"I Envy First-time Players!"
Yokota-san, when you make music, what do you think is the "essence of Zelda"?
The essence of Zelda?
Something you think the music absolutely must have.
To put it in a somewhat abstract way, an exciting scene has music that's on fire. That's not quite right, but…
Do you mean music that reflects what the player is feeling?
A song for a battle with a huge enemy will even be exciting to me as I play the game. And I think music in The Legend of Zelda is very heroic. Just like in Super Mario Bros., you go to save a princess, but in the case of The Legend of Zelda, there's more of a sense that you are a cool hero risking your life for someone. I make music in strong consideration of what is happening at each point—music that sways your spirit, music that fires up your heart. What do you think about that, Kondo-san?
What's most important to me when making music for The Legend of Zelda is generating an ambience expressing the situation and scene. Picking up on what Yokota-san said, Link is your other self in The Legend of Zelda games, but in a Super Mario Bros. game, you control Mario, a character on the screen.
Ah, to you, Mario is a character you move with a controller.
Yeah. Link is you. So it feels like you are in him when you play.
I see.
So in your head, you're wearing that green outfit. (laughs)
Yeah. And that green hat! (laughs) I make the music in that state of mind.
If Link strikes down an enemy, you think, "Oh, I'm so cool," and if he solves a difficult puzzle, you think, "I'm so smart!"
So the music is from Link's point of view.
Right.
All right, this is my final question. The world is full of people who know about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as people who don't know anything about it. Yokota-san, what aspects of the Ocarina of Time 3D should appeal to each of those groups?
I see it from the point of view of a total fan.
Right. Because you love this game. (laughs)
It's difficult for me to recommend certain aspects to those experiencing it for the first time, but I'd say it's moving in a way that only a video game can be.
That's like our marketing tagline (in Japan) for the Nintendo 64 version.
Yeah. I hope players will experience an even more moving experience on the Nintendo 3DS system because of the stereoscopic 3D.
What would you say to fans like yourself?
This game is a remake, but it's the kind of game to make you think, "This is exactly what I wanted from the Ocarina of Time!" In particular, the Master Quest13 this time is a mirror image of the main game, the placement of enemies and the puzzles in the dungeons are different, and you take double damage. That makes it quite a challenging game, even for people who played the Nintendo 64 version a lot and beat it on the Virtual Console. I hope people will play it through. 13. Master Quest: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D includes the Master Quest, in which the dungeons and puzzles are different than in the main game. In the Master Quest this time, everything is a mirror image of the main game.
How about you, Kondo-san?
I worked on the Nintendo 64 version, so when I see the Nintendo 3DS version, I feel like it's smooth.
Exactly what do you mean?
The Nintendo 64 version feels coarse.
You mean that the Nintendo 3DS version is more polished?
Right. It's smooth and shiny. It's not just that it looks prettier, but looking in the shops, there are more products, it's more sumptuous, and there are more people. Just seeing that is nice.
The essence of the game hasn't changed, but you've worked on it a number of ways.
Right. I hope people who are familiar with the Nintendo 64 version will enjoy spotting what has changed and how. And I hope people who play it for the first time will have a true experience of The Legend of Zelda precisely because it's in 3D. I hope the Ocarina of Time 3D will help people who have bought a Nintendo 3DS system thoroughly experience what a real 3D game is like.
As you were talking just now, I started wanting to see all the scenes in 3D, even though I've played Ocarina of Time tons of times! I've played it, thinking, "Oh, even this part is better!" and "And that part, too!" so I hope people who played the Nintendo 64 version will enjoy this game like that.
Thank you. As I listened to the two of you talking, especially to Yokota-san's enthusiasm as a fan, I became a little envious of people who don't know The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64 system. I mean, they'll be playing it for the first time without knowing anything about the world that awaits them! And in 3D!
Yes, I'm envious of first-time players!
If I could become a player without any Ocarina of Time plays before, I'd want to become someone like that. So I hope people won't think that this game isn't for them if they don't already know about The Legend of Zelda. Because back in the days of the Nintendo 64 system, Ocarina of Time showed people who had never played video games in 3D before how to play in 3D. They were simply impressed, like Yokota-san, with the autojump and Z-targeting. (laughs)
Exactly.
I do, of course, hope that people who know the game will enjoy pointing out what has changed or improved, but I especially want people who don't know the game to play it! I don't think they will feel like it's a game that was designed a decade ago.