Link to the past.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis an evolution.
Does that make the game good or bad?
I have no idea!
Which is to say that the game remains, somehow, both accessible and inaccessible at the same time.
It’s disappointing, if not exactly unexpected, to see players struggle withthe biggest game of 2023.
Pressed on the importance of remapping for disabled players, Aonuma’s response was non-committal.
“That’s a very good point,” he said.
“That’s something we’ll keep in mind going forward.”
That said, Tears of the Kingdom isn’t without improvements.
Elsewhere, hiding combat prompts behind missable tutorials is one of the game’s most baffling design decisions.
It’s a trend in which accessibility in its games feels almost accidental.
We can’t say for sure what considerations went into the tangential accessibility Nintendo employs.
For instance,Animal Crossing: New Horizonsuses a robust set of sound cues in its fishing minigame.
These are cues that make it easier and more fun for blind and visually impaired players.
But sound design otherwise swings from accessible to inaccessible in this game, especially around character speech.
This is something Tears of the Kingdom actually adds to with its homing arrows.
Even Nintendo’s hardware is unintentionally accessible.
you’ve got the option to see the pattern already.
Nintendo consistently adds accessible features into its games that don’t feel likeaccessibilityfeatures.
It raises the question.
If Nintendo repeatedly ignores inclusive design, why are so many of its games accidentally accessible?
When demonstrating the new homing arrows function, Aonuma let slip an interesting admission.
“My eyes can’t track fast-moving objects as of late,” he said.
Sixty-year-old Aonuma’s appraisal feels like an acknowledgement of the cognitive difficulties faced by older players.
Nintendo can make accessible games.
Its developersdomake accessible games.
In fact, accessibility is baked into the company’s fundamental understanding of game design.
This is obvious when you consider how Nintendo has positioned itself as the family-oriented developer.
Rather, it’s to show that Nintendo understands the fundamentals of accessible game design.
To do that, however, Nintendo would need to give players more control over their individual experience.
This is something it currently appears loath to do.
Which is what makes Nintendo so frustrating - what makes Tears of the Kingdom so frustrating.
