Aonouma confirms: the Twilight Realm is the Dark World but...

Thank God for spur of the moment decisions. As I was shopping for food for my first day at college here in the UK, I came across a new Wii magazine, titled "Revolution", which has a three-page exclusive (apparently) interview with Aonouma.

As always, claims need proof so I have scanned the full interview and hosted it via these links (the wonky lettering is the way it was printed in the mag).

http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aonouma1yc1.jpg
http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?i...onouma2ok0.jpg
http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?i...onouma3bf0.jpg

Most of it is unrelated to the storyline (but interesting nonetheless, so I will write the two particular statements that are of the most interest for our purposes.

Originally Posted by "Revolution"- Page 53

Q: How do the real world that Link lives in and the 'Twilight World' that you explore as the wolf differ; is the Twilight World an alternate version of the real world, with unique routes through similar areas or is it a completely new place?

A: As you'll know by now, the dark world in Twilight Princess has been designed with monotone colours, but we haven't called the game The Dark Princess. This is the Twilight World and we are trying to position this world as something completely different from what has been seen in previous games. One of Link's key missions is to save Hyrule from this Twilight World.

What this quote tells us is that the Twilight Realm is the Dark World but a lot of things that we associate with the Dark World from previous games will not be existent in TP. Although classic good versus evil concepts will still appear, as we saw in the latest TP trailer, this places a big question mark over whether we can use the Twilight Realm to develop theories about the make-up and physicalities of the Dark World in the rest of the series.

Here is another quote, which also impacts on the plotline to some extent.

Originally Posted by "Revolution"- page 50

Q: We're glad we did get through it though (referring to OoT); that end sequence and final battle with Ganon has got to be one of our favourite ever... and we've seen a lot of final bosses in our time, How did you come up with that?

A: That was the hardest part for us - you'd been through so many difficulties to get to that section of the game and encounter the final enemy, and people are expecting something very significant to see the end credits roll. Eventually, we decided that Ganon should morph into some beast-type enemy. It involved a lot of trial and error and we hit upon so many different ideas and really challenged many things, but in the end we decided to pick that specific ending. Well, we really wanted to build up the player's emotion right to the end. The difficulty of the boss wasn't the focus here - it was the emotion. We gradually built it up until you really felt that you were finally going to beat Ganon. I think that the music was one of the most important elements involved. It was the feeling that captured - finally 'The Ocarina of Time' was over.

This quote is interesting because it makes you think "Was Beast Ganon made to represent his pig form in previous adventures or as a means of creating a climatic ending to the game?" If you take into account that Ganondorf was in his original human form after the final battle, it makes you wonder whether if things turned out different that we wouldn't have seen a beast at all. Of course, this potentially shows that my whole theory about Ganon being the "potential monster pig" may have been wrong and the Trident is more likely the cause of the form than Ganon's evil soul.

no, he just called it the twilight world...
I feel quite certain that Aonuma was simply using the term "dark world" not actually alluding to the claim that the twilight is actually the dark world seen in Alttp.

Originally Posted by vacumgod

no, he just called it the twilight world...
I feel quite certain that Aonuma was simply using the term "dark world" not actually alluding to the claim that the twilight is actually the dark world seen in Alttp.

That honestly depends on how you consider the Dark World to be made. The Dark World first appeared (in the timeline) when Ganon took the Trident in FSA and it then appeared in ALTTP, from which I developed my Dark World theory in another topic. I have always been of the point of view that differences between OoT-TWW and FSA-etc are due to the fact that Ganondorf was never strong enough in OoT-TWW to spread darkness in the same respect that his reincarnation did in FSA and ALTTP. This further suggests this to be true, because the Twilight Realm is not the Dark World in the same respect but is something that has spread from Ganondorf's power, as we see it dispelled by the Master Sword in the latest trailer.

The "dark world" is the Twilight world. As in, the world that is made of darkness, in this game, is called the Twilight Realm. Hardly the confirmation you make it out to be. If Aonuma were to say that Link is the hero in this game, I would laugh at him and say "No ****, Sherlock." It is the same with this interview.

Originally Posted by LionHarted

The "dark world" is the Twilight world. As in, the world that is made of darkness, in this game, is called the Twilight Realm. Hardly the confirmation you make it out to be. If Aonuma were to say that Link is the hero in this game, I would laugh at him and say "No ****, Sherlock." It is the same with this interview.

I wasn't just confirming that the the Twilight Realm would be the Dark World; the quote also confirmed that the Twilight Realm would not share the characteristics of the Dark World in previous games. For example, one of your theories said that because the Master Sword dispelled the Twilight World therefore it must dispel the Dark World in other games and we then had a big arguement about sequence breaks. What this interview tells us is that the Twilight Realm will be entirely different from the Dark World as we know it and hence it will not be as easy to gain immediate acceptance for theories which connect the Dark World to the Twilight Realm when a key developer is telling us that they are meant to be different.

Also, the other quote about Beast Ganon can be important because many people say that as a connection to Pig Ganon, it is partial evidence that OoT was meant to be the SW. Now we know that Beast Ganon was not developed with Pig Ganon in mind and Ganondorf was meant to be human right through to the end of OoT, it debates whether OoT was ever meant to lead into ALTTP. I find it harder now to accept that OoT's story was a cock-up representation of the SW as everyone assumes it is.

Originally Posted by jhurvid

What this interview tells us is that the Twilight Realm will be entirely different from the Dark World as we know it and hence it will not be as easy to gain immediate acceptance for theories which connect the Dark World to the Twilight Realm when a key developer is telling us that they are meant to be different.

It is "the dark world in Twilight Princess is...", not "in Twilight Princess, the Dark World is..." I'm trying to make the distinction because I know that not only is the Twilight Realm not "like" the Dark World, but that it seems not to be "the Dark World."

Originally Posted by LionHarted

It is "the dark world in Twilight Princess is...", not "in Twilight Princess, the Dark World is..." I'm trying to make the distinction because I know that not only is the Twilight Realm not "like" the Dark World, but that it seems not to be "the Dark World."

I'm not sure of what you're saying here. I know you think that the Twilight Realm is the Dark World but that last post sounded like you think opposite.

Originally Posted by jhurvid

I'm not sure of what you're saying here. I know you think that the Twilight Realm is the Dark World but that last post sounded like you think opposite.

He was reffering to the Twilight as 'a' Dark World, for reference. It's like the Nintendo Power Happy ending thing. Someone phrases something wrong and everyone points it out.

So no one thinks that as a creation of Ganon that it might be related to the Dark World in some way? Alright then, we'll just wait and see what happens.

Originally Posted by jhurvid

So no one thinks that as a creation of Ganon that it might be related to the Dark World in some way? Alright then, we'll just wait and see what happens.

We do not know that it is a creation of Ganon, and I find that unlikely.

Originally Posted by darthcucco

We do not know that it is a creation of Ganon, and I find that unlikely.

Why? TP is supposed to take place a few decades after OoT, and, given that Ganon seems to play a role in this game, we can assume that it will detail his escape from the "depths of the earth" and the events that preclude the Flood, when he "turned Hyrule into a world of shadows."

you can really assume anything at this point, seeing as how we know praticaly nothing regarding the games' story

Originally Posted by LionHarted

"turned Hyrule into a world of shadows."

Like he did in the adult half of OoT? The lighting is Ganon-ish, I'l l give you that, but the creatures are not ganon-like at all.

Originally Posted by darthcucco

Like he did in the adult half of OoT?

Except for he is said to have done so AFTER "creeping forth from the depths of the earth" after being sealed in OoT.

Originally Posted by LionHarted

Except for he is said to have done so AFTER "creeping forth from the depths of the earth" after being sealed in OoT.

I don't think OoT is what you are reffering to, my point is that turning Hyrule to a world of shadows does not mean Hyrule is turned into a twilight.

Originally Posted by darthcucco

I don't think OoT is what you are reffering to, my point is that turning Hyrule to a world of shadows does not mean Hyrule is turned into a twilight.

Twilight = Shadows.

Hence, why Midna is supposedly a creature of the Twilight, but can also exist inside Link's shadow.