Aonuma was listening to unwaranted fan criticisms of WW when he made TP and SS. It's their fault, not his. His comments about Zelda U have alluded to the idea that he wants to make his idea of what Zelda should be, rather than what he's done since after WW which is take fan feedback to heart. When he didn't listen to fans, we got MM, WW, and ALBW. When he did, we got TP and SS.

He pulled his head out of his ass after realizing most fans don't know what the donk they're talking about. Zelda U is what every 3D Zelda game since WW should have been. Better late than never.

Miyamoto lost his touch ages ago, so it definitely wasn't him.

You are misinterpreting that quote. 

“With Zelda games, what we’ve always done is, we’ve always tried to make them a game where you enter this big world of Hyrule, and there’s a lot to explore and discover; but because of the hardware limitations, what we always had to do was segment off each area and piece those segments together in a way that made them feel like a big world,” Miyamoto said, while discussing the size of the world in the new game."

What this means is that they needed to segment the world for a 3D environment, making it appear large while simply being many small areas. This does not mean that their ultimate goal was to replicate Zelda 1's opaqueness. I can guarantee that Zelda Wii U will NOT be a simple reimagining of Zelda 1 in a 3D, open-world environment, as you seem to believe. Yes, it will be large. Yes, the entire world will be accessible from the get go. But it absolutely will NOT simply plop you in the middle of nowhere with the expectation that the player will instinctively know what the hell is going on. There will be a strong narrative. There will be guidance. What Zelda U will do is take the openness of Zelda 1 and ALBW that people enjoy, while also including the narrative structure found in all 3D Zelda's to keep the player focused and engaged. I reject your premise for how future Zelda's will be made, and instead believe that we will see a blend of the 2D open world Zeldas we've seen in the past with the strong narrative structure we've seen in the 3D Zeldas of the past. 

I'm not misinterpreting anything. That's not the quote I was reffering to.

“The recent Zelda games have been rather linear, as I thought players didn’t like getting lost, wondering what to do, or where to go. However, I’ve come to question this ‘traditional’ approach as I felt that we couldn’t gain the sense of wonder that existed in the original Legend of Zelda, in which you made unexpected encounters and where what used to be impossible would suddenly become possible.” - Aonuma

"You see a bit of that in Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds. But the main place where I'm hoping to change a lot of things and show a lot of new ideas is in this next console Zelda. In the process of coming up with them, some of those ideas wound up in A Link Between Worlds. But my focus in changing things is going to be in this new console Zelda." - Aonuma

Aonuma literally said that he was putting his ideas from Zelda U into ALBW. He directly addressed linearity as an issue, said getting lost is a good thing, referanced those things specifically in Zelda NES as being something he wanted to bring back in Zelda U, and constantly referanced how ALBW was only a small taste of the drastic changes in the sense of exploration and non-linearity he plans to fully implement in Zelda U. And that isn't even the quote that specifically says you can explore the world in any way you want. I just needed to bring up your completely wrong idea that Zelda U will, in any way, try to protect the player from being "opaque." That perfectly describes what Zelda U will be. Don't like the sound of that? Play Mario, where linearity belongs and is actually good.

It will absolutely not be like past 3D Zelda games outside of WW, which is the only 3D Zelda game out side of the spin off HW he has ever referenced when talking about what will influence Zelda U, and with HW was only to talk about bosses not being confined to one room, but to be let loose in the open world. It will be like ALBW, who's selling point was literally to stick a middle finder to guiding the player. ALBW was enguaging enough without needing to resort to the completely un-Zelda linearity and guidance of past titles. There's literally no way to make a game where you can go anywhere any time you want in any order you want, which is literally what "tackle dungeons in any order means" while having a linear narrative with guided progression. It's literally impossible, and even if it was, Zelda U is literally confirmed to not do it. And Zelda U is confirmed to have that, and Aonuma used ALBW to say "See this? This is what I'm doing with Zelda U, only that game will be bigger and more free." Will it have the same narrative presentation as 3D Zelda games? Absolutely. Probably even better if they finally add voice acting. Same guided structure though? Keep dreaming.

You can reject it all you want. Aonuma is explicitely rejecting your premise with Zelda U and going with mine, and that's all I care about. And once that premise is successful, and ALBW proves that it will be, that will be the the outright permanent death of the linear era of 3D almost-Zeldas. And the world will be better off for it.

Open World for Zelda team is about progression. Iwata said when they released A Link Between Worlds and brag about how you can do any dungeon in any order.

I think Aonuma always had his vision of what Zelda should be, not so sure fans had a lot of influence on that (apart from TP with backlash at WW's art style) - and that is not swashbuckling explorations of 2D Zeldas, but more of a puzzle solving adventure with ocassional fight here and there.

Nothing wrong with latter, but despite the fact that I enjoyed most 3D Zeldas, I always thought that balance between exploration, fighting and puzzle solving in all his 3D was off, and that's what I'm hoping Zelda U will finally fix.

I never really believed them on the whole 'hardware limitations' speech - back in 2001 there was Gothic 1, in 2002 there was Morrowind, both open world fully streamed RPGs, so I'm pretty certain that at least Wii (if not GC) was able to have open world 3D Zelda.

But, I do agree that there is not much chance that Zelda U will be Zelda 1 recreated - there are fairly tried and tested ways how open world games with narratives have been done for quite a while now in most genres, I think Zelda U will try to strike a fine balance between free roaming and story.

They were bragging about non-linear progression separately from the game being open world. A game can be open world with linear progression. Aonuma refers to WW as the only real open world 3D Zelda, and you couldn't tackle dungeons in any order in that.

Fans complained about more than just the artstyle in Wind Waker, which also influenced the direction of TP. That's why it's structurally identical to OoT, but bigger. And fan backlash over TP being too big and boring with nothing to do is why SS is so small and linear. Aonuma said as much regarding both.

I think WW proves that Aonuma's idea of what Zelda isn't a "puzzle solving zelda with the occasional fight," since 60% of the game had you exploring the vast open sea and the combat system is the most deep, diverse, and complex in the series. Even moreso than TP, which had more techniques and weapons, but far less occasions there you were forced to use them. 

I've felt like it was off too, and I don't even think puzzle solving belongs in Zelda at all. I think Zelda U will 100% fix the exploration and fighting bits, and there's one quote by him that makes me think they're at least tweaking how puzzles work in Zelda games.

“We’ve talked a little bit about the puzzle-solving element in Zelda, and how that’s kinda taken a different shape,” he said. “But I think people have come to just assume that puzzle-solving will exist in a Zelda game, and I kinda wanna change that, maybe turn it on its ear."

“As a player progresses they’re making logical choices to progress them in the game. And when I hear ‘puzzle solving’ I think of moving blocks so that a door opens or something like that. But I feel like making those logical choices and taking information that you received previously and making decisions based on that can also be a sort of puzzle-solving. So I wanna kinda rethink or maybe reconstruct the idea of puzzle-solving within the Zelda universe.” - Aonuma

I'm sick of Puzzelda being such a major focus. Never liked it. Never will. Hopefully this tweaks it for the better, if not ouright gets rid of it. Though, looking at Triforce Heroes, the former is more likely than the latter.

I'll admit, you have me confused. You say that modern 3D Zeldas have been structured in the manner we have seen up until now due to hardware limitations. I find a quote from Aonuma discussing how hardware limitations segmented the game's worlds, and you say that was not the quote you were referring to. But anyway, that's besides the point. 

I will say again what I said before: you are misinterpreting these quotes, or at least, taking them too literally. When Aonuma says that he wants to "change things" in Zelda Wii U, I really do not think he means "change how all 3D Zeldas have been played up until now." I think what he means is that there will no longer be a 'Navi,' or 'Fi,' or 'Midna' character, who constantly hints at or explicitly tells you where to go. But it does not in the slightest mean that we will see a return to the opaque, yes opaque, structure we see with Zelda NES. That type of formula simply does not work in the modern age, and again, I will say that you should expect to be disappointed if that is what you are hoping for from Zelda Wii U.

The reason why I am excited for Zelda Wii U is because I really think they will be able to strike a wonderful balance between providing the player with some sort of basic structure with which to progress through the game, while at the same time allowing the player to do or go anywhere they please. That way, while I may know that my next objective will be completed in the next town over, I am not obliged to go there immediately in order to accomplish something. That is the type of game I am expecting from Zelda Wii U.

That's literally what he means. I'm not taking anything too literally. He literally said he wants to "rethink the conventions of Zelda," make you think "is this Zelda," and that he wants to "turn expectations of tradition on his ear." I don't understand how any intelligent human being can read the man literally say that he wants to recreate the feeling of getting lost, wondering what to do, and wondering where to go specifically from the original Zelda, and not see that as him literally saying that that that's the way Zelda is going to be. How someone can read him saying that this "tradition" of linearity was being called into question, right before he says that he's making Zelda U's mission statement to completely change the "traditions" of recent Zelda games.

And yet the conclusion you draw from that statement is that he obviously doesn't want to make the player feel lost, not knowing what to do, and not wondering where to go? HOW? How am I taking that quote too literally when he was saying it literally. How can anyone possibly take him wanting to make players feel lost by giving them no guidance, referencing Zelda NES, making an entire non-linear Zelda game about not giving players guidance, and saying that Zelda U would take that concept even further, as him saying "yeah, but we're still going to guide the players in Zelda U, guys." How? How can you take him saying that he wants you to feel lost FOUND IN ZELDA NES, as him not "returning to the 'opaque' structure FOUND IN ZELDA NES?" HOW?!

I genuinely cannot understand how you think there will be any structure or guidance beyond what ALBW did, which was literally jut had an X on the map where the dungeons were, yet still be able to accomplish the goal of completing any dungeon in any order. I do not understand, at all, how you can possibly think that there can be any stucture and linearity matching prior 3D Zelda games in a world map the size of Kyoto where you will be able to get to any one of likely 8 specific points of intrest spread evenly across that seamlessly open world in any order that you want.

Linear structure.

Any order.

I don't understand.

No, it's gonna be like ALBW, if not less structured. You'll be dropped in the overworld, be told the basic goal and drama of the game, and then you'll be prompted to find the dungeons yourself. I wouldn't be suprised if they didn't even give you the courtesy of an X on the map. Instead, you'll have to find the dungeons yourself though exploring the world yourself, just like in Zelda 1. And you'll get lost, and you'll and you'll wonder what to do, and you'll wonder where to go, just like Aonuma said he wants. And then, like in ALBW, once you're in, near, or at the end of a dungeon, it'll feed you the plot at those points so it can remain completely non-linear. And since it'll be like ALBW, which Aonuma specifically said, there will be no stupid hour long set up for some stupid premise no one cares about and will let you start actually really playing the game minutes after you first boot it up once you get the jist of the call to action.

So here's the issue: Aonuma is not being as specific as I believe you think (want?) him to be. When he says that they are "rethinking the conventions of Zelda," that does not implicitly mean that Zelda Wii U is going to be a modern version of Zelda NES. Aonuma is being purposefully vague here, as is to be expected. These types of statements lead to rampant debate and speculation as evidenced in this thread. The reason why I believe there will still be significant narrative structure to guide the player as seen in previous Zeldas is because I believe it to be common sense. I do not believe they would simply throw to the wayside nearly two decades of tried and true formulas for this new entry. Having said that, I agree with you that Zelda Wii U will likely be the most unique entry we've seen since maybe Majora's Mask. It will certainly be nothing like Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess. There will be significantly less hand holding (no Navi or Fi character) but it would be unwise to believe that all guidance and direction will be lost. Yes, it will be possible to get lost in this game (something not really possible in any previous Zelda. But I believe that, if you choose, you can avoid getting lost. Even if it's simple guidance such as an NPC telling you to "go East," there will be some sort of guidance. 

In addition, one thing that I think is worth mentioning is that I believe it is possible for a game to feature dungeons that can be completed in any order while still maintaining a linear structure. Those two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

As an aside, I think it's unfortunate that you have to imply that I lack intelligence because I interpret quotes differently from you. I actually very much value your opinion on this site, and usually am always curious to know what you think with regards to various topics, but it's really too bad that you sometimes resort to those types of tactics when debating an interesting topic. I would advise that you take the advise found in your sig and apply that to same line of thinking to the posts of others on this site. Sorry for the diatribe, but I needed to get that out.