The open world successor was almost finished when it was postponed

ten days ago Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom finally sees the light of day and since then has not only taken the hearts of players and the press, but also the sales charts by storm.

“Good things come to those who wait” is apparently a more than appropriate saying in this case, because the successor was originally closed Zelda: Breath of the Wild should appear much earlier.As producer Eiji Aonuma has now revealed, so was the game at the time of the massive postponement actually already done – at least almost.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – success of the predecessor has spurred developers

Gene Park, journalist at the Washington Post, asked the Zelda developer in an interview not only about the timeline of the series, but also about the long-term process in which Tears of the Kingdom was created.As Park shared on Twitter, Aonuma revealed that the shift last year was already finished except for the polish of the title:

“Eiji Aonuma said that when he announced the postponement of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in March 2022, the game was basically finished.The last year has been spent polishing the game to a high gloss and making sure that the wild physics in the game just work.” Aonuma apparently wanted to make sure that the fan expectations are fulfilled after the success of the predecessor:

Eiji Aonuma said when he announced in March 2022 a delay for Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, the game was pretty much complete.

The last year was spent on polish, making sure the wild physics of the game just work. https://t.co/jb2qlonWsO

— Gene Park (@GenePark) May 21, 2023

“Breath of the Wild has become the most successful installment in the series, selling over 30 million copies and has set particularly high expectations for Tears of the Kingdom.” 100 percent meets our standards.”

The glue that holds everything together

Aonuma also revealed in the interview that his experiences as woodcarver almost had an impact on the development of the game: “When I connected and glued things together, I was always very picky about not seeing any glue at the joints and always wiped it away because it got on my nerves. “

“The staff asked me to… Part of me still wants to wipe away that glue and make things look cleaner.But in the end they were right.Being able to see exactly where the objects connect is good for the gameplay and fits with the ethos of Zelda.” Also on the creative creations of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players so you can still see the green glue from the Ultra hand.