When we interviewed Eiji Aonuma at E3 a week and a half ago, he didn’t mention about potential Hyrule Warriors mechanics such as multiplayer making their way into his reimagined Zelda for Wii U. And we asked.
Speaking to GameInformer, Aonuma said that the new Zelda he teased at the Nintendo Digital Event would include “more than just a single-player experience,” leading to speculation, if not outright confirmation, that the game will feature some sort of multiplayer mode.
“The two-player functionality of Hyrule Warriors is actually something that has traditionally been done in the Dynasty Warriors series, but they’ve changed because of the hardware and the second screen on your GamePad,” he said. “Instead of having a splitscreen on the television, you have one-player playing on the television and one on the GamePad.”
Further, when asked about when we might see some multiplayer Zelda, he only offered, “That’s something you will see in the future, maybe next year.”
While the new title is said to be launching in 2015, we are expecting the game to go completely back under lock and key until E3 2015, where we’ll see another short trailer and maybe get some hands-on time with the game. However, we don’t think Aonuma and his team, talented as they are, will hit the mark for next year, instead pushing the game back for a 2016 release.
Of course, we’d love Zelda sooner rather than later, but if later means a better game, take all the time you need, Mr. Aonuma.