E3 2014: Our First Look at the New Legend of Zelda

Gavin Gronenthal ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Editor

During Nintendo’s E3 digital event this past week, producer Eiji Aonuma gave us a very early look at the new Legend of Zelda game for Wii U. In a short, 4 minute developer diary, Aonuma went on to explain how he as rethinking conventions of the Zelda franchise, citing previous games in the series as attempts at this.

His main focus, he stated, for changing up the conventions of the series past 3D entries, would be to go back to the original Legend of Zelda for the NES. In the original, you could travel wherever you wanted in whatever order you wanted. Aonuma stated the new Zelda would do just that with a near seamless open world.

He then gave us an excellent glimpse at how vast the new kingdom of Hyrule is, even pointing out that players could visit the mountains they could barely see in the distance. The world looked beautiful, with each blade of grass flowing in the wind, and even some sheepherders minding their own business on the side.

Aonuma went on to state, however, that the series would keep one conventions: random enemies. The trailer then transitioned to an excellent fight sequence between a giant monster and Link (or is it?), which looked stunning in the new HD. With a unique art style and a phenomenal looking open world, The Legend of Zelda has quickly moved to the top of many players’ most anticipated lists. The game is expected in 2015, and we can’t wait to see more.

You can watch Eiji Aonuma’s entire talk: