#TwilightPrincessQuote
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(My computer is back and so are the quotes!)

Takizawa on the dangers of realistic characters and how they approached Twilight Princess' art style, 2006.

Source: Iwata Asks

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#TakizawaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/2abd5c116f0f...
PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 34. Twilight Princess Art Director. QUOTE: Takizawa: I was particularly nervous about Link's design [in Twilight Princess]. The reason for that is ... the more realistic you make characters, the more they tend to start looking a bit like plastic dolls. ... We didn't see any reason to engage … in a struggle over who could make the most photo-realistic game, or any significance in attempting to recreate the real world for that matter. Rather, we felt that it would be more meaningful to create something we wanted to make, and then show the world what kind of game can be made when you have that kind of passion. So we decided to place our emphasis on creating the palpable atmosphere that everyone liked so much about Ocarina of Time.
March 17, 2026 at 4:00 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
#Linktober 25: Twilight
Takizawa on recycling Midna’s design from an abandoned project, 2017.

Source: Nintendo Website

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#TakizawaQuote

www.notion.so/e71648749d01...
PEOPLE: - Satoru Takizawa, age 45. Twilight Princess Art Director. QUOTE: Takizawa: There was a secret project we were considering working on before Twilight Princess, and Midna inherited the character profile for the ‘goblin/devilkin’ character that would have been featured in that project. Looking back at the development notes from that time, there are some descriptions left on the notes clearly reminiscent of Midna, including ‘the appearance looks like a monster or a child,’ ‘can't tell if she's enemy or ally,’ ‘can't really tell what she's thinking,’ ‘sometimes selfish, but sometimes cute and naïve.’ That's why initial design sketches for Midna looked a lot like this ‘goblin’ character.
October 26, 2025 at 3:34 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on the inspiration to turn Link into a wolf in Twilight Princess, 2016.

Source: Nintendo

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/c7696ae6d0cc...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 52. Director of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Aonuma: One time, when I was sleeping, I had a random dream that I was a wolf and locked in a jail cell. Who knows why I had a dream like that... So when I woke up that morning, I thought it'd be kind of neat to have Link turn into a wolf [in Twilight Princess].
September 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on why Twilight Princess has a lot of cats, 2005.

Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/19841fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 42. Producer, and later Director, of Twilight Princess. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 52. General Producer, and later Producer, of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Q: What’s with all the cats [in the early Twilight Princess trailers]? Aonuma: We're thinking about incorporating some ideas where Link can communicate with animals, опе way or another. I can't elaborate on specifically how. [But] the reason you can pick up cats early in the game in Toaru Village, for example, is because we wanted people to understand you can touch the cats, you can play with them. After leaving that impression, it'll become easier for us as developers to have complex ideas afterward, where the players are willing to approach the animals."
March 25, 2025 at 5:07 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on the difference between his leadership on console vs handheld Zelda, 2009.

Source: Iwata Asks

#Zelda
#PhantomHourglassQuote, #TwilightPrincessQuote, #SkywardSwordQuote, #SpiritTracksQuote
#IwataQuote, #AonumaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/d6e65557dce3...
PEOPLE: - Satoru Iwata, age 49. President of Nintendo from 2002-2015. - Eiji Aonuma, age 46. Director of Twilight Princess, Producer of Phantom Hourglass. QUOTE: Iwata: Aonuma-san, you're involved with both [Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass]. Are there any differences in how you work on the two? Aonuma: When I work on the Wii edition, I'm right on-site, and I often do my job from a director's perspective. On the Nintendo DS version, I do proper producer's work. ...That said, when I worked on the previous game, Phantom Hourglass, I was simultaneously making Twilight Princess, so I couldn't keep a very close eye on things right from the beginning. Then, when Twilight Princess was finished and I went to the Nintendo DS version's office, the development was already pretty far along.
January 31, 2026 at 2:33 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Linktober #22: Favorite Character
Aonuma on his favorite. Presented without comment xD

(Couldn't fit alt text, see the description in tumblr post:)
www.tumblr.com/hyruleinterv...

#Zelda
#AonumaQuote, #KoizumiQuote
#TwilightPrincessQuote, #TwilightPrincessHDQuote, #MajorasMaskQuote
#Linktober
Collage of three quotes. I couldn't fit the alt text, but the tumblr version of this post, linked in the post body, has the full text.
October 22, 2024 at 6:12 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on Twilight Princess' timeline placement, 2005.

Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/19841fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 42. Producer (and later Director) of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Q: Where does [the recently revealed Twilight Princess] fall in the overall timeline? Aonuma: I can’t really go into that, partially because І want to keep it a secret, but also because we haven’t decided yet. There are some kinds of... unstable, uncertain ideas we're working on. Depending on what course we choose in terms of development, the final ending may change.
January 16, 2026 at 4:29 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma's description of the prologue story for Twilight Princess in 2005, over a year before release.

Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.hyruleinterviews.com/19841fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 42. Producer (later, Director) of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Aonuma: At the beginning [of Twilight Princess], Link is this cowboy living in Toaru Village—not in Hyrule. Hyrule does exist, but it’s a long way away. They raise cows in Toaru to sell [to Hyrule]. The two places have a friendly relationship with one another. There are several other villages, and every year the kingdom of Hyrule gathers them all together for a kind of festival where all the villages can communicate with each other. Each year, the chief of the village is supposed to attend the festival, but this year, the chief orders this young man to go instead. On the way to the festival, Link is going to encounter some kind of accident, which … leads him to the main adventure.
February 8, 2026 at 6:25 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on the biggest change they ever made as a result of fan feedback, 2013.

Source: Zelda Universe

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote, #TheWindWakerQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/690c8afba273...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 50. Director of The Wind Waker & Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Q: What is the largest or most important change that you’ve made to the Zelda series because of feedback from fans? Aonuma: Hmm… I think the project that reflects our reaction to fan opinion is probably Twilight Princess. The incentive for us to create that different version of the Zelda universe was certainly a result of The Wind Waker criticism that we received. Fans were saying that it wasn’t what they were looking for, it wasn’t what they were hoping for, so that’s why we went with this different graphic presentation. So I think that’s probably the one, the biggest change that we made.
September 6, 2025 at 12:56 AM
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Nakano & Takizawa on burly Link, 2017.

Source: Arts & Artifacts

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#NakanoQuote, #TakizawaQuote

www.notion.so/06aaee32280f...
PEOPLE: - Yusuke Nakano, age 47. Twilight Princess Illustrator. - Satoru Takizawa, age 44. Twilight Princess Art Director. QUOTE: "Nakano: The Link up till now [Twilight Princess] had been in his teens, but for this one we were talking about making him around 25... maybe even 30. He would be well-built. A skinny man with a pretty face wouldn’t stand a chance against a large enemy, so we thought about making him quite sturdy. So the first illustrations were, in a way, pretty amazing. Takizawa: ... There was even a square-jawed, burly-looking Link. [laughs]"
December 28, 2024 at 8:38 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Trying something new today!

Zelda Dev Highlight:
Satomi Asakawa, Character Designer

In (mostly) her own words, Asakawa's game dev career from start to end!

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote, #OcarinaOfTimeQuote, #MajorasMaskQuote
#AsakawaQuote

Full image:
drive.google.com/file/d/1ywWD...
A very tall image. it's got 7-8 different quotes on it, an image of Satomi Asakawa, and screenshots of various games that influenced her early in her life and career. A very tall image. it's got 5-6 different quotes on it, screenshots of animation and film that influenced Asakawa, some images of her senior project from DigiPen, and some images of the first characters she designed for Ocarina of Time. A very tall image. It's got 4 different quotes on it, an image of Satomi Asakawa, and screenshots of characters she designed for Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, and Pikmin 2 A very tall image. It's got 2 different quotes on it, and a big collage of art of characters that Asakawa's team designed for Twilight Princess. It also has some photos of her, including some from Twilight Princess development and one from a few years after she retired from Nintendo.
January 20, 2026 at 4:51 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Miyagi on what Twilight Princess' delay meant to his work, 2006.

Source: Iwata Asks

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#MiyagiQuote

www.notion.so/d28f338fac34...
PEOPLE: - Atsushi Miyagi. Twilight Princess Field Design Lead. QUOTE: Miyagi: I had always felt that it wouldn't have been possible to finish everything [in Twilight Princess] by the original deadline, so I felt that the one year delay was only natural. Since the game wasn't nearly ready in terms of both quality or volume, and we were lacking a clear roadmap for how to proceed, when the decision to postpone release was made I felt that I had to reassess things. Before that, in the period when I felt that it would be impossible to complete everything with the way things were going, I was personally burned out. Readjusting myself … was really quite a struggle. Before the decision to delay … I was working on what had to be done every day with the deadline right in front of me.
September 23, 2025 at 3:36 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Imai on Miyanaga's development process improvements on Twilight Princess, 2006.

Source: Nintendo Power

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#ImaiQuote, #MiyanagaQuote

www.notion.so/17a41fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Daiji Imai. Twilight Princess Sub-Director. - Makoto Miyanaga. Twilight Princess Sub-Director. QUOTE: "Imai: In general, [the Twilight Princess team] are reluctant to share an idea until it's reached a certain level of completion. They don't like other people closely scrutinizing their ideas before they're fully formed. The problem is that sometimes other team members end up opposing an idea after it's progressed a long way; if we end up removing or drastically changing the concept, then we've wasted a lot of time and effort. Mr, Miyanaga created a system where staff members share their ideas with the rest of the team while they're still in the early planning stages, and this has really helped improve our efficiency."
February 12, 2025 at 4:30 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on missing the Twilight Princess reveal, 2005.

Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/19841fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 42. Producer, then Director of Twilight Princess. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 52. General Producer, then Producer of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Aonuma: As soon as I arrived at my hotel in L.A., Nintendo people were congratulating me, saying ‘Nice job!’ and patting me on the back. I was like, ‘What? What did I do?’ Then I learned that the [Twilight Princess reveal] video [had already been shown] without my knowledge. So I found Miyamoto and asked him, ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you schedule it so I could be there?’ He just said, ‘Oh, sorry, I forgot.’ Just like that. [Laughs] Later on I saw a video of the unveiling, though—saw people standing, clapping their hands, even crying. I was very impressed."
February 23, 2025 at 9:28 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on being scolded by Miyamoto for the idea of Wolf Link, 2007.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/f528e57822e0...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 43. Producer, then Director of Twilight Princess. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 54. General Producer, then Producer of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Aonuma: I was also scolded by Miyamoto who said, ‘It’s hard enough to get a two-legged Link to move around in a 3-D world convincingly. To consider a four-legged wolf is something an amateur would do.’ I knew that what he was saying was right and would eventually regret having even tried it, but even if it was a challenge at the time, I thought that this kind of disruptive breakthrough was just what the staff needed."
March 4, 2025 at 3:39 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on a first-person combat prototype for Twilight Princess, 2007.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/f528e57822e0...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 43. Director of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Aonuma: We tried changing the camera perspective [in Twilight Princess] from … third person to … first-person perspective in battle. For this prototype, all we did was change this perspective to the first-person view we currently had. We haven’t tweaked things like the spacing between Link and enemies, so it’s really awkward, but having played this version in first person, we didn’t think this was the most effective way of presenting battles. Link normally has a variety of movements, but when he enters into battle with his enemies, which has come to be known as core scene in Zelda, if that variety is lost, it feels very strange."
November 30, 2024 at 2:10 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on the idea of having voice acting in Twilight Princess, 2005.

Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/19841fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 42. Producer, then Director of Twilight Princess. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 52. General Producer, then Producer of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Aonuma: Last year, I was asked that same question by the press, ‘Will Zelda have voices?’ My answer was, ‘Let me think about it.’ But as soon as those articles were printed, Mr. Miyamoto immediately rejected the possibility. Seriously, as far as [Twilight Princess] is concerned, we really cannot see the whole reason why we would need to incorporate voice acting.
June 12, 2025 at 3:37 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on why Zelda games have stealth sections, 2005.

Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)

#Zelda
#TheWindWakerQuote, #MajorasMaskQuote, #TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote

www.notion.so/19841fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 42. Ocarina of Time Dungeon Director. Director of Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Aonuma: I really don’t know why, but I love that kind of stealth action. Maybe it’s because I liked it when I was a child... the feeling of walking around and doing something secretly. Since most of the time in The Legend of Zelda, players have to engage in swordfights; it's very active and looks cool, but once again, in terms of making a good contrast, I think working in some quiet, silent, and stealthy moves is a very good idea. So, I'm willing to incorporate some of those stealth-game ideas.
August 31, 2025 at 7:34 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on asking to be reassigned, 2005.

Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote, #TheWindWakerQuote
#AonumaQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/19841fe961fd...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 42. Director of The Wind Waker, Producer of Twilight Princess. Later: Director of Twilight Princess. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 52. Producer of The Wind Waker, General Producer of Twilight Princess. Later: Producer of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Q: After The Wind Waker, you joked that maybe you wouldn’t work on the next game. But here you are. Aonuma: In fact, when we finished The Wind Waker, I asked Mr. Miyamoto, ‘Please give me some other assignment.’ He said, ‘Let me think about it.’ [Finally] he told me, ‘OK, you'll be the producer on the next Zelda.’ I said, ‘What? I wanted [something else].’ But he told me, ‘Rather than working on the details, you can coordinate and supervise and concentrate on making it a better game.’ So I was interested in taking the assignment."
February 15, 2025 at 1:09 AM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Nishimori on Miyamoto's advice for wolf Link, 2006.

Source: Iwata Asks

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#NishimoriQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/d28f338fac34...
PEOPLE: - Keisuke Nishimori. Player character designer for Twilight Princess. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 53. Producer of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Nishimori: In [Twilight Princess], Link is transformed into a wolf-like beast. In other words, the character the player controls at times moves around on four legs. When we were discussing the wolf's design, Miyamoto-san said: "It's no fun to just look at the back of a four-legged animal all the time." It's true that … if you look sideways on or from an angle, you can clearly see the motion of the legs and the overall way the character moves. But if you look directly from behind, it looks really boring compared to a human character's movements. So Miyamoto-san told us to have someone riding the wolf.
July 1, 2025 at 9:45 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
#Linktober 22: Snow/Cold/Frozen

Nishimori on doing some motion-capture of his own for Twilight Princess, 2005.

Source: Nintendo Power

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#NishimoriQuote

www.notion.so/810c9b5aa295...
PEOPLE: - Keisuke Nishimori. Lead Modeller & Animator for Link, Wolf Link & Midna and the horse in Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Nishimori: Back when I was in school, I played a lot of basketball and practiced kendo. Actually, when we were working on the sword-fighting motion capture, I wore the motion-capture suit and unleashed some of my kendo moves! Hopefully, my own moves will be in the final version of Twilight Princess. Though I've also become interested in snowboarding, don't think that I have a secret plan to have Link use some kind of snowboarding moves in the game!
October 22, 2025 at 10:51 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Miyagi on how Miyamoto took Twilight Princess over the line to feel like a Zelda game, 2006.

Source: Iwata Asks

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#MiyagiQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/d28f338fac34...
PEOPLE: - Atsushi Miyagi. Twilight Princess Field Design Lead. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 53. Producer of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: Miyagi: I had serious doubts about the controls for [firing a bow with the Wii Remote in Twilight Princess]. … I thought that it was much simpler to use the GameCube controller. It was then that Miyamoto-san introduced the slingshot, which had not featured up to then, in the early stages of the game, which acts as a tutorial. At the same time, he put in a feature where, when you go to hit something with a projectile, the action stops to give you a second to line up your pointer. … So although he didn't shake things up in a dramatic way, I would say that Miyamoto-san made a remarkable difference in changing the finished product into a Zelda game, through making numerous small changes.
July 12, 2025 at 6:21 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma on stepping from a Producer to a Director role on Twilight Princess, 2007.

Source: Game Developers Conference (GDC)

#Zelda
#TwilightPrincessQuote
#AonumaQuote, #MiyamotoQuote

www.notion.so/f528e57822e0...
PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 43. Producer, then Director of Twilight Princess. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 54. General Producer, then Producer of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Aonuma: After the 2004 E3 announcement, Miyamoto heard the response from end-users about [Twilight Princess]. Miyamoto gave us a mission: our goal must be that if we were going to do it, it had to be 120% Zelda, and that meant making a Zelda that exceeded Ocarina of Time. But where we were at the time did not exceed Ocarina, and regardless of the result, I knew that we had to focus on a new play feeling and also on creating alluring Link actions in preparation for E3. Once we got past E3, only then could we really work toward Miyamoto’s mission. From that point on, I worked not as a producer, but as the game’s director."
December 15, 2024 at 8:29 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Aonuma & Nagano on how the manga inspires or influences the developers, 2004.

Via Viz Media.

#Zelda
#MangaQuote,#TwilightPrincessQuote
#NaganoQuote,#AonumaQuote,#HimekawaQuote

www.notion.so/1aec8fb05127...
PEOPLE: - S. Nagano. One half of “Akira Himekawa”, the Zelda manga writer/artist duo.. - Eiji Aonuma, age 41. Dungeon Director of Ocarina of Time, director of Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker, & Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Aonuma: I’ll be looking for anything [in the A Link to the Past manga] that might serve as a hint for me in the Zelda game I’m developing right now [Twilight Princess]! Nagano: I’m happy to hear that our manga can be helpful in providing ideas to the people at Nintendo. We have a strong desire to participate in the creation of The Legend of Zelda material. Aonuma: You truly are helping us. When our staff members get tired of working, they read your manga! [laugh] The manga serve as a great reference when pulling the story together."
March 11, 2024 at 3:36 PM
hyruleinterviews.bsky.social
Those times the Zelda series could have gone first-person

Via Iwata Asks (2011) and GDC (2007)

#Zelda
#OcarinaOfTimeQuote #TwilightPrincessQuote
#KoizumiQuote, #AonumaQuote, #MiyamotoQuote
PEOPLE: - Yoshiaki Koizumi, age 43. Ocarina of Time 3D Gameplay Director. - Shigeru Miyamoto, age 58. Ocarina of Time Producer. QUOTE: "Koizumi: [Miyamoto] wanted to make [Ocarina of Time] a first-person game. In the beginning, he had the image that you are at first walking around in first-person, and when an enemy appeared, the screen would switch, Link would appear, and the battle would unfold from a side perspective. ... But—while it wasn't very nice of me toward Miyamoto-san—I didn't try a first-person scene even once! I was making the model for Link, so I couldn't stand to see my Link not appear." PEOPLE: - Eiji Aonuma, age 43. Director of Twilight Princess. QUOTE: "Aonuma: We tried changing the camera perspective [in Twilight Princess] from … third person to … first-person perspective in battle. For this prototype, all we did was change this perspective to the first-person view we currently had. We haven’t tweaked things like the spacing between Link and enemies, so it’s really awkward, but having played this version in first person, we didn’t think this was the most effective way of presenting battles. Link normally has a variety of movements, but when he enters into battle with his enemies, which has come to be known as core scene in Zelda, if that variety is lost, it feels very strange."
February 28, 2025 at 1:23 AM