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Hidemaro Fujibayashi. Director of Breath of the Wild. Has he earned the Zelda crown?
- Thread starter Cerium
- Start date
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
Actually in the Oracle games, I feel you cn see a similar divide as between BotW and SS in two main aspects, but interestingly, they are paired differently.
- SS is very puzzle oriented and has a guided structure
- BotW is very combat oriented and has a heavy exploration focus
- OoS is very combat oriented and has a guided structure
- OoA is very puzzle oriented and has a stronger exploration focus (thinking especially of the sothern parts of the map)
Judging by the popularity of these games, sadly, my favourite part, puzzles, seem to not be too popular, as BotW is much more popular than SS and OoS is as far as I know more popular than OoA.
Either way, I feel he seems to generally like the full crossproduct of these styles. This of course need not translate to a regular swap between the orientations, because one type might just be more successful (and I fear that what I prefer is the less successful direction).
mickagau33
Member
I don't know...I would need another game to decide. He directed 2 of my least favorite Zelda games (Minish and SS). I know it is not like "one man job" and I still think his Zelda games are good but one game is not enough for the crown imo
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
All that needs to be said, really.
ZorroMcNube
Banned
Wind Waker and Majora's Mask are great. Twilight Princess is good but not great. And then he didn't direct Skyward Sword. I'd say he's got a pretty good track record.
Ryouji Gunblade
Member
I think the gameplay and cinematic direction are stellar. It's just the voice direction that needs a bit of help.
Anyone who wanted to show something exciting in a game to a friend only for them to focus on something else you find mundane knows that feeling 😂
Dude has made one of the best Zeldas ever. I'd say he's earned it. His history on the Oracle games and Minish Cap already made me ecstatic at his continued involvement. Even if Skyward Sword was disappointing, there were interesting yet simple ideas at play, some of which are continued in BOTW.
The dude clearly has a good head on his shoulders. How his team follows this up will be fascinating to see.
Miyamoto: "Are there trees?"
The dude clearly has a good head on his shoulders. How his team follows this up will be fascinating to see.
"See that mountain? You can go there."
Miyamoto: "Are there trees?"
Shikamaru Ninja
任天å ã® å¿è
Fujibayashi worked at Capcom not Flagship. Flagship was a production coordination group that also handled scripts but they never developed a game by themselves. They were a moving piece.
Right now Aonuma's group has certain leaders:
Eiji Aonuma - Group Manager / Producer
Makoto Miyanaga - Sub Manager? / Assistant Producer
Hidemaro Fujibayashi - 3D Zelda Director
Hiromasa Shikata - 2D Zelda Director
Daiki Iwamlro - Assistant Director / Supervisor
Yoichi Yamada - Senior Planner
That seems to be the hierarchy of the Zelda group at Nintendo EPD. All very important men in the near future.
Romars202129
Member
Without Koizumi, who stopped working on the series after wind waker.
Koizumi co directed Majora's with Aunoma, and was the assistant director on WW.
He was also debateably the lead on Ocarina, though that game had a half dozen directors so it's a little muddy.
FloweryMarston
Member
Aonuma is still very important for the direction of the franchise, so if the direction like now is great, it's because of him and fujibayashi of course.
oh man I loved all of this man's games. Had no idea who he was till today. Minish cap is my favorite handheld Zelda game PERIOD, and It seems like he never lost the ambition he had since the oracle games, where he linked two separate continents into one story line.
He needs all of the raises.
He needs all of the raises.
Shikamaru, do you have any information about Nintendo salaries?
I always wonder how much they get paid.
Romars202129
Member
No, I hold him accountable for why the series stagnated so long. Fuji must just be so good, it made up for him.
mocolostrocolos
Member
Yup.
His record is utterly immaculate.
The Oracle games were great, and far better than any 3rd party Zeldas ever had any right to be.
Minish Cap is the best LttP-style 2D Zelda game.
Skyward Sword is utterly brilliant, with padding being its only flaw.
And BotW is a true masterpiece, and the new highwatermark in the series.
Yes, the series in safe hands.
The Oracle games were great, and far better than any 3rd party Zeldas ever had any right to be.
Minish Cap is the best LttP-style 2D Zelda game.
Skyward Sword is utterly brilliant, with padding being its only flaw.
And BotW is a true masterpiece, and the new highwatermark in the series.
Yes, the series in safe hands.
mrmickfran
Member
He lost me with Skyward Sword
He got me back with Breath of the Wild
He got me back with Breath of the Wild
Angel Whispers
Member
Great post!! I've thought this for quite a while, and hoped to write a blog post, as I had done some research, and hoped that we would be able to listen to him during the E3 2013 Developer Directs.
BTW, You might want to edit your post - He moved to Nintendo in 2007, and worked on LOZ: Phantom HourGlass as a sub-director and story writer. Say what you will about this entry, but I think it gives an interesting insight into his approach. He isn't afraid to try out new ideas - You can see this in the LOZ: Oracle games, which were ambitious for handheld titles at the time. In LOZ: Minish Cap, new ideas were showcased, too. In LOZ: Phantom HourGlass, you were engaging with the DS hardware, and the controls had a freshness which not enough people appreciate. He strikes me as someone who isn't afraid to show his personality, or try different gameplay ideas, or use the hardware in compelling ways, and that's important. LOZ: Skyward Sword is also an example of that - Once more, Say what you will, but it showed what motion control gaming could be, if developers dared to dream. I would also say that he brings a "youthful" energy and fearlessness to the table. His vision for LOZ: Breath Of The Wild was partly born out of a special place in his heart for the first title on the NES.
Perhaps other names to consider are LOZ: BOTW's Assistant Director, Daiki Iwamoto (He directed the DS entries), and Hiromasa Shikata (He was an Assistant Director for LOZ: Twilight Princess, and directed LOZ: A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes) - It seems that Shikamaru Ninja has pointed them out, as I write this. For discussion, it ultimately depends on which entries you preferred the most, but for me, I feel that Fujibayashi is the natural successor to Aonuma (LOVE Aonuma!!). I still hope that we will get a Developer Direct!!
Lord_Byron28
Member
Fujibayashi was also the original director of TP. However, 2 years into development Aonuma had to step in and take over.
Shikamaru Ninja
任天å ã® å¿è
I believe that was Mitsuhiro Takano actually.
FloweryMarston
Member
well if you want to ignore his achievements because of some grudge, fine
mugurumakensei
Member
So you are judging him based on Twilight Princess which he took over halfway through development? That's the only Zelda he directed since Wind Waker.
Skyward Sword apologists confuse me to no end. I'm 8 hours into BOTW and it's already significantly better than the garbage pile of backtracking, repeat ugly ass bosses, forced clunky combat, and bland pointless exploration that was Skyward Sword. Don't even get me started on motion swimming that doesn't come close to working.
victreeb3l
Member
I liked Minish Cap but absolutely adored SS and now BoTW. The future of the franchise is in stellar hands.
Imagine BotW with 8 proper dungeons, less battle shrines, more enemy variety and some of the batshit that made MM so great.
Lightning Lord
Banned
Nah, Skyward Sword is a fine game. I had a lot of fun replaying it a couple of years ago.
Say what? Minish Cap is awesome!
This is amazing.
Astral Dog
Member
BoTW has a lot of cleverly designed puzzles,maybe not mazelike dungeons,byt far more complex than the likes of Wind Waker and Ocarina
Or the endless hand holding. The whole game feels like a 30 hour tutorial that never ends. It was so bad that Fi even tells you how to solve a few the games already easy Puzzles. The game had some great moments but Nintendo went out of their way to ruin the whole game with padding. Thankfully all of that is gone from Breath of the Wild.
He's yet to make a bad game and there's a clear progression from TMC to SS to BotW.
People don't like SS, but it's clear that the goal with that game was to put more *stuff* in the open world rather than having all the interesting content in dungeons. BotW is absolutely the product of that, only now all the areas are connected.
People don't like SS, but it's clear that the goal with that game was to put more *stuff* in the open world rather than having all the interesting content in dungeons. BotW is absolutely the product of that, only now all the areas are connected.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
He's definitely earned it.
I expect to see him being the main driving force going forward. He's delivered a hell of a game.
I expect to see him being the main driving force going forward. He's delivered a hell of a game.
Greatest Ever
Member
Give it to him, Aonuma's the most overrated director of all time.
UnemployedVillain
Member
For some reason, Miyamoto spending over an hour just climbing trees just seems like something I'm not even surprised he'd do. I always get this idea that he latches into a very small idea or mechanic and just imagines where everything can go from there and let's devs figure out the details.
If by stagnation you mean kicking off 3D Zeldas with Ocarina of Time and then refining that formula over the years until the perfection that is Twilight Princess, then yeah. "Stagnation" I guess. Lol.
