Longtime producer for The Legend of Zelda series Eiji Aonuma has long expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming Nintendo and Koei Tecmo collaboration Hyrule Warriors. I don’t think he ever expected the game to match Nintendo’s own quality, though. That changes things.
Though Hyrule Warriors certainly isn’t a standard Zelda game in the least, one aspect of the title that has purportedly been done extremely well are the cutscenes. So much so, in fact, that Aonuma may be feeling a bit jealous! He explained himself in a recent interview with Nintendo Life when discussing Zelda Wii U.
Looking at the comments on Miiverse regarding Hyrule Warriors, it’s been great to see a lot of positive feedback. But one of the things that leaves me with rather complicated feelings is that people are saying, “Oh wow, I really love the cutscenes in this game! This is better than the stuff Nintendo does!” Of course, that leaves me a little conflicted, and gives me a mission now to make sure that the new Zelda game that I’m working on can hold its own in that aspect against Hyrule Warriors!
Though his remarks are partially in jest, there’s certainly truth to Aonuma’s words. Zelda cutscenes, though subtle (and often touching and effective for that reason), are not the flashiest of affairs. Skyward Sword began to buck this trend, but its 480p shackles and Wii-powered engine only allowed it to do so much. Koei Tecmo, on the other hand, are masters of cutscenes, and if there’s any one area where they’d compete with or even trump Nintendo, cutscenes are it. The Wii U’s power certainly helps.
We’ll have to wait for Hyrule Warriors‘ US release this month to truly judge how awesome its between-gameplay sections are, but news of boosted production value for Zelda Wii U as a result is certainly great to hear. Maybe third parties should make Aonuma jealous more often.
