Legend of Zelda producer not afraid of questioning the franchise's traditions

Nintendo recently shook up the conventions of the Legend of Zelda franchise with 3DS game A Link Between Worlds (our 2013 Game of the Year), which allowed you to transform into a painting and traverse walls. But it's not going to stop there, according to series producer Eiji Aonuma.

He explained in a new interview with Official Nintendo Magazine that he has no reservations whatsoever about questioning the "traditional" approach to the beloved franchise when making new games.

"The recent Zelda games have been rather linear, as I thought players didn't like getting lost, wondering what to do, or where to go," Aonuma said. "However, I've come to question this 'traditional' approach as I felt that we couldn't gain the sense of wonder that existed in the original Legend of Zelda, in which you made unexpected encounters and where what used to be impossible would suddenly become possible."

Aonuma and his team at Nintendo are currently working on an all-new Legend of Zelda game for Wii U. Though we don't know much at all about this project, Aonuma said fans can be assured that Nintendo will challenge the franchise's traditions.

"We will, of course, continue to question and reconsider the approaches we have taken in the past without any reservations," he said.

This isn't the first time Aonuma has discussed his intention to "shake up" the Legend of Zelda series. In October, he said," The more we change it, the more I get fired up. Having someone think 'Huh? Is this Zelda?!' at first, then, 'Oh, it is Zelda,' is what we're going for." More details about the new Zelda game for Wii U are expected during E3 2014.