Eiji Aonuma Confirms Link’s Awakening’s Art Style Was Inspired By Dioramas As It Fit The Game’s Setting

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Eiji Aonuma talked about what inspired The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening’s unique art style and why they chose it.

Check out what he shared below:

What was the inspiration behind the game’s unique art style?

The art style came about as a result of making 3D re-creations of the original characters, buildings and their exaggerated proportions as faithfully as possible. That said, we were aiming for the feel of a “diorama,” so we may have been thinking about some actual miniature dioramas.

How did you land on the tilt-shifted, dollhouse look of the game?

We felt like a “miniature diorama” style fits the concept of the small but deep setting of the original game, as well as the comical characters and brisk action. We decided to apply the tilt-shift aspect to further emphasize that.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.