In a recent interview with Gamespot, The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma discussed how the 3D effect is utilized in the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
This topic was brought up due to the release of the Nintendo 2DS last week that removes the 3D aspect of the handheld. Aonuma says that they had to actually rework parts of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds to make it more playable without 3D.
It’s not that you can’t play it with 2D, it’s just that it becomes clearer when you have the 3D effect on. We found out about the 2DS during development, not before, and we also made changes so that we were sure that you could still play and solve the puzzles only with 2D. It’s definitely still playable in 2D!
Aonuma also says that everyone should try the 3D effect, even if it was offputting in other games due to the game being 60 FPS. This allows the 3D to work very effectively as Aonuma says “We think we’ve created a game that even those who found it difficult previously to see the 3D effect would be able to see it better and enjoy it more with this title.”
A separate interview by Aonuma with German site Gameswelt, and translated by Siliconera, reveals that a higher difficulty setting will be unlocked after beating the game. There is no word if it will be similar to The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD’s Hero Mode or something completely different.