Fans of
The Legend of Zelda series have noticed, since the series' very early beginnings, that the arty style in the games has been constantly changing. There are only but a few exceptions in which the games have kept the same art style but, for the most part, it is always different, and unique in each new entry.
In the recently released
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion book, Art Director for
Breath of the Wild Satoru Takizawa comments on the series' every-changing visual style that defines every single entry,
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I imagine there are a lot of people who have wondered why the visuals for The Legend of Zelda change with each new entry in the series. We look for the best way to express the unique spirit of that particular game and create a world that will be exciting for players to jump into and explore. Often, the results come from trial and error".
The best thing about the changes in art style is the fact that every entry feels different, especially given that most of the time new games aren't direct sequels to the previously released titles; like many
The Legend of Zelda fans can attest to, especially when referencing the series' Timeline.
In regards to
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Takizawa mentions that they spent quite some time trying to figure out an art style that fit the biggest premise of the game: it's vast open world.
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With Breath of the Wild we spent a lot of time thinking about how to visually represent this massive open world. The theme for this game was “revisiting expectations,” which left me at a loss as to how to express that visually [laughs]. At the same time, I felt that it was an ideal opportunity to establish a style that would become the definitive version of The Legend of Zelda’s art".
When coming to an agreement, the team figured that a painterly art style would fit better with the concept of realism that
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was trying to convey.
"After a lot of worrying and going back and forth, we created a painterly art style that combined the realism of the game world with its playability. For example, if you cut down a tree in the game, it immediately creates a firewood. That was an intentional contraction of reality that cuts out portions of the game that the player might find boring or makes short waits more fun with comedy. We wanted to create a world that could accommodate the fantastical elements of Hyrule without sacrificing a more realistic art style, and we went about that by crafting a hybrid of the two that would allow the players to suspend their disbelief when certain things happen".
As Takizawa explains, they didn't want to break suspension of disbelief by having an art style that looked too photorealistic because they thought there wouldn't be any room for the classic light-hearted humour that The Legend of Zelda series susually has.
"That allowed us to include a broad range of ideas from the designers and enabled us to have some crazy stuff happen. For example, the player is able to toss a bunch of ingredients into a pot and have a dessert pop out. We found that injecting humor into the visual shorthand helps players forgive the break break from reality".
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's art style is definitely a very interesting-looking one. With an art style similar to that seen in Wind Waker, mixed with a bit of
Twilight Princess and
Skyward Sword; which keeps the "cartoony" art style of the
Wind Waker with the more mature design of
Skyward Sword but without going too dark like
Twilight Princess. It is, without a doubt, unique.
No kingdom. No memories. After a 100-year slumber, Link wakes up alone in a world he no longer remembers. Now the legendary hero must explore a vast and dangerous land and regain his memories before Hyrule is lost forever.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is currently available for the Nintendo Switch.