The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Master Works recently launched in Japan, and one of the many things touched on in the book is the world beneath Hyrule known as the Deeps. Game art director Satoru Takizawa and game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi described what they visually had in mind when imagining the depths with Takizawa, saying that he envisioned an underground world based on classic sci-fi films “Where underground there is still a Cretaceous-like world with dinosaurs or the mythical underworld.” Here’s what they had to say in the book.
Visually, what kind of world did you intend to create for Depths?
Takizawa: When I hear ‘underworld’, what comes to mind is an old sci-fi movie about Earth, where there is still a Cretaceous-like world underground with dinosaurs or a mythical underworld. It’s a very natural association for my generation (laughs).
We did an experiment where we created a Cretaceous area with large plants and animals walking around, but ultimately I thought the art would change based on gameplay.
Fujibayashi: We had to wait a long time until the gameplay of Depths was decided to make the artwork. We did various experiments, including the brightness of the depths. It seems as if you can see a dimly lit ridge or a desolate desert that stretches all the way. We ended up making a dark world, but it was a lot of trial and error to get there.
Takizawa: So we had to confirm the Depths game style before we could create some art, but this “light activation” was luckily extremely compatible with our first chalk-style big world fantasy. The moment you activate the lights, things like big plants and animals or statues suddenly appear in front of your eyes, it’s a bit scary and creepy sensation, but I thought it would be a miracle and a surprise for the players as well.
As a result, the first idea remained and we decided on an ancient world frame with dinosaurs meeting the underworld image.
Fujibayashi: Since it worked well with Zonai rigs and other vehicles, we thought a big world would be good. You can try things like using a rocket when you want to climb. Then, there are many mushroom-shaped trees that you should use to climb (laughs).