Breath of the Wild is getting a follow up because the group had a lot of concepts for downloadable material, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma informed me last week in Los Angeles. We also talked about how the Link’s Awakening remake came about, why Zelda video games have not offered button remapping, and work conditions at Nintendo.

Aonuma spoke through an English-Japanese translator in a private location above Nintendo’s E3 booth. He wouldn’t respond to the majority of my concerns about Breath of the Wild‘s follow up– I expect they have actually got ta save some product for next E3– however he did share some other interesting nuggets about the series. (One bit that didn’t make it: Aonuma’s team is working on BOTW2 while Grezzo, the developer behind the Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask remakes, is directing Link’s Awakening)

Below is a large portion of our interview, edited for brevity and clearness.

Why Nintendo decided to remake Link’s Awakening

Eiji Aonuma: The original video game was released 26 years earlier on the Game Young boy. Getting that Game Young boy version is a little hard to do these days. So I’ve wished to remake this video game for a while.

When I create a remake or reimagination, I don’t wish to just make it completely the very same; I always desire to integrate brand-new elements. For even individuals who have played the original, I want it to be a fresh experience. So I was looking for that opportunity.

There was also a conversation individually of a concept of including something where users can arrange something by themselves in the game. In Zelda, I was thinking what that could be. We landed on the concept of dungeons. When we were believing about organizing dungeons, developing a puzzle by yourself is always a little bit difficult, so we believed, “What’s an easy method to have gamers have the ability to organize things?” We believed maybe room arrangement or a map plan would be an easy method, and it ‘d seem like solving a puzzle. That’s how we arrived on the [dungeon editor] Chamber Dungeons.

Once we arrived at the idea of organizing dungeons, we were believing, in Link’s Awakening, pretty much every room has to do with the very same size, so we believed this would be a best fit for integrating the Chamber Dungeons, which’s how this reimagination came about.

Jason Schreier: When you men are preparing out Zelda video games, what makes you decide to choose a remake as opposed to a sequel like Link Between Worlds?

Aonuma: Everything’s case by case; each title’s a bit various. There could be times where we start with the concept of “let’s make a remake,” and after that add brand-new aspects. Or if we’re creating a follow up, often it could be that there’s something that would be fitting for a follow up versus a remake or something else. Once again, it’s case by case.

Schreier: Developers tend to be imaginative individuals who wish to be doing brand-new things– is it challenging to do a 1:1 recreation without having the desire to fine-tune and alter things?

Aonuma: I think in some ways yeah, we are a bit limited on going wild and totally free with originalities. But at the same time we have the innovative opportunity to think about how to keep the initial essence. We would need to think of things we would change or improve on or polish to make a remake. Because way, I think it’s an extremely creative process.

For this game specifically, we thought of the original game and individuals who have actually currently played it, however we likewise desired to make it available for new players. So we incorporated both viewpoints, and that’s how we fine-tuned the video game this time around, with both ideas and the feedback.

Schreier: What made you people choose not to add any brand-new dungeons?

Aonuma: Obviously we have enhanced the original version, and we desired to do that. However also we wanted to keep that memory of originally playing the game– the essence of what made that video game what it is, and by recalling your memory for the past when you have actually beaten it, if you have actually beaten it, I believe that makes it even more impressionable if you play it once again.

Schreier: If this Chamber Dungeon mode achieves success, will you make Zelda Maker?

Aonuma: I can’t anticipate the future, however if people do enjoy this concept of arranging dungeons, I’ll keep that in mind moving forward.

On the lack of button remapping in Breath of the Wild

Aonuma: When we have a button plan, we really much put believed into how we do it, because there’s a particular method we desire players to feel. In some ways, if we freely let gamers do customizations on crucial tasks and such, I seem like we’re releasing our duty as a designer by just type of handing whatever over to the users. We have something in mind for everybody when we play the game, so that’s what we hope players experience and take pleasure in as well. But we understand also that gamers have a desire free of charge customization.

Schreier: Also, physically handicapped players might not have the ability to play the method designers intended.

Aonuma Absolutely, that’s an excellent point, which’s something we’ll keep in mind going forward, believing about that.

On developments in Zelda

Schreier: When we talked in 2014, you informed me you wished to rebuild the idea of puzzles totally What do you want your next huge development to be?

Aonuma: [Laughs.] I can’t tell you.

Schreier: I mean from a big-picture viewpoint, comparable to the idea of reconstructing puzzles in a Zelda video game– that’s a great difficulty. What’s the next huge obstacle for you?

Aonuma: One thing we discovered from Breath of the Wild is that when we focused on producing a dungeon that has numerous solutions, it turned into this excellent title. That’s something I desire to polish up and use for motivation going forward.

Schreier: I believed Breath of the Wild was a work of art– a lot of people did. However exists anything you want you could’ve done much better?

Aonuma: I can’t truly talk to that too particularly– I might utilize the concepts I have for a next Zelda, or whatever series I may be working on in the future.

On work conditions at Nintendo

Schreier: There’s been a great deal of conversation here in America about overtime hours, the hours it takes to get video games like this out the door. What’s your team’s position on overtime?

Aonuma: When developing a video game, game advancement is everything about the people. So if one of them or any of them aren’t well, that definitely impacts the video game and general quality, which’s just not excellent. We always try to believe flexibly about delivery dates, and in the past I have actually said sorry for delays. That’s due to the fact that staff precedes, and I constantly desire to consider it when creating a game.

Schreier: Did you work extended periods of overtime for video games like Breath of the Wild?

Aonuma: General as a Nintendo work culture, we focus on versatility. And so even the personnel have that versatility of when to focus, and use their energy on something, or they have a little bit of freedom in their work schedule, don’t need to apply themselves so much. They can keep that balance themselves. Particularly for Breath of the Wild, it was the exact same, and we focused on the personnel. We didn’t have anyone be exerted or anything like that, and I believe we were able to accomplish our goal.

Schreier: I wonder to find out about your day-to-day life, since it looks like you’re supervising a lot of tasks– how do you spend your days? Are you playing a great deal of builds?

Aonuma: Every day’s a bit various. Just to discuss possibly an average day: In the morning I’ll examine my mail, look after that. In the afternoon, it depends on what’s required– often one of the colleagues will request for recommendations or I’ll play through something just to make sure it’s enjoyable. And then before I go house I’ll inspect my email. Recently I have actually been able to go home quite early, so it’s been good.

On the Breath of the Wild follow up

Schreier: What made you and the group choose to make a sequel to Breath of the Wild instead of a new Zelda video game?

Aonuma: When we released the DLC for Breath of the Wild, we realized that this is a fantastic method to include more elements to the exact same world. But when it boils down to technical things, DLC is pretty much data– you’re including data to a preexisting title. Therefore when we desired to add bigger changes, DLC is inadequate, which’s why we thought possibly a sequel would be an excellent fit.

Schreier: Was this sequel initially prepared as DLC?

Aonuma: Initially we were thinking of simply DLC concepts, however then we had a great deal of ideas and we said, “This is a lot of concepts, let’s simply make one new video game and start from scratch.”