Daily Debate: How Will the Zelda Series Change if Link Speaks in Echoes of Wisdom?

When Breath of the Wild first released, the Zelda franchise graduated from using solely text to convey character dialogue to finally utilizing voice actors during its major cutscenes. This change shattered franchise conventions and completely re-invented the way that stories are conveyed in Zelda games. While Echoes of Wisdom will likely be devoid of any voice-acted cutscenes, it has become very obvious that this game was created to further break established rules of the franchise, especially when it comes to characters.

Echoes of Wisdom has the potential to rewire the franchise for good, and letting series protagonist Link speak would be one significant way for Zelda‘s development team to carry out that change. While we have no confirmation yet that Link will have any prominent speaking role in the upcoming game, the prospect is still an interesting hot-button topic. This game being Zelda’s first big main-series adventure gives Link an opportunity to find his voice, quite literally, which could shake up the Zelda franchise as a whole.

Personally, I feel like Link speaking could be a potential boost to his character, which would give him a little bit more personality beyond just his actions in cutscenes. However, it should be said that Link’s silence isn’t purposeless. The original intent for keeping Link silent was to keep player immersion easy. It’s a lot easier to project yourself onto a silent protagonist than a lead character who has too many speaking lines. If Link spoke during the events of Echoes Wisdom, it might be hard to project ourselves onto him again in his next starring role.

With all that being said, what do you think? What kind of changes would Link speaking bring to the franchise? Let us know in the comments below!

Connor Butler

Connor is an avid Zelda fan and Musician currently obtaining his degree in percussion performance from Western Carolina University. His favorite game in the Zelda franchise is a toss up between Breath of the Wild and Ocarina of Time, but he has a soft spot for the Wind Waker.