Hidemaro Fujibayashi

Hidemaro Fujibayashi (藤林秀麿) is a project leader at Nintendo in EPD Production Group No. 3. He was originally a designer at Capcom. He is most known for directing the main Legend of Zelda titles starting with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

History

Hidemaro Fujibayashi was originally born in the Kyoto Prefecture in Japan in 1972. After graduating college, he joined Capcom in Spring 1995 as a designer. His experience led him to be selected to work in Flagship, a collaboration studio between Nintendo and Capcom. He was originally in charge of writing while working under Yoshiki Okamoto. He was pushed forward as the lead planner and then the director, coming up with the concept to link both Oracle games together for consecutive playthroughs. After directing The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, he left Capcom to work at Nintendo directly, starting as a subdirector and scenario writer on the Phantom Hourglass.

Game Works

• Gakkō no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita!! (1995) - Planner
• Yōsuke Ide Meijin no Shin Jissen Maajan (1996) - Planner
• Magical Tetris Challenge (1998) - Game Design, Director
• The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (2001) - Director, Planner
• The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (2001) - Director, Planner
• The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (2002) - Director, Planner
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004) - Director, Planner
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007) - Subdirector
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011) - Director
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) - Director
  • Expansion Pass (2017) - Supervisor: Game Design
• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (2020) - Scenario Supervisor
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023) - Director

Interviews

• N.O.M.: Oracle of Seasons/Ages
• Nintendo Dream: The Minish Cap (translated by Shmuplations)
• Nintendo Dream: Phantom Hourglass (translation by Zelda Dungeon)
• Iwata Asks: Skyward Sword
• The Making of Breath of the Wild
• CEDEC 2017
• Ask the Developer Vol. 9: Tears of the Kingdom