Nintendo has released a three-part video series for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that charts its history, from inception all the way up to the critically acclaimed result that many are currently experiencing. Coming in at roughly 30 minutes, the entire series goes into great detail in regards to how the development team came up with the idea to remove the shackles that restricted past games in the series, opting to go with a true open world approach that had never been attempted before.
Revealing that production on the title initially begun back in 2013, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi explains that one of the reasons that Breath of the Wild was hit with so many delays was because the development team wanted to ensure that the final product was “as interesting as possible.” Likewise, working under the ethos that the game’s primary purpose was to break the conventions of the Zelda series, the team spent considerable time contemplating which recurring Zelda themes and motifs should be continued or retired.
Regardless of whether you’ve already spent a considerable amount of time exploring Breath of the Wild‘s rendition of Hyrule or have yet to start your adventure, the series is worth a watch, if only for the fascinating insight it provides into Nintendo’s development process. Check out the first part below.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is out now on Nintendo Switch and Wii U. If you’ve yet to see what the fuss is all about, you can find our own glowing review here.