#FujibayashiQuote
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Fujibayashi on being part of an adventure club at Nintendo, 2017.

Source: GamesMaster Magazine

#Zelda
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/f5c48fb4baf1...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Director of the Oracles, Minish Cap, Skyward Sword, & Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: [In the Nintendo adventure club we do] things like cave diving where you actually go down into the water to get into the cave, as well as rafting routes and so on. I know this may not be such a big deal in the west, but in Japan it’s quite an adventure!
September 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
jdogtoocool.bsky.social
Aonuma, in 2023, asked about a potential modern remake of Ocarina of Time, and his surprising response!

Source: Game Informer Interview

#Zelda
#OcarinaofTimeQuote
#AonumaQuote, #FujibayashiQuote

gameinformer.com/interview/20...
Aonuma And Fujibayashi Talk Tears Of The Kingdom's Reception And Their Approach To The Timeline
We sit down with the producer and director of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to discuss the game's reception and how the series has evolved. - Game Informer
gameinformer.com
September 13, 2026 at 11:26 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on the chance to tell the backstories that didn't fit, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote, #CreatingaChampionQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 45. Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: "Fujibayashi: If you look up Akkala Citadel [in Creating a Champion], it talks about the position of the cannons and the direction they face, as well as why the citadel was strong against attacks from behind. It explains why the citadel, protected by a group of trained professionals, fell, and why Fort Hateno, guarded by amateurs, was able to withstand assault. There were backstories for particular settings during development but they were very complex, so we couldn't explain them in [Breath of the Wild]. This book allows us the opportunity to tell those stories, which makes the development team and me very happy."
January 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
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Fujibayashi on being inspired by Minecraft & Terraria when making Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: GamesMaster Magazine

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/f5c48fb4baf1...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: [For Breath of the Wild] I was rather inspired by playing Minecraft and Terraria. I was able to learn from the gameplay and possibilities found in [them]. I could learn from the sense of adventure, exploration, and how it inspired curiosity.
August 30, 2025 at 10:14 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on transforming walls from boundaries into optional paths in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/febaddf2a123...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: Our first approach was to remove those impassable walls, which were a convention of Zelda, by transforming the walls and allowing the user to climb them in our experimental game field [Breath of the Wild prototype]. By transforming walls … into another optional path, it's as if the entire landscape that lays before the user opens open up, asking them 'So, which path are you going to take?' It was at this point that I realized this was the kind of game design I was striving for.
April 14, 2026 at 6:29 PM
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Fujibayashi on a reason why Tears of the Kingdom has the Depths, 2023.

Source: Polygon

#Zelda
#TearsoftheKingdomQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/54f2e16d70b8...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 50. Director of Tears of the Kingdom. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: We created the sky [in Tears of the Kingdom] first. But then we thought, ”There’s not enough in terms of distance.” So then we thought, ”Maybe we can look to the ground to provide more distance.” When you’re talking about the sky, there’s just the idea of skydiving down to the surface. But if we were to, say, have a chasm, you can dive even further, and have even more fun doing that. On top of that, there’s also the idea of expanding the amount of exploration and the amount of discovery that you can have within the game. The Depths, as this place to explore and expand—not only in the sense of adventure, but also in terms of distance—really suited the game.
November 9, 2025 at 9:47 PM
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Fujibayashi on asking Zelda's voice actor about her experience, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote, #ShimamuraQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 45. Director of Breath of the Wild. - Yu Shimamura, age 32. Japanese voice actor for Zelda in Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: The voice actor for Princess Zelda said she could feel the weight of one hundred years when she played. She was playing as Link from Breath of the Wild's present but had already performed as Zelda from one hundred years prior to that. She was experiencing the game differently from the average player, who would find out about the past from the perspective of the present. She was playing in the game's present from the perspective of someone who was informed about the past. We had paid particular attention to the flow of time, so it was fascinating to be able to ask the only person in the world who played the game from that particular perspective what it was like.
May 15, 2025 at 5:22 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on how they wanted to include tiny people in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Nintendo Youtube Channel

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Cs...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: We had this idea of including tiny people [in Breath of the Wild]. Since this is a 3D game, we could have all these tiny-sized towns, and Link himself could shrink. We thought it'd be super fun if we had all these tiny characters all over the place... but with all these other characters that stand out, we thought it would be difficult for these little guys to be able to live out their own place in the game. So we really wanted to have them in there for the gameplay, but sadly had to give up on the idea.
June 14, 2026 at 7:31 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on holing up to outline Skyward Sword's story, 2011.

Source: Iwata Asks

#Zelda
#SkywardSwordQuote
#FujibayashiQuote, #IwataQuote

www.notion.so/dc4631410a43...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 39. Director of Skyward Sword. - Satoru Iwata, age 51. President of Nintendo. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: [With about two years left on Skyward Sword], we had to think about a number of things all at once … and the cinematic scene staff were beginning to join the team, so we were under pressure to make the hakogaki soon. Iwata: The hakogaki is a rough synopsis of the essential points of the script. Fujibayashi: Yes. Time was running out, so I told everyone that I didn't feel well and holed up at home one whole day to write it! [laughs] Iwata: I can't condone such behavior, but you wanted to concentrate alone. Fujibayashi: Yes. I locked myself in and from morning to evening did nothing but write the synopsis. Iwata: Even though you didn't feel well? [laughs]
August 27, 2025 at 3:05 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on showing Miyamoto a Breath of the Wild prototype, 2017.

Source: Kotaku

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/a0043791f215...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: When we first presented this [Breath of the Wild prototype] to Mr. Miyamoto, he spent about an hour just climbing trees. 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.
May 19, 2025 at 11:20 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on the cutscene he wanted to do in Skyward Sword no matter what, 2011.

Source: Iwata Asks

#Zelda
#SkywardSwordQuote
#FujibayashiQuote, #AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/dc4631410a43...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 39. Director of Skyward Sword. - Eiji Aonuma, age 48. Producer of Skyward Sword. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: There was one scene [in Skyward Sword] I wanted to do no matter what. It's toward the beginning. Zelda jumps down from Skyloft toward Link as he is flying on Loftwing, and Link panics and tries to catch her. I wanted to portray Zelda's personality in this game all at once in that scene. She's bright and lively, emotional and impulsive. We made that cinematic scene, but when Aonuma-san saw it, he said, "It's so long… It's too long!" I thought, "Oh no! If it stays like this, he's gonna cut it!" Aonuma: What bothered me the most at the time was how, toward the beginning, cinematic scenes were running one after the other.
September 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM
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Fujibayashi on being inspired by Minecraft & Terraria when making Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: GamesMaster Magazine

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/f5c48fb4baf1...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: "Fujibayashi: [For Breath of the Wild] I was rather inspired by playing Minecraft and Terraria. I was able to learn from the gameplay and possibilities found in [them]. I could learn from the sense of adventure, exploration, and how it inspired curiosity."
December 29, 2024 at 7:27 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on how recurring glimpses of the "soul of the series" helps create myth, 2023.

Source: Game Informer

#Zelda
#TheLegendofZeldaSeriesQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/6f7c578dffae...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 51. Director of Zelda titles including Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, & Tears of the Kingdom. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: It's not like we're trying to plan ahead for [fan] theories, but in the series, there's this idea of reincarnation in that Zelda and Link, as they appear in the different titles, they are not the same person per se, but there's sort of this fundamental soul that carries on. Because of that, certain scenes may turn out similar, like you were saying, the antagonist kneeling before the king, those scenes …. are sort of like glimpses or representations of the soul of the series. For people to kind of pick up on that and see that, it's something that we enjoy also and it kind of helps create this myth of The Legend of Zelda.
August 14, 2025 at 3:11 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on sparse vs dense areas of Breath of the Wild's world, 2018.

Source: Hyrule Interviews

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/Nintendo-Dre...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 45. Breath of the Wild Game Director. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: We divided the [Breath of the m Wild] map into sections resembling checkered flags, and cut this section into ‘dense' and this section into ‘sparse' to balance the terrain, and then asked the people in charge to make it. However, as time passes, the ‘sparse' erodes and the 'dense' spreads. We would request, ‘horses will run there, so please make it flat!
September 3, 2026 at 7:04 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on Nintendo's warm game feel, 2001.

Source: Game Design Gazette

#Zelda
#OracleofSeasonsQuote, #OracleofAgesQuote
#FujibayashiQuote, #MiyamotoQuote, #YamadaQuote

www.notion.so/57ba82218914...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 28. Director of Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 48. General Producer for Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons. - Yoichi Yamada, age 37. Supervisor for Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: When I met Mr. Miyamoto, I clearly understood that there’s a logic behind the games he thinks up. Understanding that was a huge learning experience for [the Oracles] team. Another thing was that Mr. Yamada would ask us “What’s this character’s name?” about characters we’d just randomly put in the game. Giving those characters a name really brings them to life and the staff’s attachment to them evolves, too. ”You should name your characters”… such a simple sounding idea really opened my eyes to something important. This is just one example, but I feel like I was taught the secret to Nintendo’s “warm game feel”.
July 25, 2025 at 10:19 PM
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Fujibayashi on the relationship between Link & Zelda in Tears of the Kingdom, 2023.

Source: National Public Radio (NPR)

#Zelda
#TearsoftheKingdomQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/673cc5265806...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 50. Director of Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom. QUOTE: "Q: Zelda and Link seem to have had a loving relationship in the years between the events of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. How did you want to develop their dynamic in this sequel? Fujibayashi: Link is still entrusted with the role of protecting Princess Zelda. Rather than having the developers explain the relationships between the characters, I think it is best for people to play the game for themselves and use their imaginations."
February 4, 2025 at 1:44 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on the core of the Zelda series, unchanged over time, 2017.

Source: GamesMaster Magazine

#Zelda
#TheLegendofZeldaSeriesQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/f5c48fb4baf1...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Director of the Oracles, The Minish Cap, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, & Tears of the Kingdom. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: The look and feel of the game has changed with the times, [but] I don’t think the core gameplay of the series has changed at all compared to that of 30 years ago. I feel that’s because even though the puzzle-solving elements of the series changes with the times in how exactly players’ interact with it, the fun of it—the fun I experienced for the first time myself as a child—is still there in more recent Zelda titles, completely unchanged.
November 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
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Fujibayashi on how the action-oriented Four Swords arose from other goals, 2005.

Source: Nintendo Power

#Zelda
#FourSwordsQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/b53697339a66...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 32. Director of Four Swords. QUOTE: Q: Four Sword games tend to be more action-oriented than other Zelda games. Is this intentional? Fujibayashi: No. Every game we developed based on the concept we chose. In the Four Swords series, multiplayer is important and I had a big wish to create a vivid expression of Link’s moves in a 2-D art style. Those important concepts may generate a more action-style game impression compared to others.
April 4, 2026 at 4:36 AM
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Fujibayashi on untold stories left in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Creating a Champion

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/13c41fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 45. Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: The more ideas we had, the more massive the scale of [Breath of the Wild], but, as robust as this game is, there were still a number of ideas we couldn't implement or which left only traces. In some cases, that left things a mystery. For example, why is the Yiga Clan's crest an upside-down version of the Sheikah eye symbol, and, while we know that the king of Hyrule is dead, how did he die? We had also created rich backstories for the Champion characters like Daruk and Mipha during the development of the main game but weren't able to touch on them much.
April 25, 2025 at 11:25 PM
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Fujibayashi on the the root ideas of Breath of the Wild, 2024.

Source: Retro Gamer Magazine

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/2e741fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 51. Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: Fujibayashi: [Breath of the Wild] didn't come to me right away as a fully formed idea. For a long time, I went from idea to idea before I finally reached what I think are the very roots of Breath of the Wild's gameplay: the idea of cliff climbing and paragliding back down, the keyword “survival", and the idea of “creativity of combination” whereby players make use of things that happen when their actions interact with objects placed on the map—for example, lighting wood with fire to create a bonfire.
January 14, 2026 at 3:25 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on how Ascend came about in Tears of the Kingdom, 2023.

Source: Polygon

#Zelda
#TearsoftheKingdomQuote
#AonumaQuote, #FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/54f2e16d70b8...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 60. Producer of Tears of the Kingdom. - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 50. Director of Tears of the Kingdom. QUOTE: Aonuma: There was a time when I was … sitting and playing [an early build of Tears of the Kingdom] myself, and exploring these caves. And I would often make my way really deep into one of the caves and kind of wonder, ’Where does this thing end? I’m kind of lost. And if I want to get out, I need to go all the way back to the entrance of the cave, which seems kind of troublesome.’ Hearing that, Mr. Fujibayashi said, ‘What if there was a way for us to just leave the cave by going through the roof?’ We started exploring the idea, and we realized this would be another way for us to take that theme of increasing the options available to the player, and also tie in with our theme of verticality.
June 21, 2025 at 3:04 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on his typical day as the Zelda producer in 2010, 2010.

Source: Official Nintendo Magazine

#Zelda
#SkywardSwordQuote, #ALinkBetweenWorldsQuote
#AonumaQuote, #FujibayashiQuote, #ShikataQuote

www.notion.so/ac79957b8190...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 46. Producer of Skyward Sword & A Link Between Worlds. - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 37. Director of Skyward Sword. - Hiromasa Shikata. Director of A Link Between Worlds. QUOTE: "Aonuma: As soon as I come to my office I start checking my emails from the Japanese companies as well as from NCL and overseas companies. Then I start chatting with the directors on my right and left hand - my desk is situated between the DS director [Shikata] and the Wii director [Fujibayashi]. I start talking with them about the progress made in the last day and then we decide a priority order of what we as a team need to do in the next 24 hours or so. If there are any versions of the software ready by the morning I start checking those."
February 27, 2025 at 1:04 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Fujibayashi on the design process for Zelda in Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Nintendo YouTube Channel

#Zelda
#BreathoftheWildQuote
#FujibayashiQuote
www.notion.so/198d550e924d...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: "Fujibayashi: Rather than coming up with [Princess Zelda from Breath of the Wild’s] story, we approached her character in two separate ways. The planners started by thinking about what kind of person Zelda is, and why she's in a position that makes us want to save her. They focused on what sort of setting the game should have. The designers, on the other hand, took a completely opposite, or perhaps I should say different, approach compared to the planners. For them, it was all about first impressions... about how Zelda's design could make you feel something deep inside. At first, the planners maybe didn't understand that as much."
November 23, 2024 at 9:40 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Takizawa on the one weakness of The Wind Waker's art style as an option for Breath of the Wild, 2017.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#TheWindWakerHDQuote, #BreathoftheWildQuote
#TakizawaQuote, #FujibayashiQuote

www.notion.so/febaddf2a123...
PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 44. Art Director for The Wind Waker HD and Breath of the Wild. - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 44. Director of Breath of the Wild. QUOTE: "Takizawa: It was actually one weak spot in The Wind Waker HD art style. An important point in Mr. Fujibayashi's game concept [for Breath of the Wild] was to fill the vast game world with fun multiplicative experiences using physics and chemistry gameplay. And this was difficult to achieve with The Wind Waker’s art style. Why is that? The Wind Waker art style in it's depiction of form, feel of materials, etc. is very stylized. One of our goals was to have the art intuitively suggest possible physics and chemistry gameplay based on the player's experiences in the real world. The problem with The Wind Waker art style was... the lies it told were too big."
December 31, 2024 at 12:15 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Linktober #6: Fear/Horror

Fujibayashi on a book that recently inspired him, 2023.

Source: National Public Radio (NPR)

#FujibayashiQuote
#Linktober

www.notion.so/673cc5265806...
PEOPLE: - Hidemaro Fujibayashi, age 50. Director of the Oracles, The Minish Cap, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, & Tears of the Kingdom. QUOTE: "Q: Which recent games have inspired new design ideas for you? Fujibayashi: It's not a game, but I found a book about the theory behind creating scary haunted houses to be very interesting. It included the specific techniques used to influence the thoughts and actions of the participants and cause them to feel scared or excited. I was surprised because those techniques were really similar to how we create Zelda games."
October 7, 2024 at 12:42 AM