Tears of the Kingdom’s Depths Could Have Been Infested with Dinosaurs, Master Works Art Book Reveals

With the release of Tears of the Kingdom Master Works in Japan, we are getting the gift of more behind the lore of this fantastic game. This time, Nintendo Everything has translated information from the book about the infamous Depths, which lurk beneath the land of Hyrule as a mirrored, dark version of the kingdom. Apparently, early concept ideas came from Art Director Satoru Takizawa, who said he had an idea of a “Cretaceous Period world with dinosaurs or the mythical underworld.” After exploring this idea, the team behind Tears of the Kingdom went through much “trial and error” until they got the Depths just right.

Here is the full translation of Art Director Satoru Takizawa’s and Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi’s comments about the Depths:

Takizawa: “When I hear ‘the underground world’, what comes to mind is an old sci-fi movie on Earth, where underground there is still a Cretaceous Period-like world with dinosaurs or the mythical underworld. It is a very natural association for my generation (laughs). We did an experiment in which we created a Cretaceous Period area with large plants and animals walking around in it, but ultimately I thought the art would change based on the gameplay.”

Fujibayashi: “We had to wait a considerable time until the Depths’ gameplay was decided to make the artwork. We did various experiments, including with the brightness of the Depths. It feels like you can see a dimly lit ridgeline, or a desolate desert stretching out until the end. We made a dark world in the end, but there was a considerable amount of trial and error to get there.”

Takizawa: “So we had to confirm the play style of the Depths before we could create specific art, but this “activating the lights” was thankfully extremely compatible with our first fantasy of a Cretaceous-style large-scale world. The moment you activate the lights, suddenly before your eyes things like large plants and animals or statues shockingly appear, it is a bit of a scary and creepy sensation, but I thought it would make a sense of wonder and surprise for players too. As a result, the first idea remained, and we decided on the framework of an ancient world with dinosaurs meeting with the image of the underworld.”

Fujibayashi: “Because it worked well with Zonai devices and other vehicles, we thought a large world would be good. You can attempt things like using a rocket when you want to climb up. Then, there are many mushroom-shaped trees that you are supposed to use to Ascend (laughs).”

So it seems that we could have had a Depths filled to the brim with dinosaur-like creatures and such! But it seems the only one that lasted through development was the bomb-eating Frox.

It’s fascinating to see how ideas for these locations begin and where they end up after years of development. I’m sure more will be revealed as we get more translations from this art book (or hopefully an English version)! What do you think about the whole Cretaceous Period concept? Do you wish the Depths had more… depth? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Tears of the Kingdom Master Works (via Nintendo Everything)

Chakell Herbert

Chakell (pronounced shuh-kell) is an associate editor for Zelda Dungeon! She has loved The Legend of Zelda series since she was a little girl because of its equal mix of princesses, besting bad guys, and heartfelt stories. Chakell lives in the overall tame state of Utah, but holds onto her childhood hopes to find an adventure in her backyard one day. She has a degree in English and is a full-time editor for a magazine. You can usually find her gaming (obviously), laughing with her husband, taking a long time to tell stories because she keeps getting distracted; getting sucked into books and podcasts; or snuggling her cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.