2chan's findings of Zelda Wii U (2013)

Zelda Wii U planned to be announced at E3 2014.

Information has surfaced that Zelda Wii U will be announced at E3 2014. A variety of points about the game has leaked from NDA interviews between Eiji Aonuma and various Japanese game magazines that enquired about it at E3.

The game is using the E3 2011 Tech Demo graphics. The Tech Demo was actually footage from a pre-Alpha version.

The game is a direct sequel to Twilight Princess.

The game will be Open World. The player will be able to explore a vast and seamless Hyrule. Around 70% of the development team are solely working on content to fill this Open World. The aim is to make it full of content and have more side-quests, sub-dungeons, and collectibles than any past 3D Zelda.

Motion controls have been dropped. The game will use the Wii U Game Pad and build off the controls of the GameCube version of Twilight Princess. There will be heavy use of the Game Pad screen in a variety of unique ways.

There are 10 dungeons. You can play the first five in any order, and when all are complete, you can play the later five in any order. The game now features a term Aonuma calls "Parallel Dungeons". You will have to multi-task between all 5 dungeons to complete them. Solving puzzles in one dungeon will open doors and change the layout of another. Aonuma states that playing through all 5 dungeons simultaneously will feel like one giant Water Temple (from Ocarina of Time).

Princess Zelda will have a deep involvement in the story. Princess Zelda didn't get much development in Twilight Princess, but many fans have said they loved her detailed costume design. Aonuma wants to rectify this issue by making her character as complex as her elaborate clothes.

The game began development in Q1 2010, almost two years before Skyward Sword was released. It was being made by a different team than the one that developed Skyward Sword. However, the staff of Skyward Sword have now joined the development head count on Zelda Wii U.

The game will be the directorial debut of Satoru Takizawa. He previously served as Art Director of Twilight Princess. Aonuma personally feels that, due to Takizawa's experience being in charge of the visuals of Twilight Princess, he's the most qualified staff member to direct a realistic Zelda. Takizawa has worked on every 3D Zelda game since OoT. He designed Ganondorf and all the bosses in OoT, all the bosses in MM, Ganondorf and the Moblin in TWW, and didn't do much on SS as he was moved off the project midway to direct the next realistic Zelda.

Online co-op that functions like a 3D version of Four Swords is being included as a separate multiplayer feature. The mode will have paid DLC content. This will be in the form of dungeons, powerful enemies, new items, and unique tunics.

Regarding the scale of the Open World, Aonuma is aiming for it to be on par with Skyrim.

All the NPCs will be voiced. They will speak in a fictional language that will represent Hylian.

Aonuma states that the game will definitely be announced in 2014. E3 is the most likely venue, not a Nintendo Direct.

Ok, so, obviously this is unconfirmed information but I think there's plenty here worth discussing and, surprisingly, some of it does have merit. The whole open world/Skyrim angle, for example, isn't new information to fans who've been following the Legend of Zelda Wii U news. We covered an interview that Aonuma did with Eurogamer where he explicitly stated that the concept of a Skyrim style Legend of Zelda Wii U game is something that Nintendo is seriously considering.

EG: As part of opening up Zelda games for a new generation, are you looking at any other games for inspiration? Dark Souls, perhaps, or Skyrim?

Aonuma: Skyrim! [For some reason mention of Bethesda's fantasy epic tickles him, and he laughs.] Obviously I play other games, and I'm curious what Zelda fans like about the Skyrim experience. Maybe there are some Zelda fans who are looking for something similar out of a Zelda game.

But I don't look at the technology that made these games possible. I don't look at what's happening in the game, but how it made me feel, what in the game moved me, and how I can bring out those same emotions in players who play my games. My intent isn't to copy them, but those are the things that stay with you as a player.

It's not what you see but how the game makes you feel that makes you feel closer to the experience. It's more about the feeling and expression of emotions in the game, and I do take that into consideration when working on my own projects.

So it looks like the Legend of Zelda Wii U will certainly be larger in scale than any previous game, and an open world Hyrule also matches well with the anonymous insider's claim that there will be "parallel dungeons." Having to travel across the landscape to find changes that occurred in dungeons you previously explored will definitely add another layer of adventuring to the Legend of Zelda Wii U gameplay experience. Although saying that the game would be like one huge Water Temple from Ocarina of Time made my heart hurt a little, since it forced me to recall the numerous rage quits I performed while trying to finish that f-king dungeon. Still, I can't deny its place as one of the most challenging moments I've ever experienced in a lifetime of gaming, so if the Legend of Zelda Wii U news from the leak is that we're getting a Skyrim style game that will be as challenging as anything we've ever played before, well, I won't be complaining.