The Legend of Zelda producer has been awarded a French Knighthood.
As reported by Eurogamer, long-time Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma will receive the title of “Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters” from the French Minister of Culture for his work on the Nintendo franchise. Aonuma will join video game legend Shigeru Miyamoto as one of the very few knights in the industry. Also knighted for their contributions to video games and culture in France include Rayman designer Michael Ancel, Fable creator Peter Molyneux, and Alone in the Dark creator Frederick Raynal. No official date for the ceremony is set yet.
The Legend of Zelda’s Legacy
The Legend of Zelda series began in 1986 when the first game was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).Since then, the series has branched into 29 games spanning generations of Nintendo systems, such as Nintendo 64’s Ocarina of Time and the Wii’s Skyward Sword. The latest series release, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, released earlier this year on the Nintendo Switch as a sequel to Breath of the Wild. The two latest Legend of Zelda games marked a shift in the series, for both its open-world gameplay and its role in the game’s canon timelines.
Following the relative success of Breath of the Wild after releasing on the Switch (it was first released on the infamous Wii U, now considered a sales failure by Nintendo), the desire for a full-fledged sequel from fans was widespread. Tears of the Kingdomwas announced in 2021 and originally planned for a 2022 release, but was pushed back to 2023 as developers wanted to ensure that the quality of the game was up to their standards. Upon its highly anticipated release, Tears of the Kingdom received incredibly high praise for the ways it improved upon the format of Breath of the Wild. The sequel quickly became the fastest selling game in the series, selling over 10 million units in three days worldwide.
Although there likely won’t be a sequel to Tears of the Kingdom, fans’ hunger for more content from the beloved franchise is never-ending. The director for Tears of the Kingdom Hidemaro Fujibayashi has made comments regarding the placement of the latest installment that confused players; seeing as Breath of the Wild took place at the series’ end canonically, Tears of the Kingdom is both before and after the entire series timeline given its jumps between past and present. No official announcements on a new Zelda game have been made, but it certainly remains possible.
Source: EuroGamer
