Nintendo has posted the first part in an interview series with The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi on the Nintendo News channel, in which they discuss DLC Pack 2: The Champions’ Ballad.
That sees them talk about how they had decided to add a motorcycle, the Master Cycle Zero, to the Nintendo Switch and Wii U exclusive, as well as the new horse gear that lets you warp a horse to Link’s location and adds more spurs.
Nintendo: First of all, thank you for taking time to talk to us. And congratulations on winning Game of the Year for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!
Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi: Thank you very much!
Nintendo: Many fans were surprised with Link’s new ride in DLC Pack 2. Could you please give us the background on this vehicle?
Aonuma: I was the on that said, “let’s put this in the game.” (laughs)
Both Mr. Fujibayashi and I have a motorcycle license. Before riding, I felt that the world felt pretty small just walking and riding trains everywhere. But when I hopped on my motorcycle, I felt the world was drastically more vast by having the freedom to go anywhere. I felt a similar sense of freedom when I first played Breath of the Wild (BotW), so I thought “I want to explore this world riding a motorcycle.” (laughs)
The staff were extremely passionate about creating this, especially near the end of development, and I believe they created an amazing ride. So the happiest person about this update was me. (laughs)
Fujibayashi: And I was one of the people that was later asked if developing this was possible. (laughs)
As Mr. Aonuma said, the functions of the motorcycle are amazing, so I was wondering if the motorcycle can enter the world of BotW without breaking the game. Around the same time, we were discussing what would make the best reward or item players can get at the end of DLC Pack 2, and this idea clicked perfectly.
Nintendo: Can you talk about the new horse gear in DLC Pack 2. Also, are there any horse gear design or abilities that never made it into the game?
Fujibayashi: There is both an ancient saddle and bridle. The saddle allows the horse to warp to Link’s location when he whistles, as long as it’s in a good location to call them. And the new bridle increases its spurs. They are pretty convenient abilities.
And no, this was our main horse gear idea. We design them based on their abilities, so we already knew that we could not add too many abilities. However, aligning with the motorcycle, there was a request to upgrade the horses’ abilities.
Aonuma: After all, it was a producer request to enable the horses to warp. (laughs)
We thought warping may be possible with ancient technology. So the design is based on ancient gear.
