Saturday, October 12, 2013

Aonuma wants to get away from Handholding and Linearity

Oh, Din! Aonuma is suddenly telling us the things, which I wanted to hear for years. Here are the quotes (source):

"We wanted to make it a game where it would be fun to get stuck and be lost."

"I think that one thing all game developers worry about when they're putting something into a game is, 'Will people notice it? Will people realize what they're supposed to do?' And we kind of have a bad habit of hand-holding, trying to make things easier for everyone. But more and more, I start to think that that kind of isn't actually that fun."

"There's actually one area in the game where I fought for three days with my director over whether we should have a hint in there or not. As a result, after the end of that we actually decided to take it out. So if that part of the game is too difficult, it's my fault."

I can't believe to hear stuff like this from Aonuma! Finally he's realizing what's good for Zelda! It's probably ten years too late, but better late than never.

For years I've been ranting about these points on my blog. Games (games in general, not just Zelda) have become more and more linear. Developers are constantly afraid that players are going to miss things. There's handholding and "in your face" hints everywhere. I want Zelda games, where I have to use my brain, where I explore things for myself, where I can potentially get stuck and lost. And it's great to see that Zelda finally returns to these qualities!

And if there's a part of the game, which is "too difficult", no one will blame you, Aonuma. Quite the opposite. It's about time that Aonuma recovers from all the Water Temple whining and finally dares to make a new Water Temple.

Even more excited for A Link Between Worlds now.

No comments: