Of all Nintendo's leading protagonists, Link has to be right up there on the more badass end of the scale – although he's also somehow on the more lovably ditzy end, too. We'd argue Link's coolness can be put down to three things: his heroic, world-saving attitude; the way he cuddles cats in Zelda: Twilight Princess; and how he can bop a Bokoblin right between the eyeballs with an expertly-placed arrow while riding a horse. What a guy.
Sadly, though, we have some bad news. You see, Link's bow and arrow technique sucks.
That's according to a professional instructor at Ridgeline Mounted Archers, a place in Oregon that teaches mounted archery (aka shooting imaginary Bokoblins with an expertly-placed arrow while riding a horse). On Tiktok, the instructor explains that Link uses an 'inverted two-finger' draw in Breath of the Wild, which is apparently a bad idea as it pushes your arrow in the opposite direction of where you want it to go.
Still, Link seems to get on just fine with his poor technique, so it's probably best to just leave him to it. Maybe he just learnt that method from a young age and can't change his ways? Maybe we're putting too much thought into this?
Either way, now you know that you probably shouldn't copy your heroes. Especially when it comes to shooting fictional beasts.
[source tiktok.com, via polygon.com]
Comments 67
I don't care if she is right, the moment someone uses a poor (can't curse, sorry) service like TikTok makes me lose all respect to what they say.
Don't use TikTok, just don't ...
Different people can have different techniques. And TikTok as a news source, really?
Agreed, pretty weak article if you are quoting Tik Tok. Sorry, but this argument has lost credibility
Next they will be saying Ganondorf is not a real person!!
Get a grip its a computer game
With all respect to her professionalism, she's clearly not an elf, so the mileage may vary.
Maybe that’s where he wants it to go? Hadn’t thought of that had you? It’s only the opposite direction if it’s done by mistake. For him the opposite may be the right direction. He knows what he’s doing of course.
Hey, if he can make it work, it works.
Some of the best professional athletes in certain sports use techniques that a coach would rather drop dead than teach.
Might not work for everyone, but if he can make it work, good for him!
What is considered conventional isnt always the best for others. A good example would be Katie Ledecky who is a phenomenal swimmer using an unconventional freestyle technique but if Ledecky was a fictional character, we'd have pros blasting on how bad her techniques will be.
I don't see them sliding down a mountain on a shield, jumping up, slowing down time, and firing ten head shots in all directions before their feet touch the ground 50 meters lower, almost killing them, but healing from it with a nice vegetable soup they happened to carry the ingredients for to cook it on the spot. What is their authority?
Very slow news day.
The audacity! I'm gonna start some rumours and get them cancelled.
Maybe the physics are different in a world where you can float 250 meters by holding on to the feet of a chicken
@nhSnork “Link is a Hylian though” he said, embarrassed being that commenter ruining a good joke
Thank you TikToker for ruining the game for me, from now on it is going to feel so weird shooting the bow in the game so I guess I have to stick with using the sticks only when fighting.
Next video: A professional cook criticizes how Link cooks his food in a very unconventional way.
The number of comments defending the archery technique of a fictional Nintendo character highlights the rabid fanboy/girl problem this site has. The instructor was responding to a question posed to her. Get a grip.
@Peder7berg I always thought putting the whole glass bottle of milk into the mixing bowl was rather unconventional, but Link seems to make that work too.
Imagine what he could do if he used a decent technique then...
It looks good artistically.
@WhiteUmbrella
Point your rage at this site for thinking that this big pile of nothing was worth reporting on.
He's not Link and being controlled by joycons therefore he cannot replicate the technique and accuracy. It is obvious.
Video games are inaccurate to reality? No way! Next thing you'll tell me is nobody talks like they do in movies, irl!
OK but we can all agree Mario riding a dinosaur that throws eggs is totally realistic right?
But can this professional archer use bullet time when jumping down a big rock?
No?
Well, what’s she talking about then?
@WhiteUmbrella “Get a grip”?!
This is the internet. We lost it long ago!
Besides, I like to mount my phone on my arm and use an inverted two finger draw when typing on my phone and no TikToker will tell me otherwise.
I bet you’ll tell me next that Mario’s golf swing isn’t legit.
Apparently, video games shouldn’t be taken seriously… just like TikTok.
How many times did the professional archer save the world?
"Jumping into a concrete block with your fist raised might be a direct ticket to hospital"
Yeah and Link hold and swing a sword left-handed, so what's the deal?
@nhSnork Right? Maybe elfin hand structure invalidates her points
Nintendo fans mad and throwing tatrums cuz a tik-toker pointed out something...Nothing new.
I guess Link in his next game should t-pose whenever he shoot arrows because videogames aren't realistic...
Professional archer.
Posted on TikTok.
Nintendo Life users: I can see what's relevant here!!!
Slow news day huh
@Alpha008 The "granny shot" for free throws in basketball comes to mind here.
This might come as a shock but i'm not looking for realism in my video games.
@WhiteUmbrella I wish I could see how many times this comment was downvoted. I was one of them.
... so a quick google search shows she is completely wrong and Link has his arrow on the other side of the bow. Perhaps she is mixing up BOTW Link with previous Links who were left handed? I suppose it's easier to believe the professional if they say it with another assertion. But I'd argue we are professionals; professional Nintendo fans
@icomma I'm with you, comma. These comments are weird as hell. It's not that deep, folks.
And what is with the visceral hate for tiktok? I don't use it either but I don't pretend like it's the worst thing ever to exist. It's just another social media app.
So much cringe in these comments. First off, TikTok as a platform neither negates nor promotes expertise because it's just that--a platform that anyone can use. Second, the defending of a fictional character's bad technique is laughable. Lastly, anyone who comes to NL, clicks on an article, and comments to criticize the newsworthiness of said article on the website they voluntarily accessed needs to rethink their life choices. /endrant
@AgentGuapo why did you downvote your own comment? I've given you an upvote so you'll feel better.
This explains why I'm so bad at hitting those korok seed balloons. I thought it was me but it was Link's technique all along.
Lots of old men yelling at clouds in here.
@Deliesh Are you implying the good people in these comments would willingly sacrifice their valuable time coming to this website, deliberately open and read a news article about bow shooting techniques, and then complain it was the website/author that wasted their valuable time?
Surely, if this were true, these people would cease complaining about the same thing all the time or at least stop visiting since it bothers them so much. It stands to reason they would eventually just leave if it were such a nuisance right? Right??
So it is basicly gun experts telling us holding a gun sideways is not practical.
Whatever will I do.
I'm surprised Nintendo's artist would fudge a detail like that - perhaps there is a culture difference at work here? I'd be interested to know what type of grip mounted traditional archers in Japan use.
I remember attending one shrine's festival in the winter in Osaka where they closed off a city street so archers in traditional garb could ride horseback down it and take shots at a target near the shrine's entrance. The street was flanked by thousands of onlookers. It was a really amazing show of concentration for both rider and horse!
Quite amazing how people still talk about this game 5 years later whereas the likes of games such as Battlefield 2042 hardly get talked about despite releasing not too long ago and it's only on how much they're failing
Wait 'til the instructor watches Link shooting arrows as he falls through the sky!
@Entrr_username oh but there are a lot of people that talk about BF2042, way more than you would think.
It's that 99% of those people are negative about it, that's why you don't see it on sites like this one.
Thats a really cool insight from her. I'd love to see what technique would be better for Link in her professional opinion.
Link is a bad archer, and Hawkeye uses bad technique. Next they will be telling Robin Hood couldn’t split an arrow with an arrow, and Green Arrow couldn’t fire a boxing glove arrow with pinpoint accuracy.
Way to tear down all my heroes.
It’s amazing how upset people are getting over this.
I've never seen anyone draw like that, I've always been shown the standard way when I've tried it. She really needed to show us exactly how it affects the arrow's flight though because "the opposite direction to where you want it to go" isn't helpful. So like, it goes BEHIND you? Clearly not.
Yeah, who cares. It's a videogame.
@Baker1000 Exactly. Don't criticize then not show the proper way or even prove why it's wrong. Also, it's TikTok, what is WRONG with you, NintendoLife? Don't go back to your pre-Thomas Whitehead days...
@Rayquaza2510 I hate tiktok it's garbage that enables idiots to post dumb stuff for attention. IQ dropping basically.
Professional archer? lol. That was a good laugh, thanks NL.
"There is something you don't know."
"Oh?"
"I am not left-handed."
It's just as well because I wasn't planning on copying his technique anyway because I can't stand horses.
i'm not going to doubt her expertise in whatever bow technique she uses, but she's doing it wrong.
she's holding her bow vertical(as most archers would), but link holds his bow diagonal.
i don't know how much that would impact the path of the arrow because i'm not an archery expert, but she didn't take it into consideration at all.
and it has happened in the past(even recently) that a "forgotten" archery technique was re-discovered, experts all called it a flawed technique, but it was proven to be not just practical but even relatively common in medieval times as long as that's how you were trained(switching techniques initially ruins your aim, but after a few weeks of training you adapt and regain accuracy)
As an archery instructor instructor, this is a poor take.
His swimming in OoT is incomprehensible though.
Maybe she can correct Lars Andersen and his techniques, because he certainly does not handle a bow like she does (and historically Links style is more correct combat archery than hers)
https://youtu.be/BEG-ly9tQGk
A self proclaimed "professional archer" on tik tok trying to force her opinion on how a video game character should pull a bow string?
Hard pass. Please Nintendo Life... Don't post articles from that garbage app.
@TechaNinja Ah, so it's basically like any other social media app
@Peder7berg They're saying don't try to use that technique if you're actually interested in learning archery. 🙄 Didn't think anyone would have to explain that.
I always think stuff like this is neat. I've always wanted to learn archery.
@Peder7berg
"Here's the thing," Gordon Ramsay begins. "Link is just tossing all his ingredients with zero prep work into a giant bowl and waits a few seconds for the dish to pop out of nowhere. That's certainly not how I cook my famous beef Wellington."
He points to the screen. "And as you can clearly see, even the game calls his offensive cooking 'dubious' and even censors the icon."
@Tempestryke What do you mean by that?
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