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Breath of the Wild Aonuma: New Zelda NOT Inspired by Skyrim

Mercedes

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A while ago Eiji Aonuma, a name you may have heard of, him being the current producer of the Legend of Zelda series, mentioned how much he had enjoyed Bethesda's latest instalment in the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim. Eurogamer asked the question in an interview if any recent games had inspired him, with his answer straight away being "Skyrim." For those wishing Zelda to be more non-linear and organic this was a breath of fresh air, whereas others were weary about this.

However it seems Aonuma has backed away from this, recently claiming the new Zelda we're expecting is not inspired by Skyrim in any meaningful way.

Eiji Aonuma said:
There was no inspiration taken from Skyrim. It didn't impact what I was thinking about for future Zelda titles. I'm always thinking about, "Okay, next time, what are we going to do with the next one?" As a producer, whenever I can find more time to play games, I'm taking that free time to go out and play other games just to play them and see what's out there.

As far as whether or not those are inspiring me or influencing my decisions, I guess it's probably the same way as when I talk to young developers or new people on our staff, or when I read interviews with other people saying, "Yeah, this game was influenced by my experience playing Zelda as a kid." Or, "Zelda really impacted my design decisions going forward." I think the problem with that is that everything you play influences what you're thinking, but I'm not looking at other games to try and find inspiration. If it happens, it's a natural process.

And why did Aonuma play Skyrim? Well, because it sounds quite similar to 'Skyward Sword'. If you miss out the 'Sword' on the end at least, I guess I can see the similarity.

Eiji Aonuma said:
I started playing Skyrim because the name was so close to "Skyward Sword" and I wanted to see what that was about. I didn't pick it up because it was popular or because it was getting good reviews or anything like that. I just wanted to take a look at it.

USGamer, via NeoGAF

What do you think? Should Aonuma stay clear of Skyrim as far as influences go, or is it a good game that modern Zelda could draw from? Are you glad he's not taking much influnce from Skyrim or raging behind your monitor right at this very second?

Leave a comment!
 
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Salem

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Eiji Aonuma has to make up his mind first.;)

But seriously though, those games are of completely different genres, I can't see much influences besides overworld, level design, interaction and stuff.
 

JuicieJ

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Actually, he never immediately answered "Skyrim". The game was suggested, and he just expressed that he liked the game. It was a misunderstanding that he was using it as inspiration.

As to it not being a point of reference, I say good. Skyrim was a pretty decent game, but nowhere as good as most Zelda games, even most modern ones (especially The Minish Cap and Skyward Sword). It's a very casualized experience with clunky combat and mediocre quests -- not as bad as Oblivion in these regards, but still nowhere close to Daggerfall and Morrowind. There are plenty of other games to take influence from... such as some of the past Zelda games.
 

Ventus

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omg Aonuma I am just SO GLAD that you are not ripping other games' ideas off! This proves that Zelda as a series has been (mostly) original! I am glad for this revelation.

However what troubles me is, if Aonuma didn't use Skyrim as inspiration, will ZeldaU suffer due to it? Could whatever inspiration Skyrim oozes have aided development, structure, storytelling, et cetera of ZeldaU?
 

TMLink76240

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I say the only thing that should be similar to Skyrim in this newest Zelda, to-be-released, is the size of the world and the realism of the caves/caverns and temples/castles.
 

DarkestLink

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Stay away from Elder Scrolls with a 10 foot pole. The series are not compatible.
 

Dio

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Well I really would not have minded having Skyrim's potion making and ingredient collecting implimented in a new Zelda. I thought having plants that you could pick the fruit and leaves from was amazing, really increasing the realism and believability of the world. Little things like that could be great in Zelda. As far as having the whole game influenced by Skyrim, well that probably shouldn't happen. I don't think it would be good to have a Zelda title that reminds us too much of any other game as each Zelda stands well on its own and can usually not be compared to anything other than another Zelda title.
 

CraptainFalcon

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As to it not being a point of reference, I say good. Skyrim was a pretty decent game, but nowhere as good as most Zelda games, even most modern ones (especially The Minish Cap and Skyward Sword). It's a very casualized experience with clunky combat and mediocre quests -- not as bad as Oblivion in these regards, but still nowhere close to Daggerfall and Morrowind. There are plenty of other games to take influence from... such as some of the past Zelda games.

Skyrim was better than most Zelda games. It certainly was better than Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. But yeah the combat was clunky (most Elder Scrolls games are).

The Legend of Skyrim: Dragonborn Sword.

What about Skyrule?
Skyrule.jpg
 
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JuicieJ

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Skyrim was better than most Zelda games. It certainly was better than Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. But yeah the combat was clunky (most Elder Scrolls games are).

Surely you can't be serious. That glitchy-as-**** game with watered-down quests, casualized gameplay, and completely unengaging story... better than most Zelda games?

goodone1.gif


Even the weakest Zelda games are better than Skyrim.
 

Mercedes

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Even the weakest Zelda games are better than Skyrim.

And that's your opinion. Skyrim's better than any Zelda game I've played, I have to say, especially the most recent ones.

Ganonking said:
Well I really would not have minded having Skyrim's potion making and ingredient collecting implimented in a new Zelda. I thought having plants that you could pick the fruit and leaves from was amazing, really increasing the realism and believability of the world. Little things like that could be great in Zelda

I agree! A living, breathing world is a very immersive thing that I really like. I dislike when worlds just feel like a mindless collection of NPCs and points to further the quest and not a believable place people could live. It's one thing I adored about Witcher 2, how they did that. I don't expect it from Nintendo, unfortunately, but would be nice!
 

JuicieJ

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And that's your opinion. Skyrim's better than any Zelda game I've played, I have to say, especially the most recent ones.

An opinion backed up by the game having numerous crippling flaws. I would never call Skyrim a legitimately bad game, but there's no way you can tell me a game that was literally broken at launch and had relatively unpolished design overall is better than any Zelda game. Unless you count the CD-i's, of course.
 

Ventus

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game with watered-down quests, casualized gameplay, and completely unengaging story

Huh...you just captured modern Zelda (from TWW onwards, minus TWW) with perfect form. ;)

Seriously though. Let's not with the "this game is better than that" stuff. Zelda is obviously better than Skyrim; we're on a Zelda fansite after all. That being said, Skyrim DID have some elements that the Zelda series sorely lacks. The most apparent one in my opinion is realistic geography: throughout the land of Skyrim, I found tons of mountainsides, cliffs, ledges, etc that all seemed like they could actually be as they were. Zelda by comparison has geography that is like an obstacle course and just *created* to be traversed, rather than spontaneously erected from natural occurrences.
 

Mercedes

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An opinion backed up by the game having numerous crippling flaws. I would never call Skyrim a legitimately bad game, but there's no way you can tell me a game that was literally broken at launch and had relatively unpolished design overall is better than any Zelda game. Unless you count the CD-i's, of course.

I can call it a better game, and I am calling it a better game, yes. Cos that's an opinion.
 

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