Topic: Possible Details About Zelda Wii U Emerge?

[Shaymin]

Players may have some difficult choices to make

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rumor/42518/possible-details-about-zelda-wii-u-emerge

Rumors have begun to emerge about Zelda Wii U from sources close to the matter, who previously identified the existence of Paper Mario: Color Splash.

The following things are rumored:

• The game will be a dual Wii U and NX (console) release
• Players will have a choice of gender for Link
• Most major characters will have voice acting, but Link will remain a silent protagonist

Nintendo has not commented on the rumor, and is expected to not comment about the game until E3 2016 in June. We will keep you posted if anything changes.

[pokepal148]

Zelda U confirmed, NX exclusive.

[Enner]

Do it, Nintendo. Push the series in to spaces it has never been before! Even if it stumbles, it will be worth it.

[Mythtendo]

Personal attacks and accusations are not allowed on these forums, and are not relevant to this discussion.

[ejamer]

.

I trust her rumors more than I trust yours.


(I also find her posts - all of them - much less offensive or ugly than what you just posted, which comes off as juvenile gamergate garbage. And that's putting it gently.)

[pokepal148]

Didn't Crimm threaten to permaban anyone saying immature **** like that?

EDIT: Yes he did!

[Soren]

Goddamnit you guys...

[sudoshuff]

All of these rumors are things I agree with. So....I guess they must be true! 

[Adrock]

Emily Rogers has had good info in the past. She's written some awesome pieces. I mean, there are a lot of phonies out there. Who is going to listen this obvious faker no one has ever heard of?

[motang]

[size=0.813em]Players will have a choice of gender for Link[/size]

Interesting!

[Ian Sane]

Well I pretty much expected the dual release.  Since I already own a Wii U I'll probably stick with that version but then who knows what the NX will be like and thus what benefits the NX version will have.

Xenoblade X has voice acting with a silent protagonist and it doesn't seem that odd.  Dragon Quest VIII has the same thing.  It will work.

I've never really understood the big push for a female Link but I see him as a character more than a player avatar.  No one asks for female Mario or male Samus but I assume that's because they're clearly characters.  Now would anyone see Link as a player avatar if they didn't originally let you enter your name?  That is literally the only customization that suggests that the protagonist of the Legend of Zelda is supposed to be you.  You don't get to personalize the character's appearance in any way and the game never asks you to make decisions that affect the plot like other games with player avatars tend to do.  But if it's an option you can play it like you want so everyone will get the experience they want and that's a good thing.

Though all of these "details" are ones that fans have already brainstormed and discussed to death.  There isn't anything here that is out of left field.  It could all be true but it also could just be telling us what we've already set our expectations to and it seems believable because it's already familiar.

[Adrock]

The writing was on the wall regarding Female Link once that guy hacked A Link to the Past so his daughter could play as a female avatar. Besides the fact that Nintendo doesn't want people hacking its games, getting more girls to play its games is exactly what Nintendo wants and has been trying to do consistently for the better part of two decades. Adding a female option in a series in which the protagonist's gender was only kind of addressed twice (e.g. Link's Awakening and Twilight Princess) and even then, it didn't matter. Midna's mild, third grade level flirting didn't affect the integrity of the game.

On a side note, it'd be awesome for Link to finally get a legit alternate costume in Super Smash Bros.

[Evan_B]

It's so interesting, because I've never really seen Link as a player avatar, even when I've inputted my name into the save file. Mostly because Link does things in the "story-based" Zelda games that give him character, and don't necessarily reflect my character. However, when I think about it, and when you hear Miyamoto's reasoning for the name, it does make sense. I wonder if this is going to mean the player has more options in building a character within the world via side-quests and dialogue choices, or that the experience is going to be more ambiguous, so the player can interpret it whatever way they want.

I'm anticipating this game more and more.

[kokumaker]

I knew that Linkle character in Hyrule Warriors Legends had to serve a larger purpose...

[Kairon]

All of these rumors are things I agree with. So....I guess they must be true! 

Pretty much this for me. ^_^

[Caterkiller]

Link as an avatar representing the player has always been bs to me. I mean he is a blank slate but then not really. He has his own reactions to things, he apparently talks, you can't change his appearance and looks like no one but Peter Pan. He's his own character more or less. The idea that we could get a female Link so ladies can play as themselves is also bs for the same reasons. With that said I would love a female Link because I like the idea of more female leads in video games.

Playing as the opposite sex Link with the same body type won't change anything gameplay wise and I think thats fine. I've seen people argue that it ruins the integrity of the whole franchise or some other such nonsense but please, if the hero's spirit wants to inhabit a girl during one of the legends then so be it. Makes lots of other people happy, makes plenty of sense lore wise and anyone who doesn't want it doesn't have to do it.

Linkle was probably given the go ahead to test the reactions to players in a spin off that could probably handle the potential backlash that the main series wouldn't want to be associated with.

Linkle is tied with Waluigi for the worst name given to a Nintendo character.


EDIT
As for voice acting I say do it. Pikmin works just fine with it's alien language and subtitles but it's time Zelda catches up with the rest of the world. This big ol' super inviting(at first glance) open world, female option for playable character and voice acting would catch the eyes of the world again. Even if it's only superficial crap that doesn't change how we play, stuff like that changes the perception to outsiders who can't be bothered to read a book or just enjoy well done voice work in their games.


The motion controls in Skyward Sword to me are absolutely wonderful, it's a shame that that alone didn't catch on more than a controversial hot topic on forums. But thats not what the rest of the consumers will pay attention to anymore, they want punch, pizzaz, yahoo and wow. Zelda stopped being the most epic and grandest of all things with Wind Waker, then with Twilight Princess I figured thats all it was ever gonna be. Fake open worlds and no voice acting alone probably made Zelda look dated in comparison to other big budget titles out there. It's not nearly as revered as it once was.


It's a shallow response to what gamers are looking for but that doesn't make it wrong. Give us the gameplay we all know and love with some great new features and present it with some amazing production values. I think the perception of Zelda beyond Nintendo loyalists would really turn around with a female option, open world and voice acting. I say go for it. Throw a bird in there as well, I want to fly again.

[Adrock]

The fact that Zelda Wii U/NX is open-world is the most eye-catching thing about it. Nintendo should market the game as a soft-reboot. Even if it doesn't disregard everything that came before, the series could use a fresh start.

I have a strange feeling that "voice acting" may actually mean every NPC gets King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule-style gibberish talk.

I've been saying for years that Link hasn't been even remotely close to an avatar since A Link to the Past since he's been projecting a personality that isn't necessarily the player's. Even if players can't change Link's face, I think changing gender (and maybe clothes if Tri Force Heroes is anything to go by) would go a long way. At the same time, mild customization may backfire. There are, for example, a lot of non-white (or to make it broader non-light-skinned) players in the world. I'm all for a female option, but I can see the floodgates opening and this getting really messy for Nintendo.

[Mop it up]

1. Re: Zelda NX - I think we all have pretty much expected this to happen ever since the announcement that the game isn't releasing in 2015, if not sooner. As long as it still releases on Wii U, I'm fine with the decision, and it makes the most business sense to release on both systems. With the amount of money they're seemingly sinking into the game, it doesn't make much sense to release it only on Wii U where the sales potential is pretty low, but they also shouldn't make it NX-exclusive as a show of good faith to the people who bought a Wii U.

2. Male/Female option - Meh. This sort of already happened with Linkle in Hyrule Warriors (a very stupid character IMO), which is probably them testing the waters for a female Link, to see how it goes over and if it's something they should put into Zelda U. I'd rather they go the opposite direction and flesh out Link as a character than turn the protagonist into a blank slate type of character. I always prefer established characters to custom ones for various reasons, including that custom ones are almost always more boring and generic. That said, since I don't particularly care about story, I can't say I'd be bothered if it happened, just not what I'd prefer.

3. It makes sense they'd want to add voice acting to give the appearance of higher production values, but it isn't something I care about at all. As long as there is still the option for subtitles, I'd be fine either way.

[Luigi Dude]

Well it wouldn't be too surprising considering the Zelda series has a large female fanbase that Nintendo knows about and the fact the Zelda team has quite a few woman in important roles as well which Iwata even talked to in the Iwata Ask for Skyward Sword.

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/zelda-skyward-sword/6/0


Plus it's not like giving a female character option is going to sacrifice the story like some people think.  It's not that hard to change the dialogue to revolve around whether Link is a male or female.  Especially when the 2 most recent Fire Emblem games have been doing just that. 

[Stratos]

I really dislike the name Linkle. It sounds like "tinkle". Also, I feel that the female Link should be his little sister, Aryll. But that is probably a personal bias since my sister chose that as her avatar name when we played games together.

[TurdFurgy]

I've heard a lot of people complain about having the option to be a lady hero. Just choose the dude hero and name him Link and play the game like you normally would. Pretend there's no choice.

[Caterkiller]

I've heard a lot of people complain about having the option to be a lady hero. Just choose the dude hero and name him Link and play the game like you normally would. Pretend there's no choice.

Yeah some people aren't happy until others are angry.

[Bman87301]

If this game really does give you the option to play as a female, then it's probably more likely that you'll be playing as Zelda than as a female Link. There's always been undertones of romance about saving the princess, and Nintendo isn't going to allow suggestions of lesbianism in the Zelda franchise. "Zelda" is the titular character and the name is indisputably female, so it's not like her gender could be changed to male if you went with a female Link.

[syn4aptik]

I am against having the option to play as a female Link because it will mean the end of all of the male-specific features that are the reasons I play the game, such as Link's traditionally deep and guttural voice, his large and muscular frame, his conspicuous genitalia and Ganondorf repeatedly yelling, "You are a male, link! A male with XY sex chromosomes and a penis and a self-identity that is completely and entirely consistent with those biological features. And it is those features that drive our underlying conflict and thus the story of this game, which is the primary reason that people play it!"


Female Link would just ruin this illusion for me because girls might have fun, and **** that.

[Caterkiller]

I am against having the option to play as a female Link because it will mean the end of all of the male-specific features that are the reasons I play the game, such as Link's traditionally deep and guttural voice, his large and muscular frame, his conspicuous genitalia and Ganondorf repeatedly yelling, "You are a male, link! A male with XY sex chromosomes and a penis and a self-identity that is completely and entirely consistent with those biological features. And it is those features that drive our underlying conflict and thus the story of this game, which is the primary reason that people play it!"


Female Link would just ruin this illusion for me because girls might have fun, and **** that.

Hmmm... I never thought about it that way.