As I watched the final reveal of last week’s Nintendo Direct, my first reaction to seeing Link and Zelda return was, “Wow! More Breath of the Wild DLC!” Of course, this excitement only increased tenfold as it was quickly revealed that this was in fact not just downloadable content, but a full-blown sequel to the critically acclaimed title.
Funnily enough, it turns out my initial thought process wasn’t too far off the mark, as it could well be that what we saw in the Breath of the Wild sequel trailer may have once been envisioned as downloadable content for the original game.
“When we wanted to add bigger changes, DLC is not enough”
Talking with Kotaku, Eiji Aonuma explained why he and the development team decided on making a sequel. “When we released the DLC for Breath of the Wild, we realized that this is a great way to add more elements to the same world.
“But when it comes down to technical things, DLC is pretty much data—you’re adding data to a preexisting title,” says Aonuma. “And so when we wanted to add bigger changes, DLC is not enough, and that’s why we thought maybe a sequel would be a good fit.”
He ended the interview with, “Initially we were thinking of just DLC ideas, but then we had a lot of ideas and we said, ‘This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch.'” As always, Aonuma’s and Nintendo’s dedication to delivering a full experience for Zelda fans shines through!
In the same interview, Aonuma also talked about
staff overtime at Nintendo, what inspired him to remake Link’s Awakening, why he chose a remake over a sequel, and the lack of button remapping in Breath of the Wild.
