The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally in players’ hands as of today, marking the culmination of a lengthy six-year development cycle, but it seems the game’s director Hidemaro Fujibayashi may already be cooking up ideas for Link’s next adventure.
Warning: This article contains mild The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom SPOILERS, specifically regarding the nature of the game’s villain.
The New York Times posted a new interview with Fujibayashi and Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma, and in a separate tweet, author Zachary Small says “Fujibayashi already has plans for the next Zelda game,” although he hasn’t let Aonuma in on those plans just yet.
The NYT article includes some interesting tidbits, with Fujibayashi essentially admitting that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is partly an attempt to improve upon and redeem ideas from another game he directed, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Specifically, TotK makes a fully seamless world, where players can travel between the sky, surface, and underground, a reality.
Tears of the Kingdom also marks the return of Ganondorf as a villain after Breath of the Wild featured the more inhuman Calamity Ganon. That said, while Link once again has a villain who can actually speak, he doesn’t have that much to say this time around. Thankfully, according to Aonuma, Ganondorf could get more character development in future games…
“It’s very possible from here on out that we will be able to see further character development and changes to his personality as the series continues. Ganondorf is an ingredient that we use to supplement gameplay.”
Haven’t been keeping up with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? You can get answers to some of the big questions about the game here. Personally, I found Tears of the Kingdom to be a richer experience than BotW, but perhaps less memorable, in my full review…
“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sticks closely to the blueprint established by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it’s a richer, more rewarding game in most ways that count, offering a more intricate world, versatile suite of abilities, epic story, and satisfying dungeons. The familiarity of this Hyrule and a handful of frustrating sections keep Tears of the Kingdom from feeling quite as surprising and magical as its predecessor, but make no mistake, the wait has been worth it. While it probably behooves Nintendo to carve out an entirely new Legend next, Link’s latest should fill most fans’ heart meters nicely in the meantime.”
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Nintendo Switch.
