PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: Our first approach was to remove those impassable walls, which were a convention of Zelda, by transforming the walls and allowing the user to climb them in our experimental game field [Breath of the Wild prototype]. By transforming walls … into another optional path, it's as if the entire landscape that lays before the user opens open up, asking them 'So, which path are you going to take?' It was at this point that I realized this was the kind of game design I was striving for.

Fujibayashi on transforming walls from boundaries into optional paths in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/febaddf2a123...

PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 45. Breath of the Wild Art Director. QUOTE: Takizawa: In the real world, there is a very specific smell right before it rains. I wanted to create the illusion of that smell with the visuals in [Breath of the Wild]. … If we could simulate senses like smell and touch through visual information, the world would truly feel alive, and that was one of our big goals. We focused a lot on the air itself. The tropical rainforest is very humid, with particulates in the air. The sunlight is strong in the desert. The amount of dust in the air changes depending on what the wind is doing. The game adjusts light and air quality to more clearly express the differences in weather across regions.

Takizawa on simulating all the senses through visuals in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakizawaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 44. Breath of the Wild Art Director. QUOTE: Takizawa: In Japan, when we remember something that “stirs the soul”, we use 'gutto kuru' to capture that feeling. … To create an appealing, never-before-seen world, you need to break conventions. You need to be creatively reckless. So perhaps it's safe to say, in some ways, we game creators really enjoy violent work. In what way did our artists add that gutto kuru feeling to their art [in Breath of the Wild]? They wracked their brains each and every day throughout development to fully manifest their individuality.

Takizawa on “gutto kuru” art and “violent work”, 2017.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakizawaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/febaddf2a123...

PEOPLE: - Takafumi Kiuchi. Lead Enemy Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Kiuchi: I designed the Bokoblins first and worked hard to design each of the monsters [in Breath of the Wild] to be kind of charming. Rather than making them eerie and off-putting, I wanted them to have an element of cuteness and humor. I thought building in this kind of charm would make people want to play the game more. I applied this way of thinking to their behavior and reactions as well. They snore while they sleep. They devour meat. They look up at the sky when it rains. I tried really hard to create details that would keep players engaged.

Kiuchi on designing the Bokoblins in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#KiuchiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 55. Producer of the Zelda series. QUOTE: Aonuma: [In past Zelda games] we would place numerous landmarks so that players could follow them, and so on. We did things like that to ensure players wouldn’t get lost. But thinking critically, making a game in which players never get lost is like the development team saying that it’s actually just linear. When making a Zelda with that structure, and then examining it from a distance, it starts to feel like “Is this really interesting?”

Aonuma on games where players never get lost, 2018.

Source: Zelda Encyclopedia

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/e6aaedfa0594...

PEOPLE: - Takumi Wada, age 34. Illustrator for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Wada: When I drew the official box art and E3 illustration, I wanted to give the sense that Link was confronting the world. My first sketch portrayed Link looking out over Hyrule with his back to the viewer. I then experimented with several other compositions that more prominently featured Link, but eventually settled on the direction of my initial idea. I felt that the world itself, not just the characters, had a leading role in [Breath of the Wild]. I also wanted to convey that this was the beginning of a new Zelda, so I drew the sky at daybreak.

Wada on his thinking when illustrating the Breath of the Wild key art, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#WadaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 51. Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: [Breath of the Wild] didn't come to me right away as a fully formed idea. For a long time, I went from idea to idea before I finally reached what I think are the very roots of Breath of the Wild's gameplay: the idea of cliff climbing and paragliding back down, the keyword “survival", and the idea of “creativity of combination” whereby players make use of things that happen when their actions interact with objects placed on the map—for example, lighting wood with fire to create a bonfire.

Fujibayashi on the the root ideas of Breath of the Wild, 2024.

Source: Retro Gamer Magazine

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/2e741fe961fd...

PEOPLE: Hirohito Shinoda. Lead NPC Artist for Breath of the Wild. ART: Next to the quite is a black and white sketch of a version of MIpha that was inspired by a Lionfish. She has large fans of spikey fins coming out of her head and elbows. QUOTE: Shinoda: I ended up using a dolphin as the inspiration for Mipha's design [in Breath of the Wild], but I also considered several other ideas, including using an oarfish or a rockfish as a motif. Her outfit incorporates the delicate design of the Zora in her accessories, as well as an ephemeral feeling that reflects Mipha's personality.

Shinoda on other motifs that were considered for Mipha's design, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#ShinodaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 45. Art Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Takizawa: We wanted to create a world [for Breath of the Wild] that could accommodate the fantastical elements of Hyrule without sacrificing a more realistic art style, and we went about that by crafting a hybrid of the two that would allow the players to suspend their disbelief when certain things happen. That allowed us to include a broad range of ideas from the designers and enabled us to have some crazy stuff happen. For example, the player is able to toss a bunch of ingredients into a pot and have a dessert pop out. We found that injecting humor into the visual shorthand helps players forgive the break from reality.

Takizawa on choosing an art style to allow suspension of disbelief, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakizawaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 64. Creator of Zelda & Mario. General Producer for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Miyamoto: It’s not that I don’t like story, that I’m denying the importance of story. I think after someone has played a game, it’s important that a story lingers in their mind. But what I do think is a challenge, is to cut down on playtime to set up and explain a story that’s already been set. I think what’s important, especially for the Zelda series, is for the person to be able to think it through for themselves, and to really live the story. I think that’s [what] we’ve been working on through the many iterations of Zelda. And so in [Breath of the Wild], while you’re playing, you start to kind of dig the narrative out and see the overarching story that lies in the background.

Miyamoto on how he isn't denying the importance of story, 2017.

Source: Time Magazine

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#MiyamotoQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/02e5a62ee904...

PEOPLE: - Manabu Takehara. Breath of the Wild Lead Architecture Artist. - Makoto Yonezu. Breath of the Wild Lead Landscape Artist. QUOTE: Takehara: Something the terrain lead told me when the Breath of the Wild team met together: … “The grass fluttering with the wind”, “The feeling of adventure as you push your way through the grass”, these experiences create presence. He thought that they would help establish the worldview that even after the calamity, “Beautiful nature remains regardless of human life”. He then asked the programmers to “Grow a lot of grass in the game!”, and the end result was a volume of moving grass far past his imagination, resulting in him crying from joy.

#Linktober 30: Wild/Untamed

Takehara on beautiful nature after the calamity, 2019.

Source: Hyrule Interviews

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakeharaQuote, #YonezuQuote

www.notion.so/7323c6d27865...

PEOPLE: - Hirohito Shinoda. Lead NPC Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Shinoda: I wanted to make the Zora [of Breath of the Wild] look really cool while still being faithful to the Zora of past titles. Rather than restricting myself to fish, I drew inspiration from dolphins and other mammals as well. Also, the concept for them in this game was to have them know Link, so they ended up being long lived. In order to give more variation to the race, I made Zora of all sorts of colors, not just one. King Dorephan was the final leader of a race that I designed. I made sure to give him a unique appearance that wouldn't overlap with the other leaders. The reason that I used a whale motif for him is purely because the king of the sea should be a whale!

#Linktober 27: Species/Race
Shinoda on how he approached designing the Zora in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#ShinodaQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 46. Breath of the Wild Art Director. QUOTE: Q: When [Breath of the Wild’s] Princess Zelda was first revealed to the public, there was a lot of talk about her thick eyebrows. Takizawa: That was really surprising. I didn't expect it to become such a hot topic. The eyebrows are thicker than usual because it makes it easier to give her facial expressions. Princess Zelda has a lot of emotional expression this time around, so I think the design suits her well.

#Linktober 26: Zelda

Takizawa on the design of Zelda's eyebrows in Breath of the Wild, 2018.

Source: Hyrule Interviews

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakizawaQuote

www.notion.so/a3003f9854bc...

PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 44. Breath of the Wild Art Director. QUOTE: Takizawa: You hit the log with your axe and 'poof!' In an instant you have bundles of firewood. They're even conveniently tied up with rope. ... Here's Link running around with some ingredients. If I had to make that look realistic I'm not sure what I would have done, that's one needle I would not have been able to thread. And here's Link cooking. The ingredients are tossed into the pot, where they do a little dance and become something delicious. ... If you imagine these actions in the real world, what we've presented might be considered impermissibly comedic. When all the poofs and dancing foodstuffs were implemented, I didn't feel the absurdity of it, but rather the fun of it.

#Linktober 18: Dance

Takizawa on dancing foodstuffs and art style choices in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakizawaQuote

www.notion.so/febaddf2a123...

PEOPLE: - Makoto Yonezu. Senior Lead Landscape Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Yonezu: I wanted to put a cherry blossom tree somewhere in the Hyrule of [Breath of the Wild]. I think that giving the Great Deku Tree a slightly Japanese aesthetic allows the player to imagine a different view of this world.

#Linktober 17: Korok
Yonezu on the design of the Deku Tree in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#YonezuQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Yoshikazu Hara. Structural Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Hara: [Breath of the Wild] was designed so that you can see your ultimate destination from almost anywhere on the map, so the castle's silhouette had to draw the eye to its location and also convey that it is possessed by Malice. I designed both the exterior of the castle as well as the Malice with this in mind. … The Great Plateau is paired with the castle as if one were male and the other were female. For example, when looking at the bird statues, the plateau's statues have a feminine, supple silhouette, while the castle's statues are more masculine.

#Linktober 14: Statue

Hara on the paired design of Hyrule Castle and the Great Plateau, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#HaraQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Yoshiyuki Oyama, age 44. Senior Lead Character Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Oyama: The Link of this game was to be a traveler from the frontier who exudes a sense of adventure, which is why there are a lot of designs that feature capes and bags. At the beginning of development we drew a lot of landscape concepts. Link wearing blue clothes appeared pretty early on because the blue stood out against the backgrounds we were producing.

#Linktober 10: Tunic
Oyama on why Link ended up blue in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#OyamaQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Makoto Yonezu. Senior Lead Landscape Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Yonezu: I wanted to design a building that would stand out so that the stables [in Breath of the Wild] would be visible from far away, even while running across the plains. I personally felt that they served a similar purpose to the Postman character who has appeared throughout the series, so I decided to make them completely over the top, placing a giant replica of a horse's head on top of the building. When the staff involved said that they liked it and told me that it was easy to understand, I went ahead with the design.

Yonezu on the design of the stables in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#YonezuQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 54. Producer of Breath of the Wild and Champion’s Ballad. QUOTE: Aonuma: I asked the staff if we could try [adding a motorcycle to Breath of the Wild], but they told me it would break the game, and I was immediately denied. … So I gave up initially, but … I tried again, telling the team, ‘Since the player has played all the way to the end of the game, and this is the final reward, it is okay if it breaks the game a little bit.’ … Everyone was pretty unenthusiastic about the idea, but I pressed on, saying something about making it in the image of a Divine Beast that Link can ride, to which they responded that it would be confusing if there was another Divine Beast. … Somehow, I got them to add the Master Cycle Zero [to The Champion’s Ballad DLC].

Aonuma on convincing the team to add the Master Cycle in the Champion's Ballad, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#TheChampionsBalladQuote, #BreathoftheWildQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: [For Breath of the Wild] I was rather inspired by playing Minecraft and Terraria. I was able to learn from the gameplay and possibilities found in [them]. I could learn from the sense of adventure, exploration, and how it inspired curiosity.

Fujibayashi on being inspired by Minecraft & Terraria when making Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: GamesMaster Magazine

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/f5c48fb4baf1...

PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 54. Producer of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Aonuma: I heard that Minecraft allows the player to create things freely. So I asked my son whether it was true, and his answer was, ‘I only get to make a house or something like that.’ [laughs] The biggest plus of Minecraft is that it is open to everybody. When you start, you would say ‘Wow, this is really simple.’ Then it gets complicated as you play along. As you go on, you want to try new things as well and you get absorbed. My son was very happy when he obtained the ‘Red Stone’ and he tries different things as he realizes there are things that he can do on his own.

Aonuma on players freely creating and learning as they go in Minecraft, 2017.

Source: Den-fami Nico Game Magazine

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote, #MinecraftQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/ccd8776d3b62...

PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 54. Producer of Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Aonuma: With Skyward Sword, the player descended from the sky to specific points on the surface map, and we received a lot of comments from players saying that they wanted to explore the space between the different areas. That gave us an opportunity. We had always aimed to create worlds in the Zelda games that you could play in endlessly, yet, at some point, we became constrained by expectations. So I told the [Breath of the Wild] staff, ‘This time, let's build the game without shying away from anything. Let's stop thinking about what Zelda has been up until now.’ … I wanted to play in this big, expansive world, but I was completely at a loss when it came to what sort of play that might be.

Aonuma on Skyward Sword feedback and breaking free of expectations with Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote, #SkywardSwordQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Takuhiro Dohta. Technical Director for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. QUOTE: Dohta: The Octo Baloons were special materials, even in Breath of the Wild. They can make an object float when attached to it. We implemented this functionality not to be used as a solution, but as a way to make the multiplicative gameplay even more plentiful. Because of this, it wasn't a major element, but we actually felt that the ability to stick one object to another had a lot of potential. … So we began proper prototyping to stick objects together freely. … We thought that this could be a gameplay point for this expanded world [in Tears of the Kingdom].

Dohta on how the Octo Balloons got them thinking, 2024.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#TearsoftheKingdomQuote, #BreathoftheWildQuote
#DohtaQuote

www.notion.so/5daa8b399c3d...

PEOPLE: - Yoshikazu Hara. Structural Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Hara: I created [Zelda’s study in Breath of the Wild] out of the concept that, since it is in a separate tower, it was originally intended to be used as a lookout station but was not in use at the time. Also, since it was far from her father's watchful eye, Princess Zelda used this room for her research. She struggled to produce results on her own, so I expressed her isolation within the castle through this lone tower. However, I think that it will be apparent to players from the remains of the room that she was prolific in her research and continued to fight, looking for ways to help and not giving in to the circumstances.

Hara on the design approach for Zelda's study, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#HaraQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Manabu Takehara. Lead Structural Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Takehere: The royal palace [of Gerudo Town in Breath of the Wild] is both symbolically and literally a landmark. In terms of game design, having this visual landmark and enclosing the town within walls was necessary to differentiate it from the surrounding desert. Water was a key design element. Controlling the source of the water in the desert is symbolic of authority. We thought about the relationship between the city's layout and its water, which led to deciding to place the water source, which was likely discovered by the ancestors of the Gerudo, behind the throne and have it flow into the city as a symbol of the ruler's authority.

Takehara on the design of Gerudo Town in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakeharaQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Yasutomo Nishibe. Lead Dungeon Artist for Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Nishibe: The starting point for designing the Divine Beast dungeons [in Breath of the Wild] was questioning if we could use in-game physics mechanics to make dungeons. We wanted to move entire floors to affect a variety of objects, for example. Then, we decided on the elemental themes ... For the designs themselves, while keeping in mind that these are highly advanced weapons, we instilled a sense that these were tin toys rather than pursuing a cool, futuristic sci-fi look. I tried to make them into something attractive—off-putting, but also somehow nostalgic. I tried to make each dungeon into its own character using its appearance, animal motif, and movement.

Nishibe on the dungeon design process for the Divine Beasts, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#NishibeQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Naoki Mori. Breath of the Wild cinematic designer. QUOTE: Mori: I wanted Mipha [in Breath of the Wild] to be a female character with a different relationship with Link than Princess Zelda. She is the complete opposite of the princess, who cannot use her sealing power. The fact that she and Link have a past informs her character. She's known him since childhood, and, as a result, their relationship ended up being almost too intense. I tried to balance things by making her into a quieter person. The Zora are longer-lived than the Hylians, so I intended the reversal of the perceived age gap between her and Link to feel very emotional.

Mori on the characterization of Mipha, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#MoriQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: When we first presented this [Breath of the Wild prototype] to Mr. Miyamoto, he spent about an hour just climbing trees. We left little treats like rupees on the trees, but we also left other things in other places we thought he might go. But he just kept climbing trees. Up and down. And so we got to the point where we go, “Do you want to look at other stuff?” But he just kept on going. Once [he] got out of the Shrine of Resurrection, he spent an hour just within a 25-50 meter radius outside of that cave just climbing trees.

Fujibayashi on showing Miyamoto a Breath of the Wild prototype, 2017.

Source: Kotaku

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/a0043791f215...

PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 45. Director of Breath of the Wild. - Yu Shimamura, age 32. Japanese voice actor for Zelda in Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: The voice actor for Princess Zelda said she could feel the weight of one hundred years when she played. She was playing as Link from Breath of the Wild's present but had already performed as Zelda from one hundred years prior to that. She was experiencing the game differently from the average player, who would find out about the past from the perspective of the present. She was playing in the game's present from the perspective of someone who was informed about the past. We had paid particular attention to the flow of time, so it was fascinating to be able to ask the only person in the world who played the game from that particular perspective what it was like.

Fujibayashi on asking Zelda's voice actor about her experience, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote, #ShimamuraQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...

PEOPLE: - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 63. Producer and Director of the first Zelda, General Producer of Breath of the Wild. - Eiji Aonuma, age 53. Producer of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Miyamoto: To be honest, I mostly let Mr. Aonuma take care of [Breath of the Wild] and I was very surprised to see some kind of smartphone appear in the game [laugh]. At first, I told myself: ‘Can we really do that?’ But yes, ever since the first Zelda we’ve thought about including technological elements and making Link a ‘link’ between different times through a computer program.

Miyamoto on tech in the Zelda series and the original vision for Zelda 1's Link, 2016.

Source: Hyrule Interviews

#Zelda
#TheLegendofZeldaQuote, #BreathoftheWildQuote
#MiyamotoQuote, #AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/11141fe961fd...