Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I believe it when I see it. It's sounds more like someone's wishlist of what Zelda U should be than what Nintendo would do, and I'm not sure I like those changes. Also, I don't trust them with voice acting; at least not the English voice acting (don't know much about the Japanese voice acting).

@Waluigi: Dr. Wiwy is best villain.

I am cool with all of that Emily Rogers stuff, but hesitant about voice acting. I've really come to identify that weirdly unique gibberish speech with Nintendo, whether it's the Squid Sisters, Animal Crossing villagers or Midna. For Zelda, it's another quirk that makes the series stand out from your stock-standard fantasies.

That said, "everyone speaks but Link" is just about the best way you could go about it, in my opinion. I just hope that, if true, Nintendo hires an absolutely stellar voice cast. Surely, Ninty knows how much is riding on this game, especially if it's an NX launch title.

Anyway, didn't Emily Rogers quit Twitter? She back already?

If voice-acting's on the cards, then I say we start a petition to have Tingle voiced by Danny Devito!

@NinChocolate: Zelda is generally a lot more important to move the story than Link. Link is normally just the character the Player uses, while the Story normally uses Zelda. If Zelda were playable then they would just need to replace her character in the Story some how. If they are wanting to use Zelda for the Story, then they need a different playable character, Linkle is most likely the female character. It would also be weird if you played the game with the Male character and Zelda never showed up in a game called The Legend of Zelda.

Also, Zelda doesn't have to be waiting in the tower at the end of the game. She can have a different purpose in the story.

no no no no

even that level of failure would not inherently ruin an E3 to that degree. Especially since they almost have to be showing the NX in some way, it's borderline impossible for it to be that bad.

Though it would be funny considering the rumors of Beyond Good and Evil 2, which would be a sequel to a Zelda-like that had a female protagonist and actually good voice acting. XD

@NinChocolate: Then that is a game where Zelda is the playable character, not an optional playable character. That is a different subject all together.

@NinChocolate: You don't think it would be weird play The Legend of Zelda and Zelda not being in the game, if you play as a Male Character?

I do think letting you play Zelda is the better option. They could literally just make Link the Zelda of the scenario if necessary in that case. Would actually be a decent way of encouraging replays potentially!

I am a little confused by your wording. Are you saying that if you select Zelda to be the playable character, they could just insert Link as the same story character? I am not sure if the fans would like that. Link is known for not speaking and with that rumor Link would be talking. I am not saying having Zelda as a playable character is impossible but there are a lot of road blocks. Linkle was recently introduced, and using her would be a lot easier than using a character the Story normally focuses around.

@DefHalan: They could have both of them (Link and Zelda) team up and be a duo throughout the game, kinda like Booker and Elizibeth in Bioshock Infinite or Ellie and Joel in The Last of Us, only both could be playable rather than just the dude in those two games. It'd be cool I think to play as Zelda and have Link be an AI controlled character helping you out. One of my main wants in Zelda U is to have Zelda playable at long last so I've been debating all the possibilities for a while. Either as a main or a secondary character, I don't mind. I'd prefer Link to be male as his character has been for 30 years but if Nintendo think it's time to change that and if it'll make people happy I won't mind. Just as long as Zelda is playable. Somehow.

@TheLastLugia: That would change the gameplay drastically but I like it more than just making Zelda an optional playable character. I would totally be down for a Co-Op Zelda game like that... But I don't know how fans would react *looks at Federation Force

I think it's more likely that Linkle will be playable than Zelda. Not like they can't retcon her to be the reincarnation of the hero (which she's not in Hyrule Warriors Legends).

Even if we assume the rumor is true, I highly, highly doubt Linkle, Zelda or any other existing female character will be playable — I'd wager it's going to be male Link or female Link. For one, it makes the most narrative sense; there's absolutely no reason an incarnation of the chosen hero can't be female, and Link has always existed as a vessel for the player (hence the name — a "link" to the virtual world). As a silent protagonist, having the choice of gender works extremely well here. Just as you've always been able to choose Link's name, this doesn't really change the story.

And let's think logistically. This is an open-world game with a huge scale. From what we've heard, it may have the biggest budget of any game Nintendo has ever internally developed. Linkle and Zelda are existing, defined characters, while Link has traditionally served as a silent player avatar. To make a non-Link character playable — regardless of their gender — would likely add a hugely significant amount of development time and cost, as you'd essentially have to make a separate story line and unique world interactions for Link and the alternative character. With a female Link, it's the same game with a different skin for the player character. Makes a whole lot more sense, from where I'm standing.

This just in: female Link to have boob slider.

Seriously though I hope they don't go down the road of customisable Link. It's always disastrous for storytelling. Just compare Xenoblade Chronicles to Xenoblade X and try and say with a straight face that the character customiser was good for storytelling and character development.

It'd pretty much single handedly rule out there ever being a romance storyline between Link and Zelda, as I seriously doubt they'd go with a lesbian thing in a Nintendo game.

@VelvetElvis: But Linkle is basically the Female Link. _{I haven't played Hyrule Warriors Legend so maybe I am missing something but even still it is a spin off and this would just be a different version of her, one that is an incarnation of the great hero in some way. I don't think she would require that much work. Unless I am missing something}

Linkle is just a crazy girl who thinks she's the reincarnation of the hero.

Really, if they were to give you a choice, it would still be the same character with a different gender and looks. There's absolutely no reason to make special changes to the storyline or anything just to accommodate a female protagonist to a game like this.

In terms of romance, it has never really played an important role in Zelda (even in SS, Link and Zelda never go beyond having a pure, fantasy frienship). Maybe only Ruto would disagree.

@Dezzy: only in the Japanese version.

@Meowpheel: I feel like if there is a "female link" she will be considered the new version of Linkle anyway. I think Linkle is just going to be the Female version of Link. I don't think she will be her own character in future Zelda games, maybe just her own character in future Hyrule Warriors games. (I hope there are more)

Really, Linkle got the opportunity to be much more than a gender swap, she's her own character.

A female Link will be just that: Link, but female.

You can name your file Linkle, that's fine too.

Yeah, Linkle isn't female Link. She has no connection with the Triforce at all. She's just a girl with a bad sense of direction who genuinely thinks she's a hero.