Zelda Producer Clarifies Dungeons, Weapons, Nonlinearity

[roseofbattle]

Zelda Producer Clarifies Dungeons, Weapons, Nonlinearity

A Link Between Worlds is the first Zelda game to encourage players to tackle dungeons in the other they choose; producer Eiji Aonuma also teases news of Majora's Mask.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is a bit different from previous Zelda games in that players don't have to go from Point A to Point B to Point C in a predetermined order. In a Q&A on The Legend of Zelda UK Facebook, producer Eiji Aonuma answered questions about the upcoming game and clarified the changes to Zelda in the 3DS game.

Answering a question about the dungeon order, Aonuma said, "In terms of the difficulty level, each dungeon features new ideas involving the item you need to use there, so there isn't some kind of process or order you can follow to make it easier. However, if you are using a particular item more than normal, you will become more used to it, so you may find it easier to complete the corresponding dungeon in that case."

By now, it's clear that A Link Between Worlds is drawing on A Link to the Past. Aonuma said most of the enemies in the field are touched-up versions of enemies from A Link to the Past, and some characters are back in the 3DS title with similar roles. Aonuma gives Sahasrahla as an example, an elder who guides Link on his quest.

Aonuma answered other questions about the weapon upgrades, the villain, and MaiaMai. Players can upgrade weapons of their choosing. Aonuma personally recommends upgrading the bow, which allows the player to fire 3 arrows at once in a spread. The name of the main villain, Yuga, is derived from the Japanese word for oil paintings. Mother MaiaMai, a large pink octopus-like creature, is "shrouded in mystery," Aonuma said. She exists in both worlds, Hyrule and Lorule. "If you rescue all of the MaiaMai, then you may learn a little more about her so I would encourage you to play and discover this for yourself."

Lastly, Aonuma ends the Q&A with a statement on Majora's Mask in regard to fan requests for a remake. "It's nice to see such a strong response to this title, and we haven't forgotten about Link's adventures in that world." Aonuma said. "If you play A Link Between Worlds, you may better understand what I mean by that."

Source: Legend of Zelda UK Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-legend-of-zelda-uk/eiji-aonuma-qa-on-the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds/379446052188331]

Permalink

 

[RJ Dalton]

I don't see this as working. I mean, being able to tackle the dungeons in any order sounds nice on paper, but it's very difficult to pull off, because it becomes hard to plot a difficulty curve. And in a game where you get extra health for every boss you beat, it's probably quite impossible.

 

[Eternal_Lament]

I probably wont get this game (on account of me not having a 3DS) but the choosing your own dungeon aspect can go either way really. Dark Souls and Demons Souls shows that you can indeed make a game under the pretense that a player will choose which dungeons to visit first and still keep the difficulty going. At the same time, something like the Prince of Persia reboot in 2008 shows that that system only works for a bit before difficulty is too balanced out that it becomes easy. As for which one Zelda goes is all up in the air right now, but if I had to take a guess, it'll be something that may work for the first third before issues start to arise

 

[Colt47]

This definitely feels like a Zelda game targeting older players compared to Skyward Sword. Both through the fact they are designing it to be tackled in any order and giving it a relation to "A Link to the Past". Not to mention it is part of a Zelda Themed XL bundle...

Actually I really should get that bundle as I just hate the regular 3ds. The thing is just too small. =(

 

[Hero of Lime]

If I had to guess, there will probably be a subtle preferred order to the dungeons, even if the game doesn't tell you outright which ones are the most complex. I'm excited either way of course, but I don't see it being as open and seamless as they say it will be. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, so who knows?

 

[WeepingAngels]

I really didn't care for upgradeable weapons in Skyward Sword.

 

[JambalayaBob]

The first to encourage non-linearity? Don't you mean the second? The only thing strictly linear about Zelda 1 was the dungeon names, and if ALttP exclusively took place in the dark world, or didn't tell you the "correct" order for the dungeons in the dark world on the map, it would be the third.