Age of Calamity: Expansion Pass Development Backgrounds

There is a new interview with Koei Tecmo at the Japanese site Nintendo Dream Web, where they talk about the Expansion Pass in some detail. I've only looked at a Google translation so far and there is probably more to come, but there are already some interesting facts to take out of this.

• The first teaser artwork for the Expansion Pass actually has the cone of the Master Cycle Zero's headlights in it, so you could technically see this coming.
  
  
• They really wanted the prototype weapons and armor from Robbie look like DIY projects, where for example the Ancient Arrows are put on a stick, so this creates a visual difference to the same things from the future in Breath of the Wild. The new Prototype Ancient Gear set fully reflects that. (This means there was probably no intention of ever putting the real deals into the game, even though the ancient weapons were found in the game's code.)
  
  
• The idea behind the Flail was referencing Link's weapon cycle from Breath of the Wild somewhat. You take a weapon from the enemy, it breaks after a little while, and then you take a new one.
  
  
• They wanted to provide a new gameplay experience with the battlefields that are split in two separated areas, like Kakariko Village. This was only possible with the ability to swap between different playable characters.
  
  
• Bokoblins had a life of their own in Breath of the Wild, where it was not possible to incorporate that into Age of Calamity. But they wanted to have some of that with the new cutscenes, where they carry around Terrako. Originally, there was going to be a scene about Bokoblins living their daily lives in peace, where they carry some prey, but then Link charges in and ruins it all. Kind of to show the other side of the war. They also had some back and forth with the Zelda team about how fast Bokoblins would react to Link in such scenes. They can't be too intelligent, nor too ignorant.
  
  
• Sooga's flashback was shown in first person, so they wouldn't have to reveal his face (obviously). But this also helped protecting the mysteriousness around the character.
  
  
• Astor's story is another such mystery, where they wanted to leave it to the players' imaginations.

 

The last point makes it seem quite final, like there is no intention of going any further with this. If there were more DLC, it would naturally put a focus on Astor. But at the same time, if there were more DLC, they wouldn't reveal anything right now.

Still, it would be a shame, if this really were the end, because there is enough stuff left untouched to potentially fill a second Expansion Pass, which includes Astor as a playable character. But let's wait and see.