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Hidemaro Fujibayashi. Director of Breath of the Wild. Has he earned the Zelda crown?

C

Cerium

Member
This is something I've been curious about for a while and we're finally starting to get some solid information on how much of his influence affected the outcome of Breath of the Wild.

We all know that Aonuma remains a major creative force behind Zelda, but I remember a time when he was basically unknown and Miyamoto was doing all of the press. This was back in the OOT and MM days. It wasn't until Wind Waker, I think, that Aonuma started to be more of the public face for Zelda as Miyamoto took a step back.

Now it seems that Fujibayashi is the next heir apparent to the series. Perhaps uniquely among high profile Nintendo staff, he did not originate from within the Nintendo orbit, but actually began his career at Capcom. It was there that he directed the Oracle games, Four Swords, and The Minish Cap. In 2007 Capcom closed the studio he worked at and presumably laid him off, because he next surfaced at Nintendo as the director of Skyward Sword.

People had mixed feelings about that game and therefore about its director. Feelings are not mixed about Breath of the Wild.

In an old Famitsu interview these quotes stood out to me:

Q: The concept "to review everything that we take for granted in LoZ". How did you judge how much it should be reviewed? After all, it would disappoint fans if too much of what we knew about Zelda were changed.

A: In fact we were exploring the borderline while developing the game. Through thinking about "what is a Zelda game should be", we were able to define a Zelda game to be a game with moments when you engage a dungeon, a question, the surrounding of unknown puzzles, and also the surprising moments when you finally solve them. After keeping those basic elements, we started some conversations such as: "Can't we play the way we used to play in the dungeons now on the field?" Or on the contrary: "It might also be interesting if we play the way we used to play on the field in the dungeons?" This is a kind of multiplication of playing I mentioned before. Players could get through a puzzle by method 1, method 2 or change method 3 into method 4, even completely different method A or B. It naturally differed a lot from other Zelda games. We just simply tried to change the "I am getting tired of another routine of Zelda" experiences. We considered why we're getting tired meanwhile thinking about how to make puzzles more interesting in another way. And these thoughts became part of the multiplication of playing experiences. I didn't set principles of changing. I just tried to convince the staff that it's possible for us to change the concept that "if we change something, it wouldn't be Zelda anymore".

Q:It seems that you not only changed the routines, but also got rid of the old frame of Zelda games.

A: Yes, you can say that we want to break the frame. With this idea, we have to create something different.
Click to expand...

The recent Kotaku interview had even more information.

When Nintendo was first conceptualizing the next big Zelda game, Miyamoto and Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma asked the directors to describe Breath of the Wild's main theme. What, they asked, could you do in this new Zelda?

Zelda: Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi decided to get a little ambitious.

”My response to Mr. Miyamoto and Mr. Aonuma was: You can do everything," Fujibayashi told me during an interview last week in San Francisco, speaking through a translator.

”But I had to sell it to them," he said. ”How we're going to make this happen. And I felt like the best way to convey this idea to them was to show them that you could climb walls."

Fujibayashi and his team built a prototype of Breath of the Wild. They put together a starting area with a small field and a handful of trees, then stuck rupees all across the world, hiding them in places that the development team thought Miyamoto and Aonuma might explore. Then Fujibayashi presented their demo to the two Nintendo elder statesmen.

”We put rupees at the top of the tree to let them know that this is something we're taking into account, but I didn't tell them," Fujibayashi said. ”All I did was say, ‘Here, play the game.' So the first thing [Miyamoto] did was start climbing, and he climbed the tree, and once he was able to do that and see that he can go anywhere within this small field, he got how this game will play out and that's how I presented it to him."

Then they watched and waited. And watched. And waited.

”When we first presented this to Mr. Miyamoto, he spent about an hour just climbing trees," Fujibayashi said. ”We left little treats like rupees on the trees, but we also left other things in other places we thought he might go. But he just kept climbing trees. Up and down. And so we got to the point where we go, ‘Do you want to look at other stuff?' But he just kept on going. Once [he] got out of the Shrine of Resurrection, he spent an hour just within a 25-50 meter radius outside of that cave just climbing trees."

It was then that Fujibayashi and his team realized they'd made something special—a game where the act of climbing could be just as fun as riding horses and slashing monsters.
Click to expand...
YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING.

That ambition was Fujibayashi's. Do you think he's the right choice to inherit The Legend of Zelda?
 
D

DecoReturns

Member
He's been the Director for the last couple of Zelda games, I think he will take Anouma's spot in the future if he starts that New IP Nintendo have told him he can do.

I've never played SS, but I did love Minish cap. I also really Like BOTW, so I think the series is in good hands
 
S

SporeCrawler

Member
i always wondered what happened to flagship. so nintendo hired them. smart move. all flagship zeldas have been great.

i also have no mixed feelings about skyward sword. game was amazing
DecoReturns said:
He's been the Director for the last couple of Zelda games, I think he will take Anouma's spot in the future if he starts that New IP Nintendo have told him he can do.

I've never played SS, but I did love Minish cap. I also really Like BOTW, so I think the series is in good hands
Click to expand...

poor aonuma never gets to work on stuff he likes
 
K

KZXcellent

Member
He's earned it for me. I've gotten some enjoyment from Zelda in the past but this is on another level. I already have 20+ hours in the game and I can't stop, it's incredible.
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
He directed the best Zelda game, Skyward Sword, two of the best Game Boy games, the Oracle games and also did respectable work on BotW, so yes.
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
SporeCrawler said:
i always wondered what happened to flagship. so nintendo hired them. smart move. all flagship zeldas have been great.

i also have no mixed feelings about skyward sword. game was amazing

poor aonuma never gets to work on stuff he likes
Click to expand...

This is basically my response
 
K

kennyamr

Member
I believe that we still need a bit more time to really say that he has earned the "Zelda crown" but BotW is without a doubt a masterpiece and one of the best video games ever made.

I can't be happier with his work and I look forward to more from him in the future.
 
Andyliini

Andyliini

Member
So, if Fujibayashi takes on producer's role, they have to pick up someone else to do the directorial duties, probably. I think Daiki Iwamoto is the next in line for that, he directed Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, while also served as an assistant director for Breath of the Wild.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
Quite a few new elements introduced in Skyward Sword are key elements in BOTW like the stamina meter and crafting. In terms of looks I would actually say Skyward and BOTW look the closest out of the 3D Zelda (excluding Majora's Mask which was made up mostly of reused assets from Ocarina).
 
C

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
“When we first presented this to Mr. Miyamoto, he spent about an hour just climbing trees,” Fujibayashi said. “We left little treats like rupees on the trees, but we also left other things in other places we thought he might go. But he just kept climbing trees. Up and down. And so we got to the point where we go, ‘Do you want to look at other stuff?’ But he just kept on going. Once [he] got out of the Shrine of Resurrection, he spent an hour just within a 25-50 meter radius outside of that cave just climbing trees.”
Click to expand...
Lmfao. "Mr. Miyamoto please....do something else..."
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
Well he directed two of the three(SS, BotW, ST) best Zelda games since aLttP, so I'm down with him directing or producing as many as he wants to.
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
kennyamr said:
I believe that we still need a bit more time to really say that he has earned the "Zelda crown" but BotW is without a doubt a masterpiece and one of the best video games ever made.

I can't be happier with his work and I look forward to more from him in the future.
Click to expand...

I think your post contadicts itself
 
N

Ninjimbo

Member
I've trusted him since Minish Cap. Skyward Sword was a masterpiece and BOTW looks to be another one. He has been doing phenomenal work.

He can do whatever he wants as far as I'm concerned. I'll be there.

But one thing tho: Aonuma is irreplaceable. He is a legend.
 
Y

Yoshimitsu126

Member
I actually spent a good 10 mins at the start climbing trees, too. The animation was fun and not all trees were the same to climb ontop. Some had items ontop too and offer easy viewing heights at the start. And taking your bow out ontop of the tree felt really cool.
 
Fredrik

Fredrik

Member
Yoshimitsu126 said:
I actually spent a good 10 mins at the start climbing trees, too. The animation was fun and not all trees were the same to climb ontop. Some had items ontop too and offer easy viewing heights at the start. And taking your bow out ontop of the tree felt really cool.
Click to expand...
Same here. Taking out enemies with the bow or bombs while hiding in a tree crown is so satisfying :)
 
O

Ocarina_117

Banned
The talent moving up to more serious roles at Nintendo is crazy. Exciting times ahead on the software front to say the least.
 
D

Deleted member 465307

Unconfirmed Member
I love Minish Cap (MC) and I'm really liking Breath of the Wild (BotW). Skyward Sword (SS) was a mixed bag for me, but I get the sense that the ideas introduced in SS have been fully realized in BotW without facing nearly the same limitations that SS suffered from. I really feel the SS presence in parts of BotW. I don't remember the Oracle games well enough, but I've loved the towns/NPC interactions in Minish Cap, SS, and BotW so far, so if he's responsible for one of my favorite aspects of Zelda games, great. They're miles beyond Twilight Princess. BotW location spoiler:
I mean, just compare Zora's Domain in TP to BotW. Of the towns I've been to in BotW so far, ZD might be my least favorite, but the improvement from TP is huge.

So, if games like MC and BotW are the purest examples of this man's vision for the franchise, then I'll happily give him the crown, especially if this means Aonuma can work on a new IP as a result.
 
K

keyboardsnake

Banned
It is kind of interesting that Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild are so different, and their reception has also been different, but directed by the same man.
 
B

BossDarkseid

Member
Yes? Keep with the new ideas etc.

It would be interesting to have the "main" titles be more experimental ala BotW but have smaller budget 2D/Classic Zelda as a side series of sorts.
 
A

aadiboy

Member
I think it's kind of weird that Nintendo doesn't really put forward the actual directors of their games, rather than producers like Aonuma or Miyamoto. Why wasn't Fujibayashi the one who first introduced BotW? Why were there so many "new" people at the Switch event who were actually veteran game designers we had just never heard of? Are they well known in Japan, and it's just the West that doesn't know, or is Japan just as much in the dark as us?
 
P

Principate

Saint Titanfall
keyboardsnake said:
It is kind of interesting that Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild are so different, and their reception has also been different, but directed by the same man.
Click to expand...
They had entirely different goals. Even if skyward sword was litterally just BoTW but with Wii note focus it would instantly turn off a whole bunch of people.

I'd say the main difference is simply the sirectoe decided to allign the goals with current mainstream tastes
 
D

Deleted member 465307

Unconfirmed Member
keyboardsnake said:
It is kind of interesting that Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild are so different, and their reception has also been different, but directed by the same man.
Click to expand...

I'd argue that you can really see SS's design ideas in BotW. However, it's kind of like BotW swallowed SS and surrounded those ideas with a ton more.
 
H

HylianScribe

Member
I still dislike his storytelling/writing ability, but I give him a lot of props for BotW in most of the other departments. The Zelda team needs to figure out a way to work in more traditional style dungeons, though, which was I feel is the game's only real weak spot. I'd personally still like to see Koizumi/Tezuka given the reigns for the next installment, but if I could only pick one I'd like Koizumi on it. He's proven he can not only help make fantastic Zelda games and create amazing Mario games, but he's a really good storyteller when given the chance.
 
S

SciencePilot

Member
Well, since he made my three favorite Zelda games (BotW and the two Oracle games), it looks like he has earned the crown for me.

It's weird though. It's hard for me to imagine how Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild can be by the same director, since they're so different from each other. It's true they share a lot of similarities: dashing, breakable upgradable weapons, monster loot, shield parry, etc... but the structure of the games are very different. Skyward Sword is a very linear but focused experience, where as Breath of the Wild is totally non-linear.

I wonder what Hidemaro Fujibayashi thinks of the two games, if he prefers one gameplay style over the other.
 
H

H2intensity

Member
Yeah he earned it..minish cap and oracle are great zelda games, while skyward sword and botw is fantastic zelda games. I like his approach and looking forward for his next Zelda games.
 
D

duckroll

Member
Cerium said:
In 2007 Capcom closed the studio he worked at and presumably laid him off, because he next surfaced at Nintendo as the director of Skyward Sword.
Click to expand...

Nah. I think Nintendo just picked up the leads who worked on the Zelda games, because right after Minish Cap, he was working on Phantom Hourglass. He didn't work on Spirit Tracks because by then he was leading Skyward Sword's development.
 
R

Romars202129

Member
The torch has been passed, and it's finally been lit lol.
Aunoma was the worst. All the Zelda he made without koizumi were terrible. End rant.
 
D

Datschge

Member
llehuty said:
"See that tree?, You can climb it"
Click to expand...
Considering how the original SMB and Zelda were developed at the same time and thus influenced each other it's kind of odd that with Mario 64 it took so long to show a similar influence on a 3D Zelda.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
Miyamoto knows what's up, climbing is so damn fun. Almost makes the game on its own.

I'm fine for 3D zelda to be like this (well, maybe without the breakable weapons), but I do hope nintendo continue making top down zelda's in the lttp/la/albw style.
 
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