Ive read you werent a fan of story-heavy games early in your career. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is clearly more story-driven than the franchises earliest installments. What are your thoughts these days on story in games? Let me start off by saying that Mr. Aonuma [Eiji Aonuma, the games producer] and his team, instead of creating a game where youre playing the story, you yourself are embarking on an adventure, and I think theyve found a unique way to strike a balance between the story and the fact that youre on an adventure. Its not that I dont like story, that Im denying the importance of story. I think after someone has played a game, its important that a story lingers in their mind. But what I do think is a challenge, is to cut down on playtime to set up and explain a story thats already been set.
I think whats important, especially for the Zelda series, is for the person to be able to think it through for themselves, and to really live the story. I think thats the challenge weve been working on through the many iterations of The Legend of Zelda. And so in this game, while youre playing, you start to kind of dig the narrative out and see the overarching story that lies in the background.
And so I think the story in Breath of the Wild still doesnt break the balance thats been established in previous Zelda games. But we also wanted to make a game where, after someone is done playing, their own experience in that game is what the story is, and I think weve been able to accomplish that with this title. And really in this game, everybody can take very, very different routes and approaches. How long it takes to beat the game has a huge range.
I think the thing with Miyamoto is that a lot of the stuff he says is either translated weird or taken out of context. I'm pretty sure he specifically thinks Mario shouldn't have much of a story because he sees it like a Popeye cartoon.
DK9292 posted...
Then what exactly am I supposed to do? If I can't git gud at art or programming, I'm essentially superfluous to game development. I'm the "idea guy", the absolute worst kind of person when it comes to these kinds of projects.
A writer isn't an idea guy. They're the writer. Look up who wrote the games you like and see what their experience and resume is.