Highlights

  • Celebrating The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's first anniversary, the producer and director talked about the success of the game.
  • The developers added new features like the Ultrahand mechanic, allowing for exploration and unique gameplay experiences in the vast world of Hyrule.
  • Both Aonuma and Fujibayashi hope to use the experience gained from Tears of the Kingdom to create more enjoyable games in the future for fans to look forward to.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom celebrated the game's first anniversary by sharing a pair of messages from series producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. Nintendo has been celebrating the momentous game's milestone over the past few weeks in a few different ways, such as a new piece of Tears of the Kingdom artwork, a soundtrack release, and an artbook. The developers of the game have also gotten into the festivities with a special message about the game.

Just over one year ago, on May 12, 2023, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released to critical acclaim. It was the follow-up to 2017's Breath of the Wild, which had a number of different features and elements to help Link explore the vast world of Hyrule. Fans and critics have praised Tears of the Kingdom for its new additions, with the Ultrahand being the most prevalent and frequently used mechanic in the game. Both Aonuma and Fujibayashi discuss the game's reception and how players have been playing with the game's new tools.

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In a new interview with Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream (translation courtesy of SatsumaFS, Philip Proctor, and Simon Griffin from NintendoEverything), Aonuma recalls an incident when he met a kid who excitedly proclaimed he played Tears of the Kingdom for over 1000 hours. Aonuma remembers the child's mother smiling at his proclamation, with Aonuma also being shocked that one person could play a game for that much time. He recalls that a lot of other people would happily tell him how they played Tears of the Kingdom for many hours, and hopes to use the experience gained from working on Tears of the Kingdom for future titles. "Zelda is a longstanding series, and I would like to utilize the experience from this title to create more games that everyone can enjoy in the future, so please look forward to it. To all those who have played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, thank you very much," says Aonuma.

Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi's Celebrate Tears of the Kingdom's First Anniversary

Tears of the Kingdom director Fujibayashi says he observed the many ways people have been playing and enjoying the game, noting that it brought joy to the staff as a whole. He singles out the Ultrahand in particular, where its unique ability to attach and detach objects has helped create unique vehicles and devices, which contributed to a core concept that the developers were working on. He thanks the many players for playing the game as much as they did and how it gives the development team a great sense of motivation.

Zelda is a longstanding series, and I would like to utilize the experience from this title to create more games that everyone can enjoy in the future, so please look forward to it. To all those who have played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, thank you very much.

Fujibayashi notes that Tears of the Kingdom's and Breath of the Wild's stories were constructed in a way that the context and details are told in a way that subsequent playthroughs allow players to look at things from a new perspective and discover things they didn't notice before. Fans will likely dedicate the same amount of time to Tears of the Kingdom as its predecessor, building and discovering a lot in the process.