeline? Or, speaking of hands, let’s break down the Tears of the Kingdom Ultrahand ability here.
Nintendo Switch OLED Model: The Legend of Zelda
Screen type
OLED
Color
Zelda limited edition (green)
Storage Type
Flash
USB Ports
2
