The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Wii U/NX is unlike any other game in the franchise. Nintendo says it was important to take a new direction in order to break the mold.

In issue 296 of Edge magazine, they had a chance to talk to Eiji Anouma who is the producer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It was very important for them to try something new based on feedback received from players.

He said: “There’s a form of Japanese theatre called kabuki. A kabuki master would say ‘in order to break the mold, you have to know the mold’. Often, when I speak to Mr Miyamoto about a problem, that’s the feedback he’ll give me: ‘You don’t understand the mold here. That’s why it’s no good.

We got a lot of feedback from the people that played Skyward Sword. There were these pockets of worlds that players were able to dive into, but they really wanted to see what was in between those worlds – all the hidden elements they weren’t able to see. I thought that was really natural for Zelda fans, who like to explore, to uncover little secrets. We realised that we needed to make this free, open-air world.”

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be released sometime in the year 2017 for the Wii U and NX consoles.

- This article was updated on:March 7th, 2018