Should Link talk?

[HylianEVAN]

Now I’ve been wanting to make this thread for awhile now but haven’t got the time but here we go.

Now we all know and love Link and after playing Breath of the wild I’ve been thinking. Should Link talk?
Well we only heard him talk once and that was in Windwaker and we always see him moving his mouth and doing hand motions like in Skyward sword or Breath of the wild but we never here him talk and here why.
I feel like Nintendo wanted you to be your own hero in the Zelda games and react to the things they say in the game and not have Link react to them for you (if that makes sense)
I feel that Link should not talk cause that would ruin the character but it would be interesting to hear him talk for the first time.
Now what do you think about this. Should Link talk or should he be the silent hero we all know.

 

[Quin]

Link wouldn't be link if he talked. He's suppose to be the gateway between you and the game world.
They might as well give him a new name too at that point, or how about a gender or skin tone choice? or hell, just make a character creator.

Link is purely tradition at this point, and if they throw that out (which I personally would not want), they might as well use more advanced ways to self insert.

 

[Azure Sage]

Sure, why not? I'm open to it. In BotW, he was a more defined character than ever before. His silence was shown to be a result of him becoming a withdrawn person due to the high pressure of being chosen as a hero. That's all well and good, but it was also kind of an excuse to keep him silent in cutscenes. He can still be very talkative with the dialogue options, especially when talking to Hudson. (Yes, the dialogue options are supposed to be his dialogue.) If they decided to take him even further into being his own character, I would not be opposed to it. That said, it is a little hard to imagine, honestly.

 

[YIGAhim]

I think it takes away from him as a character. He talks a lot in Breath of the Wild just saying...

If it works it works but I say no

 

[ray138]

No.
I like the dialog options in SS & BOTW, but he shouldn't speak.
And, based on the voice acting in BOTW, neither should anybody else.

 

[Spirit]

I wouldn't mind if he did. Link has never been a decent avatar or 'link' between the player and game. The fact games have his name in the title stopped him from being a blank avatar and pushed him into being more of a character in his own right.

IMO Link talking would be the final step into making a fully fledged character. He has his own personality traits at this point that we come to expect with every incarnation of him.

As a side note I think Nintendo recently missed a golden opportunity to have Link speak in The Champions' Ballad...

Spoiler

In the final cutscene where Zelda, Link and the Champions have gathered and are discussing the Sheikah Slate there's a moment where Mipha speaks with her back to the screen and says 'um, Princess... May I ask a special favour of you?' the camera then cuts to Link as the Champions turn to face him.

Link could have said that. Seriously watch that part of the cutscene with the sound down, it looks like Link has just spoken.

This could have been a great way to end the DLC.

 

[ray138]

^ Totally disagree. I think Link works great as an avatar. It's one of the things I like best about the franchise.
If Link starts talkin', I'll start walkin'.
It seems like some people want to strip the games of the things that make them unique. It's weird to me.

 

[AncientPoe]

I'd like to see it happen at least once. But it should probably happen in a game where they've elected to put a much stronger emphasis on the story. If they're gonna do it, it has to mean something more than simple novelty.

 

[Azure Sage]

If Link starts talkin', I'll start walkin'.
It seems like some people want to strip the games of the things that make them unique. It's weird to me.

I wouldn’t really call a silent protagonist something that makes Zelda unique. Many games do that. I mean, look at BotW and how unconventional it is for recent Zelda games. It ended up being the best one (imo). As long as it has that atmosphere of a Zelda game, that’s usually enough for me. I want to see what more they can do with the series without needing to tie themselves down. What’s weird to me is drawing the line before you’ve gotten to see something’s potential.

 

[ray138]

What’s weird to me is drawing the line before you’ve gotten to see sonething’s potential.

I'd rather do the talking for him.

 

[Azure Sage]

I'd rather do the talking for him.

None of those are canon. I don’t count them at all for this. They were also a long time ago. If you think a talking Link would currently be anything like they were.... idk what to tell you.

 

[ray138]

None of those are canon. I don’t count them at all for this. They were also a long time ago. If you think a talking Link would currently be anything like they were.... idk what to tell you.

If you didn't get that it was a joke (even with the winky face) then I don't know what to tell you.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if Link got a speaking role, but when I see Link, I see my avatar. The blank-ish slate of the character is endearing to me. I can see many of my own traits in him, even if they aren't really there.
Giving him dialog would put another wedge between the player and the character. It would remove a Link, if you will.
(eh? get it? ...sigh. I'll see myself out.)

 

[Azure Sage]

Another thing I'll add to this discussion... having Link talk doesn't mean he has to talk ALL the time. There can be a nice compromise. For example, Monster Hunter Stories has a silent protagonist. And they stay silent... right up to the final battle. They say practically no more than 5 words. And it had such fantastic emotional impact. The surprise of them speaking coupled with their loving words had me about to cry, and they only said 5 words. I still think that was goddamn impressive. I can see Link speaking in such a way. Only in the most impactful moments. That would be a good compromise, I think.

 

[Rob N. Hood]

None of those are canon. I don’t count them at all for this. They were also a long time ago. If you think a talking Link would currently be anything like they were.... idk what to tell you.

Judging by some of BotW's voice acting, Nintendo are perfectly capable of making Link sound like these two.

 

[Azure Sage]

Judging by some of BotW's voice acting, Nintendo are perfectly capable of making Link sound like these two.

The voice acting was fine overall. Nothing too great, but nothing was outright bad, either. So no, I really doubt he’d sound like them at all.