Here’s Why Elden Ring Couldn’t Inspire Tears Of The Kingdom

In an interview with the Dutch site RTL Nieuws, Tears of the Kingdom developers Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi talked about how the game does not take inspiration from other major titles like Elden Ring, despite people thinking otherwise. They also explained how and why they strive for original concepts in their games, referencing a short story from their work on A Link Between Worlds.

The developers were asked whether TOTK takes inspiration from Elden Ring, which is known to be inspired by many titles, one of which is Breath of the Wild. To which Fujibayashi replied:

Sorry, but we didn’t really get a chance to play the game. We were too busy developing Tears of the Kingdom so we couldn’t really play the game. We would have heard about it. Even if we had time to play games, we wouldn’t reuse ideas from that. When we make a game, we come up with a general concept and come up with new ideas based on that.”

Following the statement, the interviewer discussed that many studios often shared their inspiration for the titles and asked whether TOTK was made more in a bubble. To which Aonuma replied:

Of course there are situations where you make something similar to an existing game, but I would never try to put other people’s ideas into my real game. I’m too proud of that. I always look for original ideas. When I made Link Between Worlds you had a 3D system when you jumped where it looked like Link was coming at you. When I showed this to then Nintendo President Iwata he said he didn’t know this was possible I was really, really happy to hear that, because to me that’s the core of game development: figuring out things that no one else has thought of.”

The developers expressed the need for original content for the game and because it makes them feel better about their work and encourages them to do things that haven’t been done before. It makes even more sense after realizing how TOTK running on Nintendo Switch is a miracle due to the console being relatively old at this point.

A Link Between Worlds incorporated the 3D system, which many believed impossible, and now TOTK includes an array of features that should not be running on a console as old as the Switch. The credit for these miracles goes to the hard-working developers. It should also be noted that taking inspiration from other games is not bad, and it can often result in interesting concepts that would otherwise remain uncovered.

It will be fun to see future Zelda titles coming to the Switch successor, rumored to arrive in Q1 next year. Another rumor hints toward a similar scenario: a Spanish studio has already obtained the Switch successor dev kits. Nintendo has benefitted significantly from the Switch already, as it generated $11.347 billion in the last fiscal year thanks to the console.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was developed and published by Nintendo. It was released on Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023. The events in the game take place several years after Breath of the Wild; Link and Zelda have set out to explore the caverns underneath Hyrule Castle to investigate the poisonous substance that is looming over the kingdom, causing people to fall ill.