Aonuma won't say if you can play as Zelda in Breath of the Wild 2

CyberPanda

CyberPanda

Banned
"A lot of people have been asking that, and so I want to ask you, why do people think that?" Aonuma said when I asked him this morning during an E3 interview on the second floor of Nintendo's booth at the Los Angeles Convention Center. He spoke through an English-Japanese translator.

"Well it seems like it'd make sense, because at the end of Breath of the Wild she was freed, so now she can be a protagonist," I said. "Also, I think people have wanted it for a long time."

"I see," said Aonuma. Then he laughed. "But I can't tell you."
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kotaku.com

Breath Of The Wild Sequel Producer Won't Say If You Can Play As Zelda

When Nintendo teased a sequel to Breath of the Wild at the end of yesterday’s Direct, it left everyone with one big question: Can you play as Zelda? Legendary series producer Eiji Aonuma knows the answer. He’s just not saying.
kotaku.com kotaku.com
 
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
 
kegkilla said:
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
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Mostly confused ideology that demands it today.

I hate the idea that every major character has to be playable / "action"-oriented. To be honest, Princess Zelda is above that corny need to be an action hero--she has her own role in each legend, sometimes a very complex one happening at the level of her royal duty etc, far outside of our journey as Link.

I also despise making games into generic choose-your-own character games. You play as Link because that's the essence of Legend of Zelda. It's not just some fantasy IP universe where you can be yourself or take on any number of colorful protagonists; it's a very specific kind of game established around Link's role, and does best when it has zero interest in trying to be anything else.
 
I can see a playable Zelda working if done a certain way but not as what would effectively be a model swap for Link.

This Zelda is basically a scientist. Give her some sneaky techie shit to do like Miles in PS4's Spider-Man game. She's not gonna be riding an updraft forty feet into the air to shoot an ancient arrow into Windblight Ganon's eyeball or some shit.

Not that I'm worried about Nintendo doing something like that. They seem pretty good for the most part about tuning out certain types of noise.
 
kegkilla said:
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
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These days I'd say it's both. I see no real reason to not have her as a playable character, just make her her own. What I don't like is for her to be playable for the sole reason of gender inclusion.
 
tenor.gif


It would be fun. Princess Zelda has been playable in several other Nintendo games. Instead of a LTTP-style "dark world", I'd rather take two fully developed campaigns -- one for Link, one for Zelda -- and different skills/story between the two playthroughs.

Like CyberPanda CyberPanda mentioned, I'm privately hoping for a co-op option which would be the perfect opportunity to make Zelda playable. Maybe she could even have her own moveset or tools...
 
I definitely want Zelda to have more of a presence in the game. Lately she's been captured, locked away, going on her own adventures, basically anything but a part of the player's adventure. The last time she really did stuff was in OoT when she was disguised as Sheik, I think. I guess Tetra did some things? I don't know, I just want her to be there, for there to be mor einteraction between her and Link.

I think it would be lame if either Link or Zelda gets captured, with one having to rescue the other, especially if that quest makes up the majority of the game. If Zelda is playable, I hope she has different abilities than Link. If they play exactly the same that would suck. Co-op would be cool as well, and seems like a natural step from the last game. People love exploring that big open world, and it'd be even more fun together.
 
kegkilla said:
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
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Can't speak for anyone but myself, but I wouldn't want Zelda to become the lead or main character as the norm, but this shouldn't be the norm. Direct sequels in the series are pretty darn rare, so it's hard to buikd a pattern, but if this continues in the tradition of Majora's Mask (and I hope it does) then it should be a bit of an oddball.

After the huge adventure in BotW, I feel like I've pretty well exhausted that power/moveset. I hope the sequel switches up combat and traversal in a big way. They don't necessarily have to make Zelda the main character to do that, but it would be a pretty convenient way to explain why Link is suddenly doing everything differently.

Plus, I do think a lot of people would be interested to see Link and Zelda's roles reversed for a game. A very small, very vocal group on the webs wants her to be the main for representation or somesuch, but I think most fans would just think it was cool in the same way that some of the moments in the final battle of Endgame were (No, not the "She's got help" bit).
 
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kegkilla said:
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
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A gender option was heavily discussed when BoTW came out. Male Zelda and a female Link, as an option in character creation. I think that could make sense, along with being able to pick skin color, hairstyle and bodytype. Legend of Zelda is a never ending propercy of someone becoming the Hero of the Land and be named as "Link". But the player character has always been able to pick his name. For this reason, I think it makes sense to give that sort of character customization in a Zelda game. Not for the sake of inclusion, but because it actually makes a lot of sense to have that freedom.
Secondly, I think Zeldas big problem is a lack of customization and RPG depths. BoTW is an incredible game, and its approach to crafting is amazing, but the game lacks a real challenge with combat, choices and specializations. I think the game could have more self expression, and character creator customization makes sense.

Adventure Time had this really cool genderbend episode that swapped gender and species on the main characters, and it was really fun. Link def will work as a female. The bigger concern I have is if Nintendo can actually up their storytelling. BoTW looks like a Hayao Miyazaki game, but the storytelling is not really there, and its a shame. Zelda was never really about story, but the story was a lot more impressive in the N64 days, and I think that today we have much higher expectations of stories in games, even if the games aren't story heavy. Zelda can do a lot better telling a simple loose story.

So if they struggle and stumble so much with something linear and non customizeable as BoTW, I have doubts they could do it better with a story that allow you to swap the genders of Link and Zelda. But maybe.
 
Luffytubby said:
Adventure Time had this really cool genderbend episode that swapped gender and species on the main characters, and it was really fun.
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I love the Cake and Fiona episodes, but Imma be pissed if I beat a Legend of Zelda game and the ending is the Ice King Impa closing a bedtime story while she tucks a slumbering Princess Zelda into her bed.
 
InterMusketeer said:
The last time she really did stuff was in OoT when she was disguised as Sheik, I think. I guess Tetra did some things? I don't know, I just want her to be there, for there to be more interaction between her and Link.
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Yeah, Tetra was a badass pirate queen it was pretty great. Kind of a missed opportunity really - even back then I thought it was funny how almost as soon as she's revealed to be princess Zelda she's locked up in the castle, and then the next time you see or hear from her she's being kidnapped by Ganondorf. It was almost like Nintendo themselves didn't realize she was Zelda while they were making the game, then once they got to that point they went OH SHIT LOCK HER UP FAM.

And then of course there was Phantom Hourglass, where she didn't even get to do that much.

People tend to overlook Spirit Tracks in this regard, though. Zelda's your companion through the whole game and spends a good part of it as a hulking suit of armor, it's pretty great. A good example of how to get her more in the spotlight without it coming off as "muh representation"
 
kegkilla said:
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
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The latter for me. This version of Zelda is an absolute badass and she probably can do magic shit that Link can't. It would probably be good for some awesome gameplay. Imagine being able to cast stuff with the BOTW chemistry engine.
 
This is a pointless request. Link will always be the main Hero. This Zelda can help link throughout the adventure just like Atreus helped Kratos.

Also Zelda helped Link in several titles: Spirit Tracks, Wind Waker, TP, OOT...
 
He's asking back the question seems like he's trying to rationalize the thought without being rude. I guess he gets the point, too many compromises and weird design shifts just to justify the notion in the most respectfully way.
 
kegkilla said:
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
Click to expand...

There are quite some mods for both playable Zelda and female Link on CEMU's BotW and most of them include some "nice" outfits... I don't think it's ideology related, hehe ;)

I'm not a fan of Zelda as the main character but I wouldn't mind playing with her on certain sequences or puzzles like we did with Madly in Wind Waker... as long as it makes sense and adds interesting mechanics to the game, shouldn't be a problem.
 
Luffytubby said:
A gender option was heavily discussed when BoTW came out. Male Zelda and a female Link, as an option in character creation. I think that could make sense, along with being able to pick skin color, hairstyle and bodytype. Legend of Zelda is a never ending propercy of someone becoming the Hero of the Land and be named as "Link". But the player character has always been able to pick his name. For this reason, I think it makes sense to give that sort of character customization in a Zelda game. Not for the sake of inclusion, but because it actually makes a lot of sense to have that freedom.
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This would absolutely ruin the game for me. The moment I see Link as a gender fluid person of color with pink hair is the moment that the series loses all authenticity in my mind.
 
My vote: Give us a set of missions during the game where we play as Zelda.

But the rest of the game is about the hero of legend.

Mission accomplished.
 
I don't see why not. She already played as Sheik in the previous games and is capable on her own. Truly make it the 'Legend of Zelda' and not 'Legend of Zelda, but Link does all the work'. If Zelda is playable, cool. If not, still cool cause it's another Zelda game.
 
Here's a mod of Linkle replacing Link in BotW. I think it's "interesting" :messenger_smirking:



Would that ruin the game for you?
 
It has been made clear that this Zelda cannot fight like a warrior, so either they pull a "yass" shenanigan and make her fight out of nowhere, or she's just the "wizard" build.
 
I don't care if they do it, I don't care if they don't - personally.

I also don't think that they should have to cater to anyone if they want to make her playable or not.
 
Could be fun.
I just hope if they make her playable they use her in interesting ways. This Zelda is supposed to be more of a scientist or researcher so it would make sense for her to have her own unique skill set, maybe with gadgets and stuff like that or have her sections be more focused on puzzles.

Just having her be a basic skin swap for Link with the same skills and abilities would be lame
 
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Fbh said:
Could be fun.
I just hope if they make her playable they use her in interesting ways. This Zelda is supposed to be more of a scientist or researcher so it would make sense for her to have her own unique skill set, maybe with gadget and stuff like that or have her sections be more focused on puzzles.

Just having her be a basic skin swap for Link with the same skills and abilities would be lame
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giphy.gif
 
I don't mind some small passages with zelda like ciri in the witcher 3, but not as a main character, as its about link saving zelda.

Maybe they can make a spin off with zelda as the main protagonist.
 
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kegkilla said:
This would absolutely ruin the game for me. The moment I see Link as a gender fluid person of color with pink hair is the moment that the series loses all authenticity in my mind.
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But thats the cool thing about character creation - You dont have to. Design Link as whatever the fuck you want. I dont wanna play as female Link, but I do wanna play as Link with a different haircolor and hairstyle.
 
She''ll be a switchable buddy style character to solve certain situations, I predict.

I really doubt she'll be the full-on protagonist.
 
kegkilla said:
Is "playing as Zelda" some sort of ideology-based demand coming out from the typical batshit crazies? Or is this something gamers have actually been asking for? I can't tell anymore.
Click to expand...
I've always wanted to play as other people other than Link. Haven't really liked Link in over a decade.
 
Go and play SSBU if you want to play as Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda is about playing as Link.

I just don't get it, it's always the same discussion.. why want somebody play as Zelda or want to have a Linkle game?

Is there any need for a Mario Game in which you shave Mario his face, put him into a dress and play as Marianne?

Amazing title incoming.

Super Marianne Sisters U.

Looking forward, NOT
 
Luffytubby said:
But thats the cool thing about character creation - You dont have to. Design Link as whatever the fuck you want. I dont wanna play as female Link, but I do wanna play as Link with a different haircolor and hairstyle.
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And then it's no longer The Legend of Zelda, it's some game about some random goofy looking protagonist.
 
Moses85 said:
Go and play SSBU if you want to play as Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda is about playing as Link.

I just don't get it, it's always the same discussion.. why want somebody play as Zelda or want to have a Linkle game?

Is there any need for a Mario Game in which you shave Mario his face, put him into a dress and play as Marianne?

Amazing title incoming.

Super Marianne Sisters U.

Looking forward, NOT
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Female protagonists bad! Can't we just have choices?
 
Playing as Zelda was always a stupid idea… until Breath of the Wild. That Zelda I'd be interested in playing as. Doing what, I'm not sure– that's for Nintendo to figure out.

Even if she's not directly playable, having her in your "party" would be a neat twist.
 
Whataburger said:
Female protagonists bad! Can't we just have choices?
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Give me choices "great choices" which will make a game better without destroying its soul and I am with you. This feminist thing is getting irritating.

Reminds me on the Terminator Dark Fate Trailer. Pure women power.
 
Well, maybe the idea for this one is that you play as both? Like some sort Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga type deal where you can swap at will, do puzzles and each have their own style of combat? Potentially also lends itself to online and couch co-op play, especially the online thing is something Nintendo was hammering on so they can sell those subscriptions so it may not be too farfetched.
 
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