Regarding the new Zelda: development has actually only been for a relatively short amount of time. The planning stages of course have been going on since Skyward Sword went gold, however actual technical implementation has only been going on for the last 20 months. What you have seen in the E3 reveal is more or less the bulk of what had been actually developed at that time; but the developer tools EAD have developed this time are very robust and streamlined. They allow for very rapid development compared to previous iterations. EAD is always very good at implementing changes relatively quickly, but the turnaround for the content we have been seeing thus far is without a doubt the fastest I have ever seen, and I've been here almost 10 years now.
The reason Wind Waker HD saw release is because EAD wanted to test the new lighting and shaders that are being utilized in the new iteration. These effects were actually the first ones developed for the new Zelda, and were completed before any actual assets had left the conceptual stage. Wind Waker was chosen to showcase them because they were easy to implement and didn't require a lot of effort from EAD to re-release compared to other entries that would be much more strenuous (keep in mind, this aspect is conjecture on my part based on the correspondence we received from Japan).
Over the last 10 or so months, we've seen a huge shift in direction in terms of focuses of the development. The (admittedly sparse) amount of content we've seen has become noticeably more open and exploratory in nature from the initial build that we saw. Keep in mind this is second hand, but a good friend of mine that works in the Kyoto office informed me that for a short time there was a huge argument in EAD between Tezuka and Aonuma on what direction should be pursued for the new Zelda. The argument seems to be over, though, because while the first build we received was very straight-forward, the two we've had since have allowed for an impressive amount of exploration, even if the map is still very sparse. There is very little collision implemented in Hyrule Field yet which makes exploring in-game impossible. However in debug mode, we are capable of looking around at much of it.
The plot is almost non-existent in-game at this point. The only cutscene that has been implemented in the game thus far is the one in the E3 presentation, and that won't even be included in the final product, I'd expect. The only thing we have pertaining to plot is a short blurb outlining the basic structure. And even then, this tends to change significantly over the course of development; plot is always the last thing that gets considered in the actual dev cycle and nothing is set in stone until the game is otherwise feature-complete. The blurb states that Ganondorf is not the main focus this time, but instead takes after Zelda II a bit and is actually a villain named Larenu and his followers who are attempting to revive him. Something else of note is that instead of the usual farmboy Link saves Princess Zelda scenario, in this case Link and Zelda are actually brother and sister in a small village with a Shiekah protector who has acted like a parent. They are both royalty who have been exiled their whole lives, and are only made aware of this at the beginning of the game. A possibly familial relationship between Link, Zelda and Larenu is implied, but what that may be is not made clear.
The call to action is that ancient machinery that has lay dormant for centuries are coming back to life and causing problems in Hyrule. In the case of Link and Zelda's village, a system that has kept the river that runs through it clean and the crops growing has become unruly making the water undrinkable and the crops weaken.
Gameplay-wise, the game plays like a traditional Zelda game in a lot of aspects. You move with the left thumbstick, Z-target with the left trigger, attack with Y, roll with X, etc. The camera can at this point be controlled by the right thumbstick or gyroscopic controls. You switch weapons via the touch screen. What is interesting is that the sword is no longer a default item that is always set. Instead of Sword and 3 side items, you now have one item slot, but that item can be switched at any time, even while in combat. That is because there is a new combo system.
Currently the only weapons that can be switched between in this build is the sword and the bow (regular bow, the mechanical bow from the E3 demonstration is not as of the latest playable build). Each hit you score on an enemy fills what we're currently calling the "momentum" bar. Switching between weapons in good flow during combat causes the bar to fill more quickly than just using a single weapon. When filled, you can activate it with the touch screen, which slows down time, and switches the input of the weapon currently equipped. For instance, slowing down time with the sword allows you to input precise and exact sword slices with the touch-pad, not unlike how Skyward Sword operated with 1:1 sword controls. With the bow during slow-time, you can mark individual enemies (or individual locations on enemies) with the touch pad very similarly to how the boomerang has operated in previous Zelda games. When slow-time is released, Link will fire multiple arrows concurrently with increased power. Not all enemies will require slow-time to defeat. Enemies in this build were bokoblins with no defensive abilities, and some really incomplete-looking Darknuts with a shield that requires more strategy and good use of the momentum bar to dispatch.
A few other things of note are that npc's in Link and Zelda's village have made references to things that may be promising in future builds. One mentioned other villages, plural, possibly indicating there will be more than one primary town area. A blacksmith character makes references to things that sound like a crafting system, but the system has not been implemented in this most recent build. Talking to Zelda makes it sound like it's possible she follows you around in-game as an npc character, like Ico or similar games. But that's only my assumption based on the dialogue. It could also possibly be a reference to co-op, as the build recognizes a second controller (Wii controller) when it's connected, but doing so causes the build to crash almost immediately.
Based on how far along the most recent build was compared to the one previous, I would say EAD are preparing a press build in the next coming months, but they generally don't reveal time-tables until the month before we are expected to execute them. But there will be footage of the next Zelda in the upcoming Nintendo Direct that will show off the village area (there are specific npc's with completed dialogue) the combo system, and climbing the waterfall to the first dungeon (that does not exist in this build).
Do what you wish with this information, I only ask that my identity be kept anonymous for legal and professional purposes. I will reveal more content of future builds if I am around to see them, but the only reason I am taking this risk now is because I am planning to leave Nintendo in the coming months to pursue other opportunities.
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