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Link Talking Would NOT Be the End of the World As We Know It.

Ghosi

Schmetterling
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Z-axis
I like it the way he is. Like it was said, it might or might not ruin the experience for the gamer himself/herself. It might be nice to see him talk sometime, but I do not see it happening. You see, Link does not talk at all, because he is not the main character. Now please, do not criticize this, I heard that he does not have a voice because he is not the main character.

My reason for Link being silent is simple. Nintendo wants us to play as Link, therefore also think as Link. Just imagine; isn't it more fun to guess what he is thinking about, than to have him read a dialoge? I think Nintendo has done an awesome job at this. Remember that Link is YOU. You are him, and he is you.
 

Azure Sage

Join your hands...
Staff member
ZD Legend
Comm. Coordinator
I like it the way he is. Like it was said, it might or might not ruin the experience for the gamer himself/herself. It might be nice to see him talk sometime, but I do not see it happening. You see, Link does not talk at all, because he is not the main character. Now please, do not criticize this, I heard that he does not have a voice because he is not the main character.

My reason for Link being silent is simple. Nintendo wants us to play as Link, therefore also think as Link. Just imagine; isn't it more fun to guess what he is thinking about, than to have him read a dialoge? I think Nintendo has done an awesome job at this. Remember that Link is YOU. You are him, and he is you.

Yeah, you have a point. But I'm not one who does that. In fact I don't even think I've EVER given Link my name, I usually name him "Link". Or other random names I like, like "Alphonse" or "Azure". But it's mostly the name of my protagonist from my anime idea I've been working on drawing(and it won't be done for a long timeT_T), "Saga".(his full name is Saga Sentoryu). And I still treat Link as a whole other person while I'm playing. And never once have I used my own name.

People, please keep in mind that this thread was posted by someone with the viewpoint expressed above.
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
Joined
May 26, 2010
Location
Akkala
Gender
Hylian Champion
Hrm...I've actually thought of dialogue boxes, but it seems many people would react negatively to that idea. I think I'd like to see more boxes in the sense of choices; Wind Waker had a lot of those now that I think about it. I'm not saying that Zelda needs to be a complete RPG, but maybe we could request something or deny an offer, something along those lines.
 

PhantomTriforce

I am a Person of Interest
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Location
Ganon's Tower
I don't think it would be the end of the world, but there are somethings that if they are kept constant, it can benefit the series. Link as a silent hero is one of those elements, imo.
 

Stallord

Twilit Fossil
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Location
Arbiter's Grounds
Link talking obviously wouldn't be the end of the world. But honestly, I like him better as a silent protagonist. Even if you don't project your emotions onto Link like you were meant to do according to the developers, I think being silent gives a quality of coolness to him. Like it does for Red in Pokemon.

And besides, three letters-CDi.
 
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
I see I've found a fellow FMA fan!! But it's not just the violence I was talking about, Sgt. Backwash. I understand that the zelda games are meant to have universal appeal. I just think it'd be a little more natural if there'd be a swear word or two thrown in there now and then? Y'know? At the very end of OoT when Ganon was being sealed into the evil realm, he says, "Curse you... curse you...", and I'm sitting on my couch thinking, "Really? That's ALL he has to say in that situation? You were just pwnd by Link and trapped in an evil void for all eternity and THAT'S all you can say?" I don't mean he should've said, "f*** you", or anything, though; "damn you" would've sufficed perfectly. I mean, it just seems more natural that way, y'know? It's like, how could one not curse in a situation like that? It's only natural!... That's what I was talking about.

Without coming across as patronising, you'd understand if you were developer the game yourself. You work long and hard to make a great game and you want as many people to play it as possible. Maybe if you are a hard and fast "artist" you put in what you want and damn the consequences. But if you are a pragmatist you do all you can to lower the rating without compromising on gameplay. You add a couple of swearwords and the rating gets bumped up. Does it improve the game? Not in the slightest, in my view.

Part of the appeal of high fantasy is having an eloquent bad guy. I'm not saying people with higher vocabularies swear less (being an English buff I probably sit in the top percentile in terms of vocabulary but I swear like a trooper), but in the history of epic speeches profanity is kept to a minimum. You'd ruin a lot of Shakespeare if you dropped the f-bomb into a good soliloquy. Sure, Ganondorf could have said something more profound than curse you, but something more in line of an epic speech.

Some people seem to have misunderstood what I meant by project. Obviously only the mentally unbalanced would believe themselves to be Link. But as Soldier of Link pointed out you do want to feel in control, and you don't want him to do anything that you yourself wouldn't do. It is easier to make him not speak than predict what each individual player is likely to say. If I'm not enjoying the story I might watch Zelda get captured and want to say "Nuts to it, I'm off to the shooting range." :lol:
 

Azure Sage

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Link talking obviously wouldn't be the end of the world. But honestly, I like him better as a silent protagonist. Even if you don't project your emotions onto Link like you were meant to do according to the developers, I think being silent gives a quality of coolness to him. Like it does for Red in Pokemon.

And besides, three letters-CDi.

And you have a point. Yet I still stand by my word. Oh, and uh... What the hell is CDi???
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Location
21 Jump St.
Cdi is an abomination made by Philips, originally working with Nintendo. Nintendo backed out, but allowed Philips to make a mario game "Hotel Mario" and 3 Zelda games: Zeldas Adventure, Wand of Gamelon, and Faces of Evil. These games were terrible and are not considered part of the official Zelda universe.

Stallords reference was to the terrible voice acting and cartoon segments in these games.
 

Azure Sage

Join your hands...
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Jdenicholls, you do make an excellent point. A few of them, actually. But, let's not forget that what I posted in my thread were my ideas that were based off my own viewpoints. I have taken many peoples responses and understood and accepted them, and I do have a new perspective now. But I still stand by my word... Yes, I am that stubborn:) but that's not the point. I stand by my word. But maybe I'll try projecting myself unto Link some other time.

Cdi is an abomination made by Philips, originally working with Nintendo. Nintendo backed out, but allowed Philips to make a mario game "Hotel Mario" and 3 Zelda games: Zeldas Adventure, Wand of Gamelon, and Faces of Evil. These games were terrible and are not considered part of the official Zelda universe.

Stallords reference was to the terrible voice acting and cartoon segments in these games.
. Ahh I see. Y'know, I heard about the wand of gamelon but had no clue as to what it was. And as it turns out, it happens to be a terrible game.
 
Joined
May 26, 2010
Location
USA


At least the CDi games make awesome YouTube Poops! XD

They aren't "official" though, Nintendo didn't publish or make them. They weren't even on a Nintendo system.
 
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Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Location
Twisted Tea Cafe
I like your idea! I would like Link to have his own personality..
I am sick of all this link is just an avatar... he is you and all that jazz.
I believe Link is his own character, and he totally deserves to have a personality just a silent one... :xd:
 
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
In every video game in the world, no matter what the gameplay is like or what kind of personality the main character has, you the player have to complete whatever tasks the storyline gives you if you want to beat it, and there is no way you can interact with the NPC's. Similarly, in Zelda games, Link is pretty much told where to go and what to do throughout the entire game, and he never interacts with NPC's on a more personal level than "Ok, I'll collect all of your chickens for you."

Playing Link is not about injecting your personality into the story, it is about exploring a video game world as you really, truly are--as a clueless outsider wandering around a world full of secrets to find and full of people (zany people, sometimes) to talk to who will always tell you what to do and will never get to know you or be your friend.

If you play a non-Zelda game that has voice-acting and a talking main character with a well-developed personality, you the player are still that wandering newcomer. The only difference is that you have a shell to hide in that says pre-processed lines to NPC's.

If Link spoke, he would be a shell instead of a newcomer. It wouldn't be the end of the world, and Zelda games would still be fun, but the Zelda experience would never be the same.
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Location
Florida
I'm completely fine with a silent protagonist since most games I've played had them. I'm used to small grunts and other noises to show that the character understands the task. However, I wouldn't mind seeing text boxes to show dialogue for Link. Hell, I wouldn't mind if they put voice-acting in the game. The only problem that will occur is the actual change. Link has already been defined as a silent protagonist, and a sudden change like dialogue boxes or voice acting can be upsetting to one who wouldn't like that kind of change to the series.

One thing they could try is making Link speak "Hylian". By this, I mean like how Mario and Luigi talk to each other in the Mario & Luigi sub-series, or how Midna speaks in Twilight Princess, to an extent. In M&L, you here Mario and Luigi talk to each other in little blurbs that may or may not be in an actual language, no dialogue box. They could try this with Link.

And besides, three letters-CDi.
This always irritates me. There is no point in bringing the CD-i games in as an argument when it comes to voice-acting in a Zelda game. Those games weren't even developed by Nintendo. If Nintendo chose to have voice acting in a future Zelda game, it's quite obvious that it would be much, much better than the CD-i games offered. The CD-i games don't prove to be a strong enough argument. Go find a better one.
 

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