Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom developers "prioritised gameplay" when deciding which monsters to include

Nintendo's Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma have spoken more about the monsters they created for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, including the all new Horriblins and the return of Gleeoks.

In an interview with Nintendo Dream, which was translated by Nintendo Everything, Fujibayashi said the team "prioritised gameplay" when deciding which monsters to include in Breath of the Wild's sequel.

The Tears of the Kingdom director noted that with the introduction of caves and underground areas, as well as sky-based action, the studio needed to consider which enemies would be able to "do well" in each area of Hyrule's expanded map.

"For example, we wanted a monster that could rival the Lynel from Breath of the Wild in strength for the new sky areas, so it'd need wings to fly, be large and look strong... and as we thought about that, we remembered the Gleeok," Fujibayashi explained.

"While thinking about gameplay, we looked back to see if there were any monsters that fit what we needed from older games, and if something matched, we adjusted them to be implemented into Tears of the Kingdom."

When it came to deciding on a monster that would be fit for the game's new cave sections, the studio settled on an all new creature: Horriblins.

The Zelda team wanted something that would be able to "latch onto the ceiling" so that it would "match the terrain" of the caves, Fujibayashi explained.

"Since there wasn't a monster that had that characteristic in previous games, we created the new monster Horriblins. Gameplay-wise, it's possible to make weapons with long reach using the 'Fuse' ability, and monsters like Horriblins let that feature shine."

The two Nintendo developers also discussed Tears of the Kingdom's Boss Bokoblins. These hench pack leaders were meant to be a more difficult opponent, thanks in part to the procession of Bokoblin minions that followed behind. Aonuma stated the studio wanted to give players a taste of their own medicine when taking on these roaming Bokoblin groups.

"Boss Bokoblins are meant for multi-person combat after all," the producer said. "They might be a bit hard for Link to handle alone at first, but having allies lets players charge at them with confidence."

As for the future of the series, Nintendo recently confirmed Tears of the Kingdom will not be receiving any DLC. "I feel like I've done everything I can to create games in that world," Aonuma said earlier this year.

We will, however, be getting a live-action The Legend of Zelda film. Shigeru Miyamoto announced this news in November, stating this project has been in the works for "many years now".

Nintendo's live-action Zelda adaptation will be helmed by Wes Ball, whose name you may recognise from the Maze Runner films. However, don't expect to see Link and Zelda on the big screen any time soon.

"It will take time until its completion," Miyamoto explained in his announcement, "but I hope you look forward to seeing it."