The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom producer has already cleared it 20 times

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's producer has played the whole game 20 times over to test it.

Speaking to Nintendo in a new interview, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma revealed just how much Tears of the Kingdom he's been playing of late. "I wonder how many times I’ve played the game to debug it..." Aonuma said. "I've played this game from start to finish about 20 times, and I can say that it's more fun with detours, even more so than in the previous game."

"I've cleared the game many times myself and never felt bored once. You have my word!" Aonuma added. Completing a game many times over as part of debugging is a very standard development practice, but completing a game as vast as Tears of the Kingdom, with its massive open-world, 20 times over is a herculean feat from the producer.

Aonuma also revealed he would often "rush ahead" to complete Tears of the Kingdom's story as part of testing, before stumbling on something that completely distracted him for hours. "I even discovered something new the other day while shooting the gameplay demonstration video," the long-time Legend of Zelda series producer added.

The producer stresses that he wants players to "enjoy the game in your very own way," and take your time with Tears of the Kingdom. "So don't head straight for the ending!" Aonuma added with a laugh. Considering how easy it was to get distracted by the simplest thing in Breath of the Wild, we can't imagine many people will be finishing Tears of the Kingdom's story this weekend.

The finish line is finally in sight for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, as it'll launch tomorrow on May 12. Check out our extensive The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom preview for what we made of the sequel when we played it for ourselves.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.