Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

So nothing on the gamescom rumor yet...sigh.

Yeah I looked at the site that had reported it again. Looks likely they made it up to get attention.

I don't think projecting yourself onto Link has been a goal in the Zelda games for quite some time. That was true for the very first game, and maybe a few others. But more and more Nintendo has made Link his own character. He's not just the player anymore. He's Link the chosen hero of destiny blah blah. This is why he now has his own life and backstory in each new main game. You're not supposed to be projecting yourself onto him anymore.

I get the sense there's some truth to that too. Link feels somewhere in the middle. I don't think they see him as just a kind of Skyrim/ Xenoblade X blank avatar that is meant to represent the player. If they did, they probably would've done a female Link a while back. I think they see him as an actual character at this point. I hope they do give him a bit more personality in this game. It doesn't have to be anything deep. But just take it in the direction they did with Wind Waker where he actually expresses himself, rather than other characters kind of implicitly registering his supposed responses and general attitude.

As someone on GameFAQs so eloquently put it "Link is not you, you are Link". Zelda games aren't letting the player himself go through Hyrule as their own avatar, and they are not letting the player control another character going through Hyrule. Rather, they are allowing the player to become a particular legendary hero that goes through Hyrule.

I'm okay with Link having a little bit of a personality, because that kind of goes along with that philosophy. Link's expression basically either matches what the player is supposed to be feeling, or is designed just to be goofy. Alternatively, I'm fine with the approach TP took as well, mostly making the character a blank slate

Where I have a problem is when Link has his own independent thoughts and feelings like he did in SS. Where he has this backstory and romantic interest of his own. That just starts to separate me from the character, and it becomes more of a JRPG situation where I am controlling other characters rather than becoming them.

@Operative I think I kind of simultaneously responded to you with this. SS is the only game I can think of that really made Link his own character (maybe Link's Awakening, which happens to be along side SS as one of my least favorite games in the series). TP he was a mostly blank slate, and WW he was more expressive, but still not that much of his own character.

I'd disagree with the statement of WW or TP Link not being their own characters. But to each their own.

Link x Zelda shouldn't be a thing, honestly.

It's understandable though. People love to ship and pair up characters; especially two characters as iconic and timeless as Link and Zelda. After all Link is the Great Hero and Zelda is the Princess.

Why shouldn't Link X Zelda be a thing??? Its just like with Peach and Mario! This is the foundation Aonuma and Nintendo has created.

Internet porn says otherwise.

Rule 34

The most hit or miss of the internet rules.

Why are we even discussing whether Link or Zelda should be a couple if we haven't even played the game yet? In some games it makes sense for them to be a couple, while in other games it doesn't.

In which games did it not make sense?

@Jason723: Not that I'm part of the discussion, but it's probably being discussed because Nintendo refuses to give us any information on Zelda Wii U.

Twilight Princess. Zelda and Link have a professional relationship for the duration of Twilight Princess, no rescuing, no kissing, just saving the kingdom together. Then Link goes back home and probably marries Ilia.

I would agree but... Nope. I don't see Link going to Ilia. I see him going back to Hyrule Castle to get to know Zelda better.

I think Skyward Sword is one of the few games where romance is directly implied. Most of the time it just seems like professional knight-serving-princess type deals

Because a romantic relationship is actually suggested in Mario. In Zelda, it's all about saving magical princess for the sake of saving the world. The romantic suggestions didn't come until far later.

I think Link and Zelda don't make sense as a couple in more games than they do. Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass may be the only ones where I think they realistically become a couple after the events of the games, though it's pretty easy to ship them in Skyward Sword, Minish Cap, and Link Between Worlds.