These days, The Wind Waker is remembered as one of the best Zelda games ever made, with gorgeously expressive cel-shaded graphics that are still impressive to this day. The vibes were very different ahead of the game's North American launch in 2003, when many fans of The Legend of Zelda were taking to forums to complain about this new "kiddie" visual treatment. It seems that's why Eiji Aonuma decided to transform The Wind Waker 2 into what eventually became Twilight Princess.
Aonuma discussed this during a Game Developers Conference talk way back in 2007, but I only became aware of the story thanks to a recent Did You Know Gaming video going over canceled Zelda projects. And hey – I figure if it's new to me, it might be new to you too, dear reader. Japanese players had begun to transition away from the hobby in the early '00s, Aonuma argues throughout the talk, calling this phenomenon "gamer drift."
