With just days to go before the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo has published a brand-new instalment of their “Ask the Developer” interview series. This time around the interview was all about Tears of the Kingdom and had the likes of Eiji Aonuma answering the many questions that were out before him and other members of the development team.
During the interview, Dohta, Takizawa and Aonuma, discuss magic and Zonai Devices in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom:
Zelda Devs on Magic and Zonai Devices:
Takuhiro Dohta: “In terms of features, one of the things we ended up not including in the last game was ‘magic’. Previously, we had a Stamina Wheel for physical actions, but there was nothing equivalent to a ‘magic gauge’. This time however, we wanted to incorporate that feature, so we added another unique ability: the magical Zonai Devices. As you can see in Aonuma-san’s gameplay demonstration video, you can generate wind or move objects with a Zonai Device. Using this power, for example, you can even create something absurd, such as an ‘omni-directional flamethrower’ There are many moments where you can cheat in a good way.
Satoru Takizawa: “The initial concept of this game was to use the ‘supernatural power’ of an unknown civilisation, as opposed to the Sheikah civilisation’s ‘super ancient technology’ in the previous game, so we decided to create lots of handy items with magical properties. However, even if we describe these items as ‘supernatural’, players won’t use them unless they know what they are. So, this thing we were calling ‘magic’ ultimately became…ahem, an electric fan.
Since we felt it was important for our players to get what those items are at a glance, our designers ended up creating various home appliances. (Laughs) Coming up with ways to present them as something supernatural in the world of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was quite a challenge. It was a great opportunity for us designers to put our skills to the test.”
Eiji Aonuma: “If players are shown something they’ve never seen in real life, they’ll have no idea how to use it. But if it looks similar to an everyday item, they’ll understand how it should be used intuitively. Having these items in the world of this The Legend of Zelda game where magic exists surprisingly worked.”
For the full interview, why not click here to check out Ask the Developer Vol. 9, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Chapter 4.
Ask the Developer | The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Participating Developers)
- Eiji Aonuma | Senior Officer, Entertainment Planning & Development Division (Producer)
- Hidemaro Fujibayashi | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Production Group No.3 (Director)
- Takuhiro Dohta | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Programming Management Group (Technical Director)
- Satoru Takizawa | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Design Management Group (Art Director)
- Hajime Wakai | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Sound Management Group (Sound Director)
