Aonuma wants next Zelda to feature an open world

With the completion of The Wind Waker HD for the Wii U console, the hype regarding a brand new and mysterious Wii U Zelda game has grown substantially. Although very little information regarding the game has been released, director Eiji Aonuma in a recent interview has posed some interesting ideas regarding the game’s overworld, inspired heavily by the production of The Wind Waker HD.

Hit the jump to read what Mr. Aonuma had to say!

Well, as you know, Wind Waker really takes the biggest look at Hyrule. It has the biggest world of all the games in the Zelda series, and players are able to move around it freely – crossing the oceans, riding in the boat, that free movement is something we’ve come to know…. In addition, I think it’s something that I’d like to be able to implement in other games moving forward. Again, just the idea of giving players the freedom to move about and have an enjoyable experience is definitely something I’m keeping in mind when looking at new development.

Zelda series director Eiji Aonuma gave this thought-provoking piece of information during an interview with IGN. When making a Zelda game, the overworld is one of the most important pieces; not just the visuals, but the motion, the secrets, and of course, the size. An open world makes for a rather large one, allowing for more exploration, but often the 3D Zelda titles, specifically The Wind Waker, have been criticized for offering extensive overworlds with little content. Not wanting to repeat these empty atmospheres, Aonuma said the following:

[The player is] always discovering new things within that world, rather than just wandering around a physically large area, that’s something I want to continue doing in development going forward – creating that environment where [they] can go explore and find new and interesting things.

I find all of this information extremely exciting. The most exciting piece of an adventure game, in my opinion, is the exploration; the satisfaction of finding and utilizing some hidden secret. I personally never had any issue with the size of the Great Sea or even Hyrule Field in Twilight Princess, but I would be lying if I said I never longed for a bit more. A massive world physically filled with constant exploration opportunities would amount to an exciting, and possibly very lengthy, Zelda game. When I think of the Zelda series, I often don’t even think about dungeons, but rather general settings or clever secrets, so hearing that such a thing could be the main focus in a Wii U title is good news to me!

But what do you think? Are you happy with an open world approach to the new Wii U Zelda title, or would you rather something else? Leave your comments below!

Source: IGN