Eiji Aonuma on Skyward Sword Art Style; Swordfighting Is Improved

Like day turning to night, it is inevitable that whenever a new Zelda title is revealed, there will be some ‘die-hard’ fans that disagree with Nintendo’s choic in art style. It has happened since Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword is no exception. The game’s producer Eiji Aonuma has explained with the Official Nintendo Magazine why the style was chosen, revealing that it is designed for the need to exaggerate the swordfighting.

“One of the reasons we’ve chosen the art style we have with Skyward Sword is that it is a better vehicle to showcase the exaggerated characteristics of some other characters. Not only of the enemy characters, but as a representation of the sword spirit itself. Because of the way we have put the game together you have to focus on how the enemy is carrying their weapon, and there are a couple of different ways you can go about that.

One, you can be super-realistic, and the other, not so realistic. We thought that because we want to highlight the swordfighting combat, we have to exaggerate the features. We thought that the art style we chose was best-suited to do that. You have to match the art style to how the game plays, and we thought this worked best. We matched the artwork so that we can highlight the over-exaggeration in the gameplay.”

Many gamers are still unlikely to be happy about the new style, but personally I think it merges the Wind Waker and Twilight Princess styles perfectly, and if it’ll improve combat then there’s no reason for me to be disgruntled. Roll on ‘early 2011′.

What do you think about the art style, and are you excited for the new game? Comments below.

Official Nintendo Magazine, via Nintendo Everything