We think it's fair to say that the new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild stole the show during last week's Nintendo Switch presentation, providing a strong flourish with which to end the broadcast. It was packed full of new scenes, characters and sent chills up many spines, in the process exciting Switch early adopters and - of course - Wii U owners sticking to their current system.
After a teasing appearance in the footage at The Game Awards, we also saw plenty of Princess Zelda in the trailer. She's a significant character not only in the game, evidently, but also to fans, and plenty were interpreting her appearances and debating what they saw; some naturally discussed the scene in which she breaks down in tears. It's something that can be argued as a positive or negative although, frankly, the debate has been ill-informed considering the lack of context we have on game events that lead to the moment.
In any case, Eiji Aonuma has been moved to explain that people shouldn't make assumptions about Zelda's character based on one moment of powerful emotion; like anyone, fictional or otherwise, she's a complex personality. He said the following to Eurogamer.
Regarding how Princess Zelda is portrayed in the trailer, obviously everyone has their own ideas of exactly how they would expect a female character to act or behave. What I would particularly like to emphasise is that the scene of her crying in the trailer is just one scene from the game - within the trailer itself it forms a dramatic high point, but that shouldn't be taken too much out of context.
Princess Zelda as she appears in the game as a whole is very complex and multi-faceted, and it's not as if she's crying all the time in the game [laughs], so I would ask fans not to read too much into just that one scene from the trailer, and to please play the game and appreciate Zelda as she is in all her aspects.
Aonuma-san was also asked the age-old question about Zelda as a playable character in the main games; he repeated comments we've seen before but, in the interests of being thorough, here's what he had to say.
I seem to remember three years ago when we showed the first trailer at E3, I said something along the lines of "I never said that Link would necessarily be male" or something along those lines, and that got taken out of context and turned into a rumour that took on a life of its own. Link has always been portrayed as a male character as the protagonist of the games.
After that happened actually, we did discuss in the team about whether or not we should have a female protagonist. I spoke to Mr Miyamoto about it and the whole team talked about it, but in the end, it just didn't happen.
On Wii U of course there's already Hyrule Warriors where Princess Zelda is a playable character, and there's actually quite an assortment of characters including several female ones. And that title is already available of course. So looking to the future, talking about the possibility of having a playable female protagonist, I'd say yes, it's a possibility.
Based on what we see in the trailer, it looks like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will have a rather powerful narrative; plenty of surprises - and character complexity - no doubt await.
Are you excited by what you can see of the game's story in the trailer?
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments (129)
Of course her crying was taken out of context, that's how the trailer was presented, you big dummy.
As for the female protagonist argument again. I'm not disappointed, or upset they did not give players the OPTION to play as a female Link, but I still hold my ground that it would not have been a bad thing.
I cringe when people want Japanese voice acting and English sub*
yes! the reason I love this trailer so much is the emotion. I love it when stuff gives me chills and makes me feel sad. maybe that's weird but yeah 😂
I could care less. It's Zelda I only care about the gameplay and dungeons.
Of course someone will take it out of context...
Good. Zelda is a "living" entity and must evolve. If not physically then emotionally etc
Really hope this lives up to and surpasses the hype.
It has been waaaaay to long since a new Zelda.
Multi-faceted = two-faced?
See, it's so much better with voice acting. It helps bring the game to life.
@Setery10
I've got no problem with English voice acting but those people want sub not dub.
Cool beans.
@Setery10 The voice acting quality in the Japanese trailer was higher quality than that of the voice acting in the English trailer. At least from my perspective. That's the only reason I can see people wanting jap dub eng sub.
Translation - "No, this isn't another "Metroid:Other M", everything will be fine, please put the pitchforks away."
I don't imagine how a character crying onscreen can be a negative regardless of gender. Skeptics are welcome to put themselves in the character's shoes and honestly ask if they wouldn't be crying or having a hysterical breakdown after the exact same combination and amount of things the character goes through. "She cries so she's pathetic" is probably one of the most embarrassing "couch analysis" fallacies it is humanly possible to come up with.
Personally, the moment discussed was one of the reasons I have twice the interest in BotW I used to - it's one of those scenes that halt your breath for a moment.
In other news, I hope there will be a flagship game allowing Zelda to have her literal legend for once, too. But then again, I've had a soft spot for female protagonists in fiction, even moreso in adventure and fantasy, since I was a kid.
Switch=zelda
"So looking to the future, talking about the possibility of having a playable female protagonist, I'd say yes, it's a possibility." The people on Zelda Informer won't be happy about that, hahaha
Guys, do you want to know how that scene needs to interpreted?
The stoic, sensible, reasonable, strong royal figure and more or less face of a once beautiful kingdom is driven to tears. That's it.
That doesn't have to drive home how "emotional" she is; her being emotional is just part of how cinematic and emotionally moving the trailer - and by extension the game itself - is. But mainly the scene is meant to show how the fecal matter has truly hit the fan this time around. Don't read anything else into it.
Nintendo fans:
"Crying? Unacceptable! Get this garbage out of here, we don't do "emotion" round dese parts!"
(sure seem to understand hatred though)
The crying bit was like my favourite part of the trailer; I have a soft spot for overly emotional moments when thing are at their edge in stories. Of course I want Zelda to be a well rounded character too.
He inclusion of voice acting has been a long desired but for a Zelda game. My only fear is that I'll prefer the Japanese voices to the English ones (yet to see the English trailer) and I doubt we'll see subs. I think there are licensing issues regarding obtaining the rights to use Japanese voice acting or something. So could be a challenge or something Nintendo is not willing to put money into.
However, they could always go down the DLC route; just make sure it includes matching subs. Still annoyed by World of Final Fantasy.
'Wilst thou get the girl or cry like one?'
The Legend of Link CONFIRMED!
I'm kind of melancholy guy so I can drop my tears when I watch or heard something emotional like sorrow, departure, etc. I still can drop my tears for just watching several seconds of Ray's death from Princess and the Frog Prince Disney (Ray is an old firefly which squished by Dr. Facilier and rest in peace after looking the star upon the sky, his lover) or watching Bing Bong sacrifice to safe Joy from being banished or listening to one of Super Mario Galaxy song, Family ( The piano tune of Rosalina Observatory theme). Sob...
@nhSnork "Personally, the moment discussed was one of the reasons I have twice the interest in BotW I used to - it's one of those scenes that halt your breath for a moment."
Exactly the effect it had on me. Can't wait to play this game, even more so now.
@FX102A
English trailer isn't as good lol. The English Zelda pretty much sniffles during the crying scene lol.
How can people say the voice acting in the Japanese trailer is good when they can't even understand Japanese without subs? lol wut
@Setery10 Yeah, it's awful when people have preferences different from your own. How dare they.
Personally didn't get the hype for anything shown in the new trailer. I don't think BOTW will have anything ground breaking in terms of story. This is Zelda, which aside from one game has typically had all the substance of a bag of chips plot wise.
Also never expected a female Link option. Nor would I want them to add it if it went against the game concept Aonuma had in mind just to please people.
Aside from this "criying Zelda issue" which I think is not even worth commenting about, I really don't like this Zelda's character design.
She just doesn't look up to par with previous Zeldas like WW, TP and SS ones.
I don't know why, she just doesn't look quite right to me, almost as if she didn't have her usual majestic aura. But probably that's exactly the whole point, as the Hyrule Kingdom itself looks pretty decadent.
@LUIGITORNADO Eji Anouma is not a big dummy, keep calm and have some respect.
The crying didn't really give me the impression that she was weak. If anything, I got the impression that she has been one of the few forces in Hyrule trying in vain to hold back the advance of a powerful evil that is slowly destroying the land. That kind of pressure would get to anyone.
Other M doesn't work because Samus is cold-blooded to the core, but Princess Zelda has never been portrayed that way: she sometimes needs saving, but, more often than not, she's actively helping you in your quest to save the world. Not as hardcore as Samus Aran, but also not nearly as helpless as Princess Peach.
This looks so epic. I am in salvation mode. This title is going to be so awesome. I cannot contain myself. I keep watching it.
@starman292 Yeah I watched it, maybe it's a cultural thing but I find in Japanese voicework moments of anger, frustration and sorrow are done more loudly and with more inner emotion than in English voicework (Spanish sometimes can be a hybrid of the two; heck I liked the Latino Spanish speech more than the English).
@nhSnork Same here. Seeing Zelda cry for the first time made me care so much more for her, and the rest of her speech and actions in the trailer (including seemingly saving link from a guardian) only shows that she's a much bigger, active part of the story, not just a damsel in distress. I really can't wait to play this game and get completely immersed in its world.
But of course, this is the internet, so people will focus on one thing and somehow find a way to be negative about it.
I was going to write something about the internet, America and arrogant couch potatoes who don't have feelings and try to be cool, but I realized that I would break the rules of this site and make the community angry, so I'll just say:
I knew this would happen.
@FX102A The latino speech was surprisingly really good, the Deku tree in particular. I feel like I've heard that voice too somewhere else, it kinda reminded me of old cartoons.
@Trikeboy Yeah, I've been on that site before, and their community is just so angry.
Nothing wrong with a character getting upset and crying. There's also nothing wrong with having a gender option for Link, as Link's gender has never been integral to the story or gameplay in the past, and I'd be surprised if it suddenly comes up now. It should would add to the immersion of the game though. I'm also not sure what Anouma is on about with his backtracking about himself starting the rumor of Link being female to begin with.
If LoZ ever has a female protagonist, I hope it's a character created from start as female, and not just a "female Link". Make Zelda playable, let we play the game from Sheik's perspective. Anything but choosing Link's gender at the start of the game. Link is Link the same way Mario is Mario and Samus is Samus.
Buuut this has already been said a bunch of times. In any case, I'm excited to learn more about BotW princess Zelda.
@ottospooky That's just wrong, Link could be emotional too.
@NinjaWaddleDee What? Are you saying that you need a text that says "sob BOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!!" to understand crying?
@NinjaWaddleDee Emotion has no language/species barrier
@nhSnork
Thank you for this comment. Crying is perfectly acceptable in this situation. I honestly, as a male well into his adulthood comma started crying like a newborn child when I found out this week my babysitter passed away. If I was ever to ridicule a video game character for being upset that their entire kingdom's being destroyed, I would have to ridicule myself for the same.
Why can't characters in games be more like Daisy, with obvious traits that allow for fan interpretation and creative freedom?
As for all the people who fear of a passive Zelda: Have you guys seen the Amiibo where she looks more like a warrior, complete with a sword. She's probably not passive/weak all the time.
And even if she is: It would be quite fresh in a time where the media dictates that every woman portrayed should be aggresive! It isn't a honest opinion from them, they just do that to make money (especially Disney, luring girls and woman to the cinema. And what about allllllll those princes movies? I don't say they are bad. I heard very good things about Moana. But face it, they are just there to sell backpacks, skirts, etc to little girls)!
People are upset that she's crying? They think it's a sign of a weak or bad character? What the frick?
EVERYONE CRIES
Crying is not a bad thing. And taken out of context, you cannot, in any way, argue that single 2 second scene as positive or negative. As a writer and a hopeful author and game designer in the future, people talking crap like this makes me incredibly wary of having female characters at all. They're placed under a freaking microscope, and the slightest misstep - no matter how real or human or true to the character it may be - is taken as a negative, because, for some reason, women cannot show weakness in fiction at all.
People have taken their desires for "strong, independent" female characters WAY too far.
Everyone cries. And that scene in the trailer served as a way to make Zelda look real and human and to tell us, the prospective players, that "hey, this game's gonna get real, it's gonna get rough, it's gonna get emotional." That's a GOOD thing if it's executed properly.
@G-Boy we etch our own emotions on to Link as a silent protagonist
Honestly I'd rather just stick with playing as a gender-neutral Link.
@ottospooky You have a point.
Link has always seemed pretty androgynous to me.
@nhSnork Same here. Since I was a little kid I always had a soft spot for Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc). So to me more female heroes in fantasy is always welcome! Also a huge fan of BotW Zelda so far.
I'm a big fan of the idea of a female protagonist in Zelda that is playable, as long as its not a lazy addition like a gender swapped Link. The franchise deserves more respect than that in my opinion.
@greengecko007
Link's gender in the game is just as important as Mario's gender during his game or Samus's gender in her game.
He haa had too much development as a game character to be an avatar anymore.
Pretty much that is my exact reason for not liking the idea of a female Link. If they designed the game so that Zelda was playable from the beginning or another new character was designed, I would have no problem.
@LinkSword
Corrected meant sub
@TbobB
I just cringe because people don't actually understand what they are saying also you could literally have the person speaking gibberish and people wouldn't know the difference
@Anti-Matter same here with all those things.
@LordGeovanni I agree brother. Link and the franchise as a whole deserve more respect than a cop-out option like that. A new character that is just as important as Link but playable would be cool. I always like the idea that the two playable heroes would help each other out during the adventure to give more narrative weight to the two characters.
...crying = bad now? Were the majority of complainers soulless robots?
Aww, that's just cute Aonuma.
Was the crying scene really making people debate about Zelda's character? If so, that's weird.
@Setery10 I know right? I speak fluent Japanese and I still prefer the English voices most of the time. Maybe it's because living in Japan for so long made me sick of thier overacting but to each his own.
@Wexter I actually had a thought during Link Between Worlds. How did Ravio get those items? He is supposed to be the Link of Lorule, right? Suppose in his cowardness he actually snuck into the Dungeons and stole the items. He isn't strong enough to save the day for the princesses, but he is strong enough to sneak in and steal the item that Link needs to do the job. I would think that would make an interesting game. Metal Gear Solid sneak in steal the item return it to the hero.
Now imagine if the main character of a game, instead of Zelda, was somebody like Impa from OoT. Strong character strong female to play the game and it definitely would be something I would enjoy playing.
I don't think a female Link would work. Many of the games feature a "read between the lines" style romance with Link and Zelda. They are 2 beings destined to meet and overcome evil and I don't think Nintendo would follow through with some of those details if it were 2 female characters. Personally, it wouldn't bother me, but there are many people it would. Nor would I like to see them gender swap both characters just to keep those moments in. So we would have to revert Link and Zelda to their basic motivations just to cut on developement and remove any semblance of depth to them in the process. I really liked the way Zelda was portrayed in Skyward Sword and OoT with having her own journey and perhaps that would be the better route to go one day, by allowing us to experience her adventure in addition to Link's. It would be a nice way to add some simple DLC, if not included day one, by reusing the game assetts with a character that doesn't possess the same abilities.
The Zelda series has always had strong female characters and both stereotypically weak female and male characters.
Tho, what I would love most would be to have a Ganondorf starring game where we get to uncover his rise from a thief in the desert to the reborn Demise.
You can't debate with non-existent material, since the game isn't out yet and we haven't seen the story. Idiotic. Why is stupidity promoted in media so often these days?
@NinjaWaddleDee Exactly. I speak Japanese and being able to understand the native words I can say it's the same quality as the English. If not super overacted as most Japanese tracks are.
@LordGeovanni Except that almost every game uses a different character as Link, who often looks radically different. And no, Link's gender is not relevant to the story at all. There's no moments in any of the games that mention how necessary it was for Link to be male. There's barely even a canon timeline of events that happen in the series.
I guess this confirms Zelda is a independent woman who needs no man.
@greengecko007
There is also no specific reason why Mario must be a guy. Before anybody starts demanding a female Link, I would rather see a female plumber jumping up and down pipes and squishing Goombas. Or perhaps we can have the entire Zelda cast get gender-swapped. I would love to see a female Ganondorf beating the tar out of a male Zelda, and then have people defend that as not being sexist in any way. Or perhaps we should deal with the fact that Metroid focused on gender (at the end of the game) and now if it doesn't focus on gender, if Ninty made Samus a male, people would flip out.
Link is not an avatar. Link is a fleshed out character. If I can describe Link as an individual character, then he can't be an avatar. Left-handed, blonde, androgynous. Courageous. Daring. These are all aspects of a character, not a faceless Avatar.
Can we demand a female Master Chief prior to having a female Link? Can Castlevania's Dracula be defeated by a female first? Can we have Mega Man go through a sex change prior to Link go through a sex change? I honestly don't see anybody complaining about that.
And you also seem to ignore the Canon timeline while you decide to say that there is no Canon timeline.
@Setery10
I wondered whether Nintendo would go down the Midna route and have the character's speak in "Hylian" with subtitles.
There's certainly an element of pretentiousness to wanting it in the original Japanese with subs, but I'm just glad we didn't get Zelda with American accents!
People were complaining about Zelda crying? Stupid, but can't say I'm surprised.
@LordGeovanni But what about the fact that Link has not been portrayed as blonde 100% of the time he's appeared in games? He also hasn't been left handed in every appearance. The change to being right handed in the Wii games was the result of further linking the character to the actual controls provided by the player. Guess what that means? He's an avatar of the player.
Your references to other characters that have established stories and timelines in other series is irrelevant. Master chief is always the same character in the same universe, which has a chronological tale of events. Link is a different person in nearly every game, in a series that has little to stitch the entries together. A more logical comparison would be asking for a playable female Spartan, which doesn't sound outside the realm of possibility at all to me.
I think that Nintendo wraps their own little filter around what they hear from fans, and end up addressing a concern that nobody had in response. They're always bashed for communicating badly, but they seem to receive communication badly as well. It's like they translate between Japanese and all languages by translating to Hylian first over at Nintendo HQ, and the translations are always rough with Hylian.
Aonuma's addressing feedback about people being concerned that Zelda was crying. I don't think the feedback was ever about Zelda crying, the feedback was about the deeply jarring Japanese VO for the crying. It was a jarring acting style to non-Japanese, but that scene was so over the top, I don't doubt they got feedback from Japanese fans too on it. Zelda can cry. Zelda shouldn't sound like she's verbally screaming the alliterated "wwwaaa-haha-haaaa" into a microphone as printed. It's common in anime and nowhere else. It's an ancient Japanese theater acting style that seems to have been retired everywhere but anime. (Yes I know Aonuma said he was going for an Anime art style...) Nobody cries like that, not in Japan or anywhere else. Only anime characters do!
The Legend of Zelda: High Contrast of the Wild. Am i the only one distracted by the high contrast on the footage and trailers?
Sooo... why is this a topic lol? We're trying to piece the whole story and Zelda's character from a trailer? C'mon people...
@greengecko007
Aonuma is the guy in charge. If he wants Link to be a male, Link is a male. Who are we to demand a change to his creation? It's that simple.
@Browny The Legend of Zelda series itself is not Anouma's creation. If the series lives on, I'm sure there will be others that direct future games as well. For Breath of the Wild, Anouma didn't push for a gender option. That's fine. I'd like to see it in future games, but even if we don't, that's fine too. That's hardly demanding I think.
@Setery10 I can't speak for others, but I understand Japanese. And it's just a far better experience to me if I have the original voice acting.
@greengecko007
True, it's not his creation, but he is in charge of it now with the creator's blessing.
And no, perhaps you weren't demanding it in the truest sense of the word. But I have wandered into other discussions that devolved into petty insults towards the team for not giving the option to play as a female Link. And it just rubs me the wrong way considering such a choice is ultimately up to the person in charge. We can disagree on his stance on the matter, and ask for the option in the future, but to resort to name calling like I've seen elsewhere? Childish.
None of this directed at you, of course. Just got a bit heated when the discussion reminded me of those less savory ones.
This is the first Zelda trailer to give me chills since Twilight Princess' E3 2005 trailer.
Many did take that crying scene out of context; I fully expect characters in the game to exhibit a whole range of emotions. If they didn't, then I wouldn't consider the character development to be a strong point.
I would've expected nothing less from Aonouma. Zelda was always a complex character.
Quite the contrary, I think anyone who - after watching the story trailer - assumed that this time around Zelda was
a) crying all the time
b) a one-dimensional character or
c) an oversimplified, clichéed female character
is really stupid. Yes, I mean that. Stupid!
No none should assume such things based on a few seconds from a trailer. But people nowadays are so entitled (to have and voice their opinion), they just get overeager and desperately form an unreflected, not-thought-through opinion based on wild assumptions. And that ruins everything, elections, games, movies, books, you name it.
Anyone with a functioning brain and a decent amount of rationality already knew that those few scenes from the trailer don't define Zelda's character.
@invictus4000 That is one thing most English speakers who play with Japanese VA and English Subs do not get. As soon as I started learning Japanese I noticed how overacted everything is. It is quite jarring at times so I just do not care anymore and just play in English.
Exactly! Thank you! Haha. You nailed it right on the head with the word 'jarring'. I mean, every language track has its highs and lows but overall my native tongue (English) is the only way to go for me. However, playing RPGs in Japanese when it's text only I do like to do for practice.
@NEStalgia
This.
It is the main reason I couldn't get into a lot of subbed anime. All the screaming and crying felt so over the top. But I have seen a few subbed horror movies and didn't get that feeling. Only in anime.
So sick of feminist SJW's worrying that females aren't being represented as strong, independent people. Who would even care if Zelda was a damsel in distress that needed Link to save her anyway, as long as the story is good? There's nothing wrong with that kind of story, just like there's nothing wrong with stories about women being super hardcore and being the heroine. It's all just entertainment. Get over yourselves, people. Not every story or character needs to be made to your liking.
For the record, I'm not saying I wish Zelda was a damsel in distress or a wimp or anything, I'm just saying people need to not read into things so much. Just enjoy the game. Nothing wrong with voicing your opinion on things, but the fact that there was such outrage that a statement needed to be made is rediculous.
@Jaredfrogmanout I'm talking about the actual dialogue. How do you know it's good VOICE ACTING if you can't understand japanese?
@NinjaWaddleDee Weeaboos are strange. Don't try to understand them.
@NinjaWaddleDee You can't. Well you can if it is noticeably bad. As for giving a good or bad performance, heck even mediocre is hard to tell if you do not understand the language. Some people do have an ear for it though even if they do not understand the language.
@LinkSword how is it "original" voice acting if it's being localized by the same company lol?
I'm sure that one kid I argued with on Nintendo Everything about how and why Link can / can never be female is pooping himself over Aonuma saying a female Link in the future is a possibility and is foaming at the mouth demanding his resignation.
@KirbyTheVampire I disagree in that people shouldn't speak up about fair representation of women or any group that isn't male or white (The usual depiction in games). Its not really asking a lot. And not to be confrontational, using the term SJW is quite dismissive and it would be much more productive to actually discuss the topic.
Now in regards to this specific situation, its premature to come to any conclusion, as the article has said, about how this Zelda may or may not be when taking one little bit out of context. That much I agree with
@KirbyTheVampire I enjoy a good anime as much at the next person. If something is subbed, then that's okay. But I'm not going to pretend that the acting itself is better when I can't understand it.
@Ledgendt
Shouldnt be too hard to get both...
Yeah... this whole thing makes me sick too, but please don't hate on feminists for this, any feminist would be well aware that crying isn't a sign of weakness at all; more just the sign of being, you know, a human with a diverse range of emotions.
I think even without context it's pretty clear that Zelda has gone through a lot by that scene and is properly displaying her emotions, not just crying to Link because she's a 'helpless, little girl.'
Anyone who interprets things from almost no information needs to just not go on the internet really.
@LordGeovanni yeah. Sorry about your babysitter, by the way, regardless of how long ago that happened.
@nhSnork Unfortunately a crying woman is still viewed as weak and even if the situation actually calls for it that "weakness" is often levied upon her character as a whole because we females are hysterically emotional don't you know. Yet if you have a female stoic then she is derided for being too cold.
Society needs to let people be people instead of trying to stuff everyone in a gender role box. Men can cry, women can fight...and the world keeps turning. Doesn't change the chromosomes or reproductive organs. Being female only describes WHAT I am not WHO I am.
Honestly Zelda has been evolving into a multifaceted bada** for a while IMO. Strength isn't always determined by how many people you punch out.
Weird, the whole trailer only made me think how strong they made Zelda. While I liked Wind Waker's (the first half mostly), Twilight Princess' and Skyward Sword's Zelda, I have the feeling this one will come out even better.
Also, humans cry sometimes, even strong ones. I don't see why Hylians wouldn't be the same
Wind Waker Spoilers Below
Edit: Now that I think about it, in WW's final battle, when she comes out like "Give me the bow, I'm going to fight too" I felt like "Take my sword while you are at it too, you rockin' queen".
@NintendoFan4Lyf Thank you. The genderswap crowd doesn't really think about what they are asking for. Because that hope can easily be applied to female characters, diminishing the still paltry representation even more. Instead, they should be asking for fleshed out existing female characters and NEW female characters. Also men and women are socialized differently, you can't just turn Nathan Drake into Natalia Drake and expect the character to act EXACTLY the same or be treated the same. The world reacts to people based upon their sex and levies expectations on them as well. It would be poor storytelling to just drop make a cardboard cutout and treat them exactly the same because the world doesn't work like that (for better or for worse). That is an issue which still plagues most games that pull the you can be either sex approach. Unless a lot of time is put into writing separate scripts.
@UmbreonsPapa I didn't mean things that are actually offensive shouldn't be called out, I'm just saying people should suck it up a little if they're offended by something as insignificant as a major female character crying/being a bit wimpy or the whole "hero saves the girl" story. That kind of thing is completely fine, just like having a wimpy/crying male character or a female heroine is completely fine. That's the kind of thing I'm saying shouldn't be called out, because it just flat-out isn't an issue. Of course, if there's a huge bias towards a certain gender having a certain one of those archetypes, then that is kind of an issue that should be addressed. I personally don't feel that women are overly (Key word "overly") underrepresented in games, though, so people whining about how they find stuff like Mario saving Peach offensive really irritates me. What happened to just enjoying games?
And that term is dismissive, yes, but anyone that got offended that Zelda was crying because that could have meant she would be portrayed as a weak character is very hard to take seriously, and they should probably stay off the Internet for a while because they would get offended every 30 seconds if that's all it takes to anger them.
@NinjaWaddleDee There's nothing wrong with that, I just kinda get weeaboo vibes from people who like the Japanese version just because they're speaking Japanese. Of course, it's possible they just like the sound of the Japanese language/voice acting, which isn't weeaboo-ish in that case.
Some of these comments are making me cry. Buh... BAAAHHHH!!! ðŸ˜
@Setery10 I cringe when people lambast those who want JP voices with EN subs. The Japanese voice acting industry is much more robust and taken seriously than the English one, with few exceptions. That's not to say there aren't duds, and certain strange cultural things (way too many high pitched voices), but the Japanese voices are often better acted, so their emotions come through clearer, despite any language barriers.
If anything, the characters seem more dead and cold when they don't show emotions. How is showing emotions supposed to be a bad thing, again?
@MagicEmperor Good.
@PlywoodStick I think the main reason a lot of people dislike the Japanese versions is because the emotion is overdone a lot of the time. I understand it's a cultural thing, but it is a bit much, for me as well.
Female leads are great! My Girlfriend and I laughed our heads off at the moment Linkle runs off in the wrong direction away from Hyrule Castle and the clearly pointing sign ! ha ha!
@NEStalgia I'm guessing you've never witnessed a woman whose parent or child has just been killed. The Zelda cry in the JP trailer reminds me of seeing a recorded CCTV video in China where a guy accidentally ran over a woman's child, a toddler, who ran into the street when she wasn't looking for a split second. The child was flattened, with their innards oozing out after a sickening crunch from their little bones. This cry reminds me of that. Of that mother who had just experienced a great loss. And the father was there, too, he was crying not so differently.
I'm guessing you've never seen and heard mothers who have just lost their children to war, clutching their child's mangled and tattered dead body, either. Zelda's cry in the JP trailer reminds me of that, too...
That sense of deep loss is not conveyed properly in the English voiceover. In fact, all of the English voices sound amateurish by comparison to the Japanese ones in this case.
@JaxonH
Personally, I take it these reactions you speak of are coming from armchair feminists (keyword: armchair) who see a female character crying and assume the worst about how the character is going to be portrayed. I don't think it's Nintendo fans for the most part that are reacting negatively to this.
@KirbyTheVampire If the situation is conveying someone she cares about (maybe her father) having just died, it's not overdone at all. It's entirely appropriate.
@Setery10 Really? I cringe every time I have to hear sub par English voice acting. I prefer the Nintendo gibberish or native language, i.e. Italian in Assassin's Creed 2, Japanese #FE, or even better, reading. Street Fighter V has an option for English or Japanese per character per mode: it's awesome.
I wish it was always an option, like Square has been doing lately, as a free or nominally priced download.
But really, why cringe at someone else's preference? What do you care?
I can't understand the mentality of "If a woman cries in a videogame/movie/book, she's a weak character!".
So, because a woman cries due to strong emotional distress, she can't be a strong character, full of tasks and responsabilities? So, she either is a damsel in distress or a cold *****, no middle ground.
I'm just going to think that those that think that don't have a mother, a sister or a female friend. Because otherwise, I can't understand that line of thinking.
I hope you can milk a cow to get milk in the game...
@PlywoodStick I mean Japanese voice acting in general, not that scene.
@KirbyTheVampire In many lower profile cases, yes. I don't think so in most high profile cases, though. (Except for the high pitched voices schtick, that's something which is definitely overdone and annoying.)
People cry all the time, just because one person cries doesn't mean that they are weak or that they are not strong enough, they just needed to relieve that emotion that was flowing through them.
I'd love to see a female protagonist in a Zelda game. If it's girl Link, fine by me. If it's not Link, even better. I almost always find Link the least interesting character in the game, anyway.
Of course, I still think Twilight Princess was Midna's game and could have excluded Link entirely with only minimal change, so what do I know?
@plug313 Yes! I totally agree. Ice watched this trailer a billion times and it gives me chills everytime. When Zelda cries in that moment it makes me so sad and I can't wait to experience this amazing game.
@LArachelDisciple Who would Midna have bossed around and used as transportation, if not Link? He was useful to her.
Wow... this is a thing...the people crying over Zelda crying in one scene is much worse.
"Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life problems".
~Sadness~
@Setery10
I don't really understand Japanese conversation but I LOVE to hear oftenly so sometimes I learnt new Japanese vocabularies and now I can read, write and understand some basic Japanese words ( I understand all Hiragana and Katakana letters but understand a little of Kanji letters). There is nothing wrong to learn and speaking Japanese. That's a benefit for you to enjoy Japan Only games, Anime, etc.
@Setery10 It's not that bad. If you don't like it it won't be imposed on you.
The Japanese really give voice acting the gusto, no matter how silly it may seem or sound. When done in English I get the feeling that VA's are overly aware that they're only doing voices for games and don't conform to a professionalism apparent in other acting fields.
Except Kristen Schaal. She should be in everything; she's awesome!
Feminists ruining everything since their departure of noble cause.
@LARSUSMAKSIMUS Not sure if you intended it, but I read your "Good" with Zelda's voice from that CD-i game, Wand of Gamelon.
Ah so people still suck? Yes.
Of course in this day and age people would take something out of context and scream over nothing. It's getting beyond obnoxious.
@Dezzy
Not use the internet and even more importantly please stay the hell away from the game industry. I'm sick of these idiots trying to get everything twisted to fit into what they think it should be
Well, flamio to that, hotman!
@penamiguel92 I would draw a distinction between modern fake feminists and the true feminists of the past. (Like Susan B. Anthony, on the previous US$1 coin.)
Every time I see an "issue" like this, I just shake my head and roll my eyes. It doesn't matter how hard companies try to accommodate the whiny feminazi movement that has taken firm root on the Internet, they will never be able to win. Here's why:
The first feminazi argument: "There aren't enough strong female heroes in video games! All video game heroes are typical males and have always been since the dawn of video games! Video game devs are sexist! [Insert shots of half-naked females from video games here]" Let's just forget about early video game icons like Ms. Pac-Man and Samus Aran. I guess they don't count because they don't immediately support the feminazi argument. But, that's not the main point, which brings me to...
The second feminazi argument: "Whenever female options are added into a game, they just take the male character and repaint him as a woman! Women aren't just men in drag! They have their own unique personalities and video game devs just don't get us at all! [Insert shots of Linkle and female Diablo III heroes]" So, you're saying when they don't give you a female option, it's because they're sexist, but when they let you choose a female version of a male hero, implying that gender doesn't matter, they're also sexist. Great. Next point...
The third feminazi argument: "When females are included uniquely in games, they're painted all emotional and weak! Females can be every bit as strong-willed and capable as men! Quit making us all look like pansies! [Insert shots of Super Princess Peach]"
I think you see what I'm getting at, but just in case... There is zero way to satisfy all three arguments at the same time. If the hero is male, the dev is sexist. If the hero is (or can be) female but acts strong and heroic, that's just throwing clothes on a dude and the dev is sexist. If the hero is female and that femininity is highlighted in the way she behaves, that's totally stereotypical and sexist.
The reality is that certain people just exist to find the negative argument in whatever they see, regardless of how it contradicts their earlier arguments or views, because most readers are sheep with extremely short memories and whining dramatically about how unfair the world is gets you more readers than writing a happy feels fluff piece, even if the latter is supported by facts.
The only real way to deal with these types of people is to remember that they're the vast minority, ignore them, and move on. Responding with apologies or clarifications like this one often just encourages the squeaky wheels to complain even louder next time.
Oh suck it up Zelda. So the world is ending and everything you have done to try and save it has failed. Just get over it. Just because you failed at being a ruler, causing your kingdom to fall and your subjects all being brutally killed, gives you absolutely no reason to be crying. Because adults don't cry, because crying is sexist and immature. Its not natural for people to cry, it just makes them a less developed as a person.
I'm glad they have Zelda break down and cry because it shows emotion in the character.
Tap here to load 129 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...