The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of this year’s biggest releases. It’s quickly become one of the highest-rated games of all time (our review coming soon). It’s also a a major launch title for the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo has unveiled a special 3-part documentary series: The Making of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Each video is about 10 minutes long and focuses on a different aspect of the game: The Beginning (pre-production, design), Story and Characters, and Open-Air Concept.
Nintendo is not exactly known for their open development process. The videos include numerous interviews with designers and producers on Breath of the Wild’s four year development. Interesting tidbits include a fully functioning 2D prototype of the game, and how the Sheikah Slate and Shrines were inspired from Japanese history.
I enjoyed that localization was a major focus for Breath of the Wild from the beginning. “People from Europe often tell me if a game doesn’t support their language, their children can’t play it without help,” says Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma. “We wanted to do our best to support more languages so that those people and their children could properly understand and enjoy the game.”
At launch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild supports eight different languages, including voice acting. Localizing gigantic RPGs is incredibly difficult and time consuming, as Nintendo well knows, and it’s nice to see them go the extra mile with a game that’s particularly kid-friendly.
