The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD Group No. 3
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	The Legend of Zelda
Platform(s)	Wii U
Release	2015
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

The Legend of Zelda (Wii U) is an unofficial placeholder name for the next The Legend of Zelda video game to be released by Nintendo on the Wii U. It is relatively early in the development process, so not much is known beyond developer opinions on the game's direction. The game is expected to be released in 2015.

Development

Development of Zelda Wii U is in the very early conceptual phase. As far as we know, no story or art style have been decided yet, and they're still experimenting with what kind of gameplay experience the Wii U can offer.

It's not something they're working on daily right now, but we are talking about some of the things we might be able to do with that system. The demo that we showed at E3 was really just more of a rough idea of if all we were to do was to make a Zelda game and put it in HD, this is what it might look like. We're much more interested in looking at the power of the Wii U system and seeing how we can take advantage of that power to do things that we haven't been able to do in a Zelda game before.

— Aonuma, GameInformer

On November 28th, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was asked about Nintendo Wii U versions of the Legend of Zelda and Mario and he gave the following response.

We will announce the launch schedules for new 3D Zelda and Mario games in the future, but this is not the right opportunity for me to indicate when we will make such announcements.

...as we develop a new hardware platform, we ask ourselves such questions as, 'what kind of new Zelda and Mario games do the software creators hope to make on this?

— Satoru Iwata^[1]

On January 23rd, 2013 during a Nintendo Direct video stream, Eiji Aonuma updated about the progress of Zelda for the Nintendo Wii U. He stated that the game still had a significant ways to go, but in the mean time, announced the remake of The Wind Waker for the Nintendo Wii U, set for release in Fall of 2013. Regarding Zelda Wii U, Aonuma particularly mentioned that Nintendo would be rethinking many of the conventions of Zelda, including the following.

• The order a player is supposed to complete dungeons.
• Rethinking how Zelda is a 'Play by yourself' game.

In a Nintendo Press Release on January 30th, Nintendo confirmed that new titles in several core franchises, including The Legend of Zelda would release by 2014.

Beginning in March and continuing through the rest of the calendar year and into 2014, Nintendo will release a cavalcade of strong, fan-favorite software titles for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. New entries in the Mario Kart, Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, LEGO City, Wii Fit and Pikmin franchises will help Nintendo regain momentum for Wii U.

— Nintendo Press Release^[2]

Graphics

The tech demo from E3 2011 has gotten a lot of attention, with praise for its graphics, however Eiji Aonuma has stated that what was shown at E3 was merely a demonstration of the system's power, not a teaser for a new Zelda game.

You probably remember that when we introduced the GameCube, we showed a somewhat realistic Zelda demo, and what we actually created was the cel-shaded Wind Waker. So when we show a graphic demo, people think, 'Oh, this is what the next Zelda will look like,' but that's not necessarily the case.

— Aonuma, Wired

Well, one thing I want to emphasize here, when talking about the Wii U Zelda HD experience, is that we really built it specifically to be an experience. The idea is using Zelda as the backdrop for one of these HD experiences, what kind of representation Zelda can make there. But this is really just to show people what kind of things the console can do. And so, it's not necessarily the case that we would use that graphic style or depiction the same way we would in a new Zelda, when there is a new Zelda for the Wii U. Just like the map functionality that was also implemented in that experience - it's simply us giving an objective look at the kinds of things that can be done with the HD hardware. And Zelda happened to be the filter through which we view it in that experience. So nothing is defined right now as far as how we'll proceed.

— Aonuma, Industry Gamers

Not only was the demo used to show us the graphical capabilities, but it was developed to help design the system.

I'm on one of the committees that oversaw the general steering and direction [of the Wii U]. We talked to each other a lot about several elements, one of which was, 'How exactly will the HD graphics work?' In doing concepts for that ... we used Zelda assets quite often to examine, OK, how real will we make this look?

— Aonuma, Wired

Shigeru Miyamoto sheds some more light on what he'd like this look to be.

This is an HD system, our first HD system, and we want to create a real HD Zelda game for it. You will see a lot of these in-depth and deep experiences in terms of visual style. You will also see some play styles that are fun and interesting because of the play structure. We are not planning on putting any restrictions in terms of requiring developers to leverage HD in a particular ways. Even if you are using a simpler visual style it will still look very beautiful.

— Miyamoto, Kotaku

While HD isn't required, it is likely. Realistic graphics also aren't guaranteed - any art style can be of high quality, even ones like that of The Wind Waker or Skyward Sword. A decision on the art style probably won't be made until further along in development.

Controls

The Wii U controller's screen in the tech demo featured Link's inventory and map, or a copy of the game screen. Aonuma has other plans for it as well.

I really think [having two screens is] one of the most exciting features of the system. Unlike the Nintendo DS, there's distance between the television and you and your other screen. That really allows for some different interactions, some of which you saw [at E3]. For example, imagine having the contents of Link's satchel available to you on the screen of your controller, and using elements of the pouch to interact with gameplay on the television.

With The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, we had the Nunchuck and Wii Remote sort of stand in for the sword and shield that Link carries. But in a game for the Wii U, I can definitely see something like the controller itself becoming the different items that Link is using, allowing you to interact with the game world and with the game items in a very different way.

— Aonuma, Nintendo Power

I'd like to do things that are more surprising than [what was in the tech demo].

— Aonuma, Industry Gamers

However, it's still a possibility that we will see motion controls return. After all, after swinging your own sword to interact with the game, how could one go back to using a controller?

Iwata: Now, can you talk about how this new controller works together with the Wii Remote that we have been using until now?
Miyamoto: Sure. Actually, as I was making it I didn't have a whole lot of doubts in my mind that the Wii Remote would still be used as it was. I feel like the Wii Remote has pretty much become its ideal form with the Wii Remote Plus.
Iwata: I see, you mean you can do just about everything you want to do with it.
Miyamoto: That's right. And when I thought whether we really needed to require the purchase of something completely new, I felt that we could continue with this way to play for another while. I feel that way even when I play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

— Iwata Asks

In recent interview at E3 2012, Miyamoto hints that the Zelda game in development for Wii U may not include motion controls after all.

With the last game, Skyward Sword, that was a game where you had motion control to use your weapons and a lot of different items, and I thought that was a lot of fun, but there were some people who weren't able to do that or didn't like it as much and stopped playing partway through it. So we're in the phase where we're looking back at what's worked very well and what has been missing and how can we evolve it further..

— Miyamoto, Entertainment Weekly

Release

In an edition of Iwata Asks in November of 2011, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that the five-year development of Skyward Sword was quite long. In response to this, Skyward Sword director Hidemaro Fujibayashi set the following goal.

I'll think of something that can happen in three years!

— Fujibayashi, Iwata Asks