Zelda creators unpack the ‘exercise in suffering’ that inspired Tears of the Kingdom

Since the 1980s, the Legend of Zelda series has always been an experimental testing ground for Nintendo. Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64 introduced lock-on aiming in melee combat, which became a genre-spanning staple of modern gaming. Twilight Princess on Wii introduced motion controls that added a new level of immersion to the role-playing experience. It wasn’t until Breath of the Wild in 2017 that Zelda’s sales would finally catch up to its blockbuster ambitions, but crafting a world that offers boundless player freedom was no straightforward task.