Mango The Magician
Banned
Did you not hear? Link needs to be changed to a girl despite being the same basic character for the last 29 years, and no another nonlink female character won't work because reasons.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Nintendo explains why you can't play as a woman in Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
Nintendo doesn't seem to think so.
whiteninja
Member
Why couldnt they have just made a game with Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf (Three parts of the Triforce) working together? Instead we get more links.
balladofwindfishes
Member
Races in Zelda have always been added only when they were required for some part of the world. They need desert people, they added Gerudo. They needed mountain folk, they added Goron. And so on. No race has ever been added to Zelda without some kind of role or purpose.
To me it would just feel really forced and out of place with the series if a random race was thrown into the Zelda world with no other purpose than to appease the PC crowd.
So yes. You actually do need a reason, and it has nothing to do with racism.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Yes please.
DragonSworne
Banned
I'm sorry but did we play the same game?
Have you not seen the ending of Korra? Making Link a female doesn't mean these scenes need to change.
He kinda has a point about Link not being masculine. I know technically he is not female but it's not hard to imagine him as one.
Girls can't love other girls?
I do that all the time.
Girls can't love other girls?
I'd much prefer a Zelda game where you play as Link for one half and Zelda/Shiek for the other half. Would probably be able to bring fresh concepts to the table
WrenchNinja
Member
A ninja who does nothing but spout cryptic riddles and is then kidnapped as soon as she starts wearing a dress? The wolf form that you're barely in? The strong female pirate who goes from brown skinned to white and is told to wait in a castle and is once again kidnapped? The solider who does nothing but get in your way and the sword who's barely a character to begin with?
The only weak argument I'm seeing is you bringing up weak example of female characters. This is like the stretchiest of examples I've ever seen.
Like the least you could have done is use Spirit Tracks as an example, at least then you'd have a playable character and a female character that actually plays a constant role in the story.
Link isn't Han Solo. Link isn't any other established character and has the loophole of reincarnation like the Avatar.
ActuallyHulk
Banned
Completely and utterly agreed. Female Link would be horrible to me. Playing as Zelda would be awesome. I just think she's cool. They said they want Link to be the hero in all the main games and I understand that but I'd love a subseries where Zelda gets to do stuff.
hurricanes
Member
Why can't we play as Zelda?
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
I have but that doesn't mean that the same thing should be applied to every piece of media ever. Especially since it most definitely wasn't planned at the start when they started that series. Which made it almost feel like it was shoehorned in compared to something like SU.
Never said this. Read the post I was replying to.
Aren't the Gerudo people primarily darker skinned in the game/games they appeared in? Hyrule could just turn into a melting pot.
QueenOfThorns
Member
Making Link a girl and keeping the romance with Zelda would have made Skyward Sword the best Zelda game by default.
Finale Fireworker
Member
This would also be cool, welcome, and excellent. People mostly just want an option however it manifests, whether it's Zelda or a female Link.
Well, that's wrong. Several Zelda games have romantic relationships involving Link. OoT, TP, and SS especially. Link's relationship with Zelda in SS was one of the most important aspects of the plot...
They can make the hero female, but it shouldn't be player's choice unless it's a very low-plot game; like the original Four Sword. They probably could have done it with this game if they chose a different plot.
Link is a character. Several characters, actually. And they've been becoming stronger and more developed with each game.
akidnamededdy
Banned
No, this specifically is about gender swapping characters. Diversity in characters in games as a whole is on the rise recently, and that's great. But you can't have a LoZ topic anymore without someone chiming in about how great Girl Link would be, and to me that's dumb. It's the absolute laziest way to go about representing women in a series full of female characters just begging for their own share of the spotlight.
I don't like the idea that everything has to be designed to appeal to everybody, anyway. And LoZ really is a series that hasn't exactly had a problem attracting female fans in the first place.
Yay for not so masculine guys!
Linkstrikesback
Member
Not if you want the two to have descendants that are biologically related to both they can't.
QueenOfThorns
Member
Magic.
Link has been a different person every game, though very similar in look and design. Branding might prefer a consistent look, but on most levels Link's sex is completely arbitrary. For the record, I don't even necessarily believe there's any real pressure change the character (though playable Zelda would be cool) but I completely understand why it would bother someone.
By now they are well aware of people who want to play as a female hero with all of the controversy over Link's initial reveal in Zelda Wii U.
So while it's safe to say it's not going to happen in the next big Zelda game, I feel there's a good chance they are going to include that option or female hero shortly afterwards.
He can eventually be male and female at the same time. o:
I wonder if Ganondorf would have an awkward first meeting with Link at the rate he keeps getting more androgynous.
WrenchNinja
Member
Link is barely a character. This is not an equivalent argument.
And to be honest, it's a bad argument, Marvel and DC change old white heroes and heroines all the time to different races, sometimes without even making the character a legacy one
Obviously I care that I'd like to play more games as someone with my skin colour
SerTapTap
Member
Not only is Link barely a character, he's been clearly indicated to be different people in different games, to the point of two "links" being on screen in Twilight Princess.
This would almost be great but I can't really think of a motivation for Ganondorf to help out. This isn't Bowser were he's only kind of a greedy dick and will help out on super rare occasions.
When you play the game single player you play as Link. He has blonde hair.
When you play the game multiplayer you play as a guy with green hair, a guy with blue hair, and a guy with red hair.
So if Link split into 3... and one was Zelda... is the third one Link, or is it someone else? Ganondorf?
Isn't this a little late in the game's development cycle to be begging for an overhaul of the entire game's narrative?
You can't just throw Zelda in at this point, the other Links are palette swaps for Christ's sake. No one even asked for this game and now we're demanding it turn into something else. I don't get it.
Isn't this a little late in the game's development cycle to be begging for an overhaul of the entire game's narrative?
You can't just throw Zelda in at this point, the other Links are palette swaps for Christ's sake. No one even asked for this game and now we're demanding it turn into something else. I don't get it.
Sexist King. Hey, characters have to have flaws! just because the sexist king put "males only" on the flyers doesn't mean nintendo themselves are sexist! Right? Right?
The female staff likes it! what else do you want?
But in all seriousness, what a lame excuse. Still hyped to play as crossdressing Link tho.
LonelyGreyWolf
Banned
I don't usually want to complain about these things because of creative freedom etc. etc. etc. but
what the fuck? What a stupid thing to say. Everything else he said was stupid too. He could he justified himself better.
what the fuck? What a stupid thing to say. Everything else he said was stupid too. He could he justified himself better.
Aren't we playing as a completely different Link in ever iteration of the game except Majoras? What difference would it make if for one game we have a female link?
I don't have a copy of Hyrule Historia. Is it confirmed Link and Zelda get married and have babies after every game?
Every time this subject comes up it's just so hilarious how people act about it. I think it's good to be gender/race/sexuality conscious, but it's really threads like these that make you realize a lot of people turn into zealots about it and probably hurt the discussion overall more than help it.
One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things is not like the others.
WrenchNinja
Member
He really hasn't. A couple of different facial expression doesn't make him one.
DXLelouch153
Banned
When the story involves reincarnation I think it usually benefits the story to have unique iterations that set each hero apart. Loz would feel more fresh that way. Anyways they don't have to put females in the game, though it would be nice if they did, just don't give such a garbage reason as to why.
This is always what bothers me personally about this topic. I'm all for diversity in games, but the solution shouldn't be "Let's change previously established male characters to female" but rather it should be "Let's make the next Mirror's Edge/Life is Strange/Tomb Raider etc" the former is just lazy
WrenchNinja
Member
Complaining about the pc crowd, nice
Species can have variants, case in point, reality
No you don't need a reason.
Mango The Magician
Banned
...And the Paper Mario universe is now confirmed to be a different universe from the regular mario universe, that's no reason to deviate from the branding of mario even if there are techincally two marios, maybe even an infinite amount if we account for how Galaxy is set up, the same applies for Link; branding is more important to people than lore.
Finale Fireworker
Member
This is what it comes down to.
Given the frequency of the request for a female Link, most people don't consider the character or identity of Link to be related to his gender. Link is simply green clothes and a sword used as the vehicle for a Zelda adventure. Lots of people actually like Link, too.
So when people think a female playable character in a Zelda game, a female Link is at the top of the list of options. Because for however unnatural it might seem to you, it's a natural and organic leap for (most?) others. They like Link, but also want a female avatar, so a female Link becomes the go-to for what is a more abstract request for a playable female.
However, if in the next Zelda game, you could choose between playing as Link or a new female avatar named Kori, these same people would be happy. Or if you actually played as Zelda in the next Zelda game, these same people would be happy. Just because "female Link" seems like the shortest distance between two points doesn't mean it's the only path.
So, generally, the people saying they want a female Link and the people saying they want a new/existing female character to lead the next game are arguing the same thing: female protagonists. How each group is arriving at their interpretation of that theoretical character is merely a difference of whether they view Link as a pair of green clothes or a bloodline of young men.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
I don't get why people think that fantasy means "shitty writing with no consistency or internal logic". This keeps coming up, and it's incredibly disrespectful to the genre and the world building efforts that the creators put in.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Link used to just stand there watching things unfold without reacting, that's a blank slate, him getting a backstory, displaying the traits that people describe, emoting correctly in long cutscenes makes him a character. We saw the best of this with Wind Waker. And Skyward Sword is a good example too, making Link less of a blank slate and having more story is where the series has been heading for awhile now.
Link isn't an established character and I don't want to have to play as a guy in all of the main games. I would also be happy with a new female character that looks similar to Link. Just give me a choice.
Bacon_Boss
Member
His reasoning is kind of eh. To be honest I kind of always want to be Link when i play a Zelda game, but I think the following would make the series more to female fans, even if it was just one game:
1) A major female villain
2) A playable female counterpart to link who teams up with him.
I wouldn't want to go too heavy into the "swap" gameplay mechanic on the regular, you could have link go in or wait at the entrance and do "stuff" while you clear it out but it'd be nice to have the option, plus have another character who can help push the narrative when Link's not in a town or cutscene.
1) A major female villain
2) A playable female counterpart to link who teams up with him.
I wouldn't want to go too heavy into the "swap" gameplay mechanic on the regular, you could have link go in or wait at the entrance and do "stuff" while you clear it out but it'd be nice to have the option, plus have another character who can help push the narrative when Link's not in a town or cutscene.
The backlash they would get if they admitted that wouldn't be worth it.
QueenOfThorns
Member
How is it disrespectful to the genre?
DXLelouch153
Banned
just give Zelda U Co Op with both Link and Zelda playable
notworksafe
Member
Eh, sounds to me like he was one step away from just saying "We don't care, that's why".