Eiji Aonuma on the Idea of Giving Link a Voice

Link doesn't need a voice, but his supporting characters and the other people in his world definitely do. Nintendo's fear of voice acting is something they need to work on in the future. It's so rare in their games and, really, a lot of their games would really benefit from having it.The Legend of Zelda being one of the biggest that would.

I agree with Aonuma. I feel like a Link that speaks to the point of expressing independent developed thought (as in, outside of reactionary sounds or words like WW Link's "C'mon!") would ruin how it feels to play as the character and his "individuality". If Link ever did speak, he wouldn't feel much like Link to me anymore and it'd feel less like the player's adventure. It's cool in parodies and official comics and such, but it doesn't belong in the games for the player's experience.
I feel like the Zelda team should maybe consider adding more voice-acting to other characters, though. Not to the point of giving every line of NPC dialogue voices, but just in key cutscenes and such. I'm not too sure about the idea myself either, but I feel if they executed it well and didn't over-do it it could be good.

Noooooooooooo, he shouldn't speak!

People need to understand that the text in Zelda causes the player (and reader) to create their own images of the characters, just as people do when reading books. It actually draws the player's consciousness more completely into the world, and creates a deeper interaction. This is why they have it, it has nothing to do with old school and new school. It's not nintendo being 'behind the times', it's nintendo understanding the mind of a gamer. I hope to god I never hear voice acting in Zelda, ESPECIALLY for Link.

No. His silence really helps with the feeling of immersion. I want to feel like I'm Link. That will change if they give him a whiny kid voice or overly manly man voice.

@SanderEvers i have to disagree look at final fantasy and other series that evolved to have speaking in them, eventual link or npc's will talk. it could be a negative sooner than later, look at mmo's people skip the text boxes unless they have voices these days. it could be same for zelda wii u if no voices people might not care overall.

I say if they choose to utilize voice acting, leave Link silent.

the answer is main hardcore zelda fans don't want link to talk, but to get a new crowd interested link may have to talk.

@Frank-The-Tank played zelda for years never seen myself as link tbh, same for the final fantasy series clouds cloud, terra's terra, to me in the end. it's a story i'm playing, nothing you do alters how link will act overall.

@Mr_Action Boom couldn't have said it better myself.

Ugh, voice acting in games is overrated. First thing I do when starting a game is make sure that subtitles are on. Keep the Zelda series as it is, with the characters giving off unintelligible noises

Heck, Link really didn't have any dialog to begin with. It makes sense for the rest to have voice acting because they've been the driving force for the story in Zelda games for practically forever. To all of a sudden have Link not only produce dialog, but talk in a game just seems extremely odd. (yes, I know there was the cartoon, but that was for watching, not using Link for interaction and playing a game)

If they want to keep Link silent, whatever, but I am against Zelda games having no voiced lines for all of eternity. It's a carry over from when voiced lines were impossible, now being kept as an argument for nostalgia.

No, Link, please do not talk. Agree that the other character should have a voice acting though.

If they want Link to be an avatar, they should give you an option to be a girl. If they don't, Link is not a avatar and should have a voice. You can't have it both ways.

Playing Link's Awakening DX at the moment and I find his silence so endearing. No would be my answer. I like Aonuma's description of Link's silence: proud independence.

I'd like to see voices for other characters, but never for Link. I feel like they couldn't do that without giving him a personality, and the whole point of the character is that he's a blank slate.

@pabloff9 If what's been happening lately is any indication, that may actually happen. I have no problem with a female Link.

@pabloff9 TBH, I don't think Link has been an ~avatar for years. He's his own character at this point. He might have started of meant to be a blank, avatar character, but now? No, I don't think he is. He's an iconic, named character. He's not me, or anyone else. He's Link.

I do agree there should be a female Link option, especially now that there's Linkle. Having the option doesn't hurt anything. Heck, I play Zelda games more than once. So having a female option would be fun. I'd eventually play as both.

Just do it Xenoblade Chronicles X style, important characters voiced but Protagonist is silent.

I'm one of the people who simply doesn't want any voice acting in a Zelda game.The unique experience I have gotten from these games comes from their atmosphere, and I find the silence to be endearing.
Call me a purist, but I don't think that just because they can add voice acting, that they should.

Concerning having the choice of a female Link, let me say that I still don't see the point. It wouldn't add anything interesting to the game and we can either have an avatar character on who we can project ourselves or a character with an actual personality, and not both. And 3D Zelda games tend to go to the latter.

I generally prefer no voice acting in Nintendo games. Ever heard Mario talk for an extended period of time? It gets a little weird. He's too much of a cartoon to take seriously. He's kind of one dimensional, like Link, and I'm fine with that.

The other thing is that bad voice acting can ruin a game for me, but a lack of voice acting is... normal. Nintendo's squeaks and squeals for their characters probably also helps ensure games get translated faster, as there's no need to worry about localizing that aspect of the game as well.

With how absurd it seems at times for him to be this mute mime in a world of talking people, I have to believe a Link with lines (VA'd or not) could be made to work, when it's appropriate.

But either way, I have to hope Aonuma's speculation on this won't be bearing fruit for a long, long time... it's terrifying to think that he might still be mulling over this fundamental detail with regards to the game we're currently waiting on!

The future. The year is 2095. NEWS: WHAT ABOUT LINK HAVING A VOICE!?!?

How about just keep him silent for the games, but give us that rumored Netflix Zelda series that Nintendo debunked, and have Link talk in that instead? The reaction to the idea was certainly positive, so it's not like there's a reason not to.

People who request this are either not proper Zelda fans or can't read. Do not compare to recent Final Fantasy games, their voice acting is awful and so ill fitting! Do we want Zelda games to become like badly dubbed movies? Because that's what they'll become. Like Xenoblade Chronicles. Great game, just don't watch their mouths when they speak.

I think 'some' voice acting on NPCs could be acceptable, but still not full. A bit like Fire Emblem awakening outside of the cut scene movies - the odd words/sentence here and there.

There is also the question of what accents to use (for the English language versions anyway). I don't believe American would work. I even think classical British accents wouldn't go. Maybe they should keep it silent then. And we're back to square one.......

@GravyThief
It would be interesting to see what the average age is for those who want voice acting and those who don't. Something about having to read a few sentences seems to scare people these days.

Honestly? I don't want voice acting in Zelda. It's like a story book; you have the visuals, the text, but everything else is up to imagination. Voice acting can be really good (really bad too, of course), but even if carefully done, it takes away from the magic imo. I have enough other wonderful games with VA. Zelda can stay the way it is.

Oh, but maybe I'm just old-fashioned... ^^

(IF there ever was voice acting, I hope Link gets left out of it.)

Link shouldnt get a voice, but Zelda U needs more interaction between the NPCs and Link if it's to work. Xeno X was hampered greatly by the silent protagonist with next to no decision making or influence.

There shouldn't be voice acting at all in Zelda. Just think how people hated the tacked on narrator in Hyrule Warriors.

Why would he even consider this unless the other characters are being voiced? He wouldn't. Link being the only character with a voice would be weird. He's talking about a fully voiced Zelda game here and debating if Link should be the only one that's silent.

I want full voice acting in Zelda and Metroid games.

That includes main characters such as Link and Samus.

...and then you think about how People reacted when Samus got a voice. I enjoyed Other M, but the character changed and lost personality when trying to give her one. From Wind Waker on they worked a lot on Face expressions for Link, in 3D games and that is the right choice, continue that way. I usually have also subtitles when playing games with voice acting and I often skip the talking because I read faster than the characters speak, I also think dialogues in games are often far too long and boring...

I would prefer no voice acting. IMO voice acting would ruin Zelda. if Nintendo feel compelled do to this, I hope there is an option to turn it off.
I find myself skipping most scenes in Zeno because I get irritated with the Voices

Idk i love zelda how it is, i mean i like to read, it keeps the game with a classic atmosphere.

Like one of my other favourite game series, Half-Life, I actually quite like the fact the protagonist is a mute. Sure it might just be a left over from older times, but I don't see any reason to change it now. Wouldn't at all be against other NPCs talking though (as it is in the Half-Life series). And like @Denngar said, bad voice acting can ruin a game, while having Nintendo's signature grunts and squeals does not.

@ChuJelly Same here.

I wouldn't mind if Link gets more voice acting. I wouldn't mind if he stayed without VA. But ways does not matter. Everybody has there own perception of Link.

I think a lot of people are affraid that his voice will suck. I do agree that he became such an iconic character that he does deserve some kinda personality of his own right now.

If he's ever going to talk then get it over with already!

To me this "silent protagonist in order to be your avatar" seemed lame even back at the 90's. Other games like final fantasy and Metal Gear gave the protagonist personality and actually helped the player to feel for them. So I want Link to talk.

Also this strange thing of slowly showing speech lines should have been gone and replaced with real voice acting since GameCube days. Why they are so slow and have this bibib sound? In Skyward it was very annoying.

If and when we see the new Zelda game arrive Link won't have a voice, unless Nintendo want to delay it another year. So we would look at a new proper Zelda game in 2018.

I think only cutscene heavy games need voice acting because it looks awkward that the characters don't talk (eg Hyrule Warriors), The main Zelda games don't need one. If they wanted Link to talk they would have done so with Ocarina of Time, there is no point in doing it now, just because every one does it nowadays.

To me reading the captions puts the legend into Legend of Zelda

I think part of it is tied in with technology as Link could never be given a voice back in the day, even if they wanted to. And it's become like a tradition now that he doesn't (two words in Wind Waker aside).

Perhaps if they were set on it, it should be a spin-off game or something that would support the idea somehow. I mean it's not like they could do any worse than the CD-i Zeldas... right?

@kenrulei anybody who skips over the text in a Zelda game doesnt appreciate the game anyway. They dont deserve to understand the story if they have to have it spoon fed to them through curscenes with voice acting.

Keep Link silent but give everyone else a voice with the possible exception of Zelda and Gannondorf to reinforce the bond they all have.

The main series of Zelda have always turned out fantastic without voice acting but if Eiji feels like he can add something through voices in one of the future games then I am ok with giving it a try. He hasn't disappointed me before so I don't think adding a voice to Link would ruin the series, people are just resistant to it because the Zelda series has been around for 30 years and has performed superbly without it.

To me there's no reason to have silent protagonists anymore, this kind of thing is from a bygone era, and can't survive for too long. Even Bethesda games are giving characters a voice now (yeah I know ToZ is much more sacred and better by every means than any fallout or elder of scrolls game).
In Metroid Other M the idea is great, but the actress was poor chosen and the plot/writing was awful (still I kind like that game).
I don't know maybe give us 3 to 5 options of voice (like Avatar in Fire Emblem), or give a voice and the possibility to make choices (like Commander Shepard), I don't know how but, to me, Link MUST speak.

I feel it's time to add voices to Zelda. It would make it truly fresh. Link doesn't have to speak, but make it like Half Life where the other characters speak.

I think having link talk would make me very uncomfortable.
Also, adding voice acting to the games would be kind of pointless, because everyone would speak in Hylian.

It's not like I identify much with Link anyway (which is also why I wouldn't mind a female link). Let him yap it up or keep him quiet, I don't give dual poops either way.

I'm open to the option of a fully voiced Link, but it isn't completely necessary to me. I don't mind having to imagine what Link would say, in fact I feel it adds charm to the game. If Eiji wants to try out a voiced Link though, then I'm interested in seeing the result.

We've spent so much time dealing with a voiceless Link, and it grew on us. If Link were to be given a voice now, most people wouldn't accept it. Link's silence has become a key feature in the Hero's personality. It gave him a sense of innocence and righteousness.

Thing is, if they don't get the voice acting right, it will REALLY sour the experience. For me, at least.

I think Link could speak with short answers like yes or no!!!

I say do it.

@Frank-The-Tank Well said. I've been very happy that Nintendo has resisted the urge to "make everything like a Hollywood movie" on the grounds that this is more 'immersive', 'realistic', and therefore better. The games offer a unique way of connecting to the world that's somewhere between a movie and a book, and that's something I treasure.

And despite being completely mute, Link has often been one of the most expressive characters I've played as - Wind Waker's Link in particular. In that case, largely because of his eyebrows. Who needs a voice when you've got eyebrows like that...

People will argue about whether Link's role as a silent protagonist really makes him an 'empty vessel' for the player, but I certainly think it means you think about and empathise with him differently, and that grey space between the player and the game world is worth something. At the very least, it doesn't get me thinking, "gawd, Link is such an irritating duckhead and I wish he'd shut up and let me play my game" within the first five minutes.

I don't think Link is a complete blank canvas - there's definitely a heavy outline in place - but I think there's enough left unfinished to let the player step into the world and breath some of themselves into Link.

"You mean you have to use your imagination? That's like a baby's toy!"

If the argument for making a female Link playable is because it should be a representation of the player, who project themselves onto the character, then giving that character a voice kind of negates that. So no, I don't think he should have a voice.

BUT they should definitely give other speaking characters voice acting.

No thank you. the voice acting could either turn out good, or end up really bad.

He shouldn't talk, but there's no reason some of the other characters and npcs couldn't.

I don't need or want Link to speak. If they did it I wouldn't cry about it so long as the voice acting was decent. What I'd be more interested in is perhaps voice acting for everyone except Link - kind like in Xenoblade Chronicles X. I thought that game had the best of both worlds - no need to read length text boxes but I could still project onto the protagonist.
Xeno X has quickly turned into my favourite RPG of all time. I cannot wait for Zelda U...

I'm glad to see my contemporaries sharing similar views. Keep Link silent but allow other characters to talk! It adds so, much more to the game and and even the lore to have voice acting. I'm glad Link has had options to say things but never speaks in past games. I'd like for his dialogue to have more crucial consequences. But keep him silent

@kenrulei Final Fantasy is different though. In Final Fantasy, it is different stories, different worlds and it is more in depth for the story. Most of all, it is different characters mean that it is new characters where people don't already have a set mindset or even know who they are.. Even then, take a look at the Final Fantasy games now, you never feel as connected to the characters anymore. Think back to what people say are the best ones. The ones where your imagination played out, you read the text, named your characters and so forth. How many people do you hear say that 12, 13, or even 10 are the best ones compared to IX, VIII, VII, VI, etc. Final Fantasy 10 was the last game where you could name your characters and it was only one, Tidus and it kind of make it awkward as you never hear anyone say his name.

I think Link not talking is for the best. The silent characters are usually the most expressive as they use their emotions rather then words. Characters who are to dialogue heavy tend to fail in many aspects. Having Link talk wouldn't exactly be bad, if it was done well. If all Links gonna do is state the obvious or just talk to much then just put Navi or Fi in their and call it good. Link not being able to talk makes him much more relatable and likable. Their really is no reason to hate Link because hes never said anything that we don't agree with, nor has said what he wants to do out loud which we may dislike. In a way all of Links decisions in every Zelda game is based on our decisions. If we want to go to Hyrule Castle first, then thats where we go. If we want to go to Death Mountain first then thats where were going, ect. If Link talked then it would most likely ruin the adventure. Charecters like Fox McCloud, or Marth, or even Captain Falcon can talk because unlike Link they don't act as vessels. You'r not supposed to try and connect yourself to them. But instead they are just characters in an already set story. Yes Zelda games technically do have already set storys, but the difference between Link and them is that Unlike them who are just characters in a story, Link is supposed to be our way into the story. We make Links decisions, We fight Links battles, and we know what he thinks and what hes gonna do without the need for him to even talk. Please don't change this

I'm all for keeping Link a non-talking protagonist. As others have undoubtedly said above, having Link almost like a blank slate allows the player to make their own impressions of Link's character. I think it's more fun to play a character that way.

Besides, having someone actively voice Link could ruin how some players think he should act/sound. I've watched the clips from the CDi games, they're pretty painful.

@SanderEvers that's simply not true. It honestly depends how well the dialogue is written.

I'm very much against Link having a voice.

I can imagine any English voice acting for Link being close to the English voice acting found in Xenoblade, which would not be a good thing in my opinion.

First of all, I never understood this discussion. What's the big deal? There's a really simple solution to this: both!
Why not have an option where you can choose whether you want textboxes or voice acting?
The game could ask you when you create a new save and you could change it in the pause menu any time you want. I had this thought for so many years and I can't believe that people are still discussing this.

Another solution would be to let the player do the talking via the Gamepad's microphone. That way Link would speak but not ruin your fantasy of him. And the implementation would be really simple, because it wouldn't matter what the player is saying. Just let players babble on if they like.

But what I personally find way more important than this would be a way to skip the whole dialogue or at least its parts faster (this goes for both text boxes and voice acting). There is so much backtracking in Zelda, the shopkeepers always tell you the same things and also when you have died, you have to read the same story text boxes all over again. But you never can skip them alltogether. You always have to keep hitting 'A' like a maniac. It's the single most annoying thing in every Zelda game. I'd like to skip the whole dialogue with a single button press.

Also @MitchVogel: "Link has always been a silent protagonist" That's not true. At least in the 3D games and the modern 2D/2.5D games he's not silent. He constantly says thinks like "Ha" "Heyya" "Wuaaaah" and other stuff.

With that out of the way, now to the comments.

@MitchVogel: But Link does already have a personality! He always oversleeps, he's brave and courageous, he's a hero, he helps and rescues people where ever he can. I'd say he has more personality than some people in the real world. Also, having a mute hero in a world full of talking NPCs would be really weird, just like it was in XCX.

@Mr_Action: That's so not true. There are many Nintendo games series with voice acting, for example Mario, Starfox, Metroid, Xenoblade, F-Zero X, Waverace. Almost every Nintendo game had voice acting at some point. Except for LoZ (although that's not true either, Beedle says "thank you" and Fi is speaking scrambled English all the time). And your suggestion to give the NPC's a voice but not Link would be terrible. This would make Link a mute hero in a world of talking people. That would be so strange. Why would you do that?

@kenrulei: What are you talking about? New crowds? Do you seriously think anyone would buy a game just because of voice acting? People buy games because they're fun, not because they have voice acting. Also, you're wrong with this: "it could be a negative sooner than later, look at mmo's people skip the text boxes unless they have voices these days". People also skip voice acting. I do that all the time when I play an RPG on PC. The reason people skip text/voice is because either they already know it from a previous sesson/playthrough or because the dialog is just boring.

@pabloff9: ??? Why does any avatar have to offer both genders? It's an avatar, not an exact copy of you. There are many males playing females in games and females playing males. Your avatar doesn't have to look like you or have the same gender as you. It doesn't even have to be the same species as you. That's what makes it an avatar.

@SanderEvers: As I mentioned above, a mute link in a world of talking NPC's would be really weird, as it is in XCX. Why should our hero be mute? Either all characters talk or none of them.

@Denngar: Are you serious? Sure, Mario may be one-dimensional, but Link surely is not. As I just wrote above, he always oversleeps, he's brave and courageous, he's a hero, he helps and rescues people where ever he can. That's not one-dimensional.
And the only reason Mario's talking is weird for you is because you're not used to it. It would be totally normal if he had talked so much in all of his games.

Yes. It's time now! He can't be silent forever

@Shy_Guy He isn't silent...

I wouldn't mind Link speaking, but under a few certain conditions...
#1 His personality would be tolerable (Unlike the Zelda Cartoon)
#2 He needs to have an arc where his character changes throughout the game's story
#3 Needs an amazing voice actor (This is a must)

I do see an issue with giving Link a voice. It would have to be perfect, and as people have different ideas of what Links voice should be like in their heads, it would be difficult not to disappoint some fans. If they do it wrong, they could end up disappointing more fans than they please.
I feel that even if they end up giving Link a voice, he shouldn't speak too much.

@ChuJelly They just need to pull it off the way Kid Icarus did.

Eh, give his a voice for one game and see how it goes.

I'm all for Link "having more of an increased involvement in progressing the plot," but Link can certainly do that with his actions rather than his words. It would be nice to give Link's character more purpose if there was someone close to him that disagreed with him on something, or did something personal to him. It doesn't necessarily have to include dialogue from Link.

Not super keen on it but if done well I wouldn't complain.

Whether good or bad, Nintendo fans would never be happy at the choice of voice actor.

No.

Oh yeah, considering what happened with how they thought Samus should sound, I'm happy with just implying he can communicate fine and we don't hear it.

I swear, Zelda is my last hold out. I have an imagination and I'm literate. I'm perfectly capable of giving my protag a voice when I read the text in my head. I'm still bitter about fallout 4.

@Shy_Guy The fact that a shy guy is advocating for a voice for Link is all kinds of funny.

It's less the voice and more the dialogue and characterisation that goes with it. At the moment the most Link has ever said in a game was "Over Here!" And "C'mon" in Windwaker, at least to my knowledge. Link's a blank canvas, he has no character really. Toon Link does to a degree but it's hardly fleshed out. Giving him a voice requires giving him dialogue and giving him dialogue require giving him a character.

Conversation trees might be a solution, allowing players to choose how Link is. Personally, I like the gibberish. I like being able to take my time reading it at my own pace. And more often than not, when characters talk I wish they'd shut up. I liked Kid Icarus' constant nattering though, weirdly, probably because it was a constantly flowing dialogue instead of the usual awkward conversation segments here and there followed by the same quips over and over in between. And there are other games that do it well.

I don't connect with Link when I play. I recognise him as his own person. Even Xenoblade Chronicles X's player, where the avatar you make talks a little, connects with me and I see him as his own person. I think Link should talk. If you customized him and his abilities, he should stay silent. But he doesn't. He should talk.

I'm completely fine with the other Loz characters talking, almost similar to FE (like when they only speak out a line or two)
-maybe go nuts during cut-scenes ?

But PLEASE keep Link the way he is! It's part of his charm!
*If anything, do a Maggie Simpson gag;
"Every time it looks as if he's about to say something...some jerk butts in to interrupt!" XDD

Or "conversation trees" as suggested by @Ogbert - I've always loved that option!

If you insist on having a talking elf, let it be Toon.
(WW Link's "c'mon!" was pretty adorable!)
With his voice -I'm certain it will come off more natural.

My curiosity says YES.

I'm not opposed to Link talking (as long as the voice is masculine) and I'm not opposed to Link remaining silent. When he was voiced in the Super Mario Bros. Supershow and Captain N, I really didn't mind it.

At the very least, I'd like to see Zelda and NPC's voiced someday.

I think we are not going to hear his voice on the next game then..

god no! it has nothing to do with tech. its the nature of link and our imagination needs space to breathe. the blindingly obvious problem is just how awful most voice acting is

I could care less either way. It wouldn't hurt to try though, as long as it's somebody good doing the voice overs.

I think it wouldn't improve the game or gameplay at all so leave Link speechless!

Having a silent protagonist is the laziest form of storytelling, and is detriment to the story as a whole. You can't truly be invested in a character that has the personality of a bar of soap, with no opinion or input for what's going on around them.

Answer: https://youtu.be/it2sk2nzbnY

@Mr_Action
I 100% agree with you. 👍

No. We all remember what happens when Link talks.

Its a Japanese thing, I suppose. My avatar in Xenoblade X also doesn't talk, and for some reason that really bugs me. I had never problems with a silent Link though, but I would love to see voice-acting either way!

Per xenoblade chronicles, methinks the avatar seems a little inpersonal because of the typically (too?) casual gestures made during cutscenes, and in comparison to other characters who are voice acted. The contrast is shown in that your character tends to be very animated (talking and otherwise) in battle, but in cutscenes he/she stands there and acts like a quiet/shy mime. May've helped if they displayed more enthusiastic emotions based on dialogue choices (or a standard subsets of phrases to be said per VA, like Shulk's "I'm really feeling it!", to breathe life into the personality). I guess it's a bit tough since the expectation is to have the player imprint their personality, as opposed to a pre-designed/thought-out character like Shulk, who could then have a voice acted lines and react to the world and other characters in a more personal way (based on predetermined personality, goals, etc). This style (character imprint, character customization and dialogue choices to form personality) seems more western RPG'ish, personally I prefer a deeper story and set characters/personalities of typical JRPG's.

I think there's a charm to having characters that don't speak, when done right. Examples done well are Mario and Luigi (they speak gibberish) and Link (battle grunts), and Inklings (gibberish, personality shown some in game at Squid Sister concerts, idle plaza animations, fashion-focus, expanded to generalization of having mischievous personalities on fan vids [some good stuff, btw]). I think these characters tend to embody a certain kind of personality on their own based on their general actions / mindset. It'd be different/weird to have a Link say with a voice or with character dialogue choices. Instead, we tend to see them with a certain heroic personality and presume / expect them to make the right or typically more just action. That may simplify the storylines, but I think it works well with their type of games, which tend to be more about action, adventure, and commitment/dedication (to overcome difficulty, save the world / princess / toad / etc). I feel like if they wanted to choose a deeper storyline or explore other aspects of story, it'd be typically better suited to introduce a new character to do so (like Midna and the more serious storyline/action of Twilight Princess, from which we can see Link react in new ways to the new problems presented).

I feel like Link should have a voice. Over time, Link became less of an avatar and more of his own character.

Also it seems to me like a lot of people don't want Link to have a voice because you don't like change. Come on, let the games evolve for once.

@AshFoxX

Yeah, I was gonna say, a better alternate tagline for this article would be "Well excuse me princess!"

@shani That's a lot of why's...
But case in point: to name one example of another REALLY great game series (which arguably also has a larger mass appeal) that also has no voice acting for the main character, simply look at the Halflife games. And not a soul was complaining about that back in the day, even when the second game got a re-release with the Orange Box bundle.

Another funny thing is that 9 out of 10 first person shooters also don't give the character that you play any voice, or at least very little dialogue (if any) and most of it will more than likely be reserved for cut scenes only, but you don't hear anyone complain about that either, or at least not that I know of.

No, there really is no need to do the all or nothing thing when applying voice acting in games: it can be both. Grey is a much more versatile color than black or white...