14 DAY TRIAL // One of the biggest reveals coming from the Nintendo press conference at E3 2014 was that the company was actively working on a new Zelda title which will be launched on the Wii U at some point in 2015, with a short demo showing an open world structure and a focus on high-quality visuals.
Eiji Aonuma, the leading producer working on the title, has already said that gamers should not approach the new game using ideas that they have taken up from other titles in the same genre.
Now NeoGAF quotes the game creator as saying that “Since we're talking about open worlds, let's state upfront that we don't plan to have an open world in the same way other companies have been doing in recent years.”
The statement is pretty clear and means that there are no plans to copy the experience offered by Bethesda for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or by Rockstar for Grand Theft Auto V.
Nintendo has always sought to make its games unique, and that means the open world concept will be re-interpreted by the development team to deliver a new set of experiences for the gamer.
Aonuma seems to want the Wii U Zelda title to bring fans closer to the feelings they had for the original release in the franchise, which might be hard to do given the increasing complexity of modern titles.
He adds, “To recreate an experience similar to the original, the world needs to have a simple structure that players can understand intuitively. We need to make each part of the world real and connected so it doesn't look fake. We also need a game map that depicts the world as it is. The gamepad is very effective for this. Innovations in this game are only possible due to Wii U hardware.”
The game developer also says that he understands the issues that gamers had with the rental system in A Link Between Worlds, and he explains that his team is aiming to offer enjoyable elements from older installments in the franchise reinterpreted from a new point of view.
At the moment, the Wii U is not selling according to the expectations of Nintendo, and a solid and engaging Zelda experience might be a great system seller.
Until then, the launch of Super Smash Bros., which should take place before the end of the year, might also give the platform a much needed boost.