The Legend of Zelda Without Link?

[OcarinaBoy]

I had a dream the other day, and it got me thinking about something. In the dream, I was reading an article in a gaming magazine that said the next LoZ game wouldn't have Link in it, but would be told from the perspective of Zelda instead. It also talked about how/why Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf were chosen as the holders of the Triforce.

So how do you think a LoZ game without Link would work out? What would be different about it (aside from the obvious)?

 

[Dragoncat]

I dont think it would work...the last time they tried having Zelda be the only playable character, we got the horrible CDI game.

 

[Zorth]

I don't it would feel like Zelda if we didn't have any sign of Link, It could turn out to be a great game story wise, gameplay, graphics etc. But to me it just wouldn't feel like Zelda if we don't get to see the little boy in green clothes with a sword, It would feel like a completely different game. Unless they replace Link with a character that strongly resembles him, which then wouldn't be removing Link from the game it would be just changing his look a little bit.

I dont think it would work...the last time they tried having Zelda be the only playable character, we got the horrible CDI game.

No Link was the least of that game's problems.

 

[The Wanderer]

I'd be fine with the idea (I tend to be very open to new ideas), although it would come as a genuine shock to me if Link wasn't the protagonist of a mainstream Zelda game. It might work best as a character creation system so you can actually feel even closer to the player character (not everybody looks like Link, even if they want to). This is especially feasible with the Wii U; it has a built-in camera in the GamePad, and ZombiU allows players to "zombify" themselves pretty realistically, though it's unknown to me if the latter will use that feature for custom characters. I think it's possible for the Wii U to do it, though, so imagine if you could realistically transplant your identity into the game and truly become one with the main character.

I also wouldn't mind seeing different sides of one story (like Zelda's part of the journey in Skyward Sword), which may be best utilized in the forms of DLC or WiiWare titles/whatever the Wii U replaces it with. I kind of wish The Legend of Zelda would make more of an effort to connect its plots and make Hyrule feel like a more tangible place with correlating events, not some subjective place that changes to the whims of the latest game. I have more respect for a series that builds on its lore and makes the fantasy world feel more real rather than ignoring and sometimes even contradicting (or at least befuddling) past plot points just to suit the current story.

But I digress. I'd be fine with a Legend of Zelda game without Link as the main character, although I wouldn't say I'm clamoring for it.

 

[Ventus]

A Zelda game without Link? You mean like the veritable BS-X titles? A Zelda game without Link SHOULD be able to work. Hell, Link is never mentioned within the title itself (bar The Wind Waker, but even there it is referring to the item moreso than the Waker himself, as well as AoL and LA). Why is Link the more important character when the title of each and every Zelda game suggests otherwise?

The series would survive well off without the Link character in my opinion; fans of course wouldn't like the sudden change, but the games would still be well-received if they have the same core gameplay, puzzles, music, etc. To say "it isn't Zelda without Link" is to say "it isn't Link without Zelda", and Majora's Mask of all games throws the latter assumption into the wind. I'm just saying Link not being present in a Zelda game would work is all.

 

[A Link In Time]

A Zelda game without Link is like a Halo game without Master Chief. Such a game may exist but it will no doubt pale in quality to the installments featuring the protagonist. After a character has been established as a veritable namesake for a given series it's hard to shake the lack of charm in subsequent games lacking that persona. An essence of the franchise is lost in transition.

I'm opposed to a Zelda game without Link on the same ground as a stripped down Zelda games-tradition ferments powerful sentiments and radical alterations will no doubt lead to agitation among fans. Link is the hero of Hyrule and from a story perspective no other character is as important as the wielder of the Triforce of Courage and Master Sword, the man destined to rid the land of an evil scourge. I've argued before that Link is a weak hero as in most installments he lacks emotions and finishes the adventure with few personal losses. Although this trend has been slightly reversed in Skyward Sword, he still remains far from an ideal hero. That said, he's the number one guy for the job and a Hyrule without Link would be Arkham City sans the Dark Knight.

 

[ZeldaGod101]

I think it would be a good game but do it like this instead have link in the game but ganondorf uses his power to seal link away but before he does links triforce of courage escapse from links body and is transferred to zelda making it so she has the courage, wisdom, and strength to defeat ganondorf and save link

 

[Nollie]

idk when people think of the Zelda games they picture Link. He is the zelda games to most people it won't work.

 

[MsNerrrrd]

No. In my opinion Link IS Zelda. And before I'll get a whole bunch of mad fanboys screming that: "THE PROTAGONIST IS NOT ZELDA, IT'S LINK, U HAVE PROBLEM BRO???!!", let me clarify myself: I'm not talking about the character Zelda, but instead the Zelda- games. When I said that Link is Zelda, I merely meant the essence of the Zelda- franchrise. The Zelda- games. They wouldn't work without our Hero garbed in green. And now I'm repeating myself for the millionth time, but it migh work as a spin-off- title, but not as part of the main series.

 

[Castle]

If Link is meant to be effectively "us" then "we" can be anything, but Zelda is her own established character. I know, some people (like yours truly) are of the mind that Link is, by now, his own established character so I suppose playing as Zelda wouldn't matter anymore. But that also brings up the question: If not Link then who? We are used to what Link is capable of. Would Zelda play similar? Ganondorf? Some new protagonist who might as well be Link anyway? How would playing someone else change what players can do? Their movesets, the items they can use, the weapons they bring into battle? How would that alter the nature of the game? Would it still play like a Zelda game?

 

[Spirit]

The idea of a Zelda game without Link has come up a lot of times before, and will do again and again. I remember the fake but intriguing Valley of the Flood which was said to star a Link-like character who wouldnt actually be Link. Epona would also be a motorbike and the Master Sword would be a gun and it'd take place in a technologically advanced Hyrule (which i thought would have been really cool) but alas...

My point is that i dont think Zelda really needs Link, the games have shown us already that we don't need the title character and Link is less and less of a character to connect with with each game that comes out, they may as well give Link a full personality, and or give us a new character to play as. I don't think it'd harm the series in anyway at all. People care about what Zelda is, and not so much who or what they're actually doing in the game itself. Zelda is a function rather than form franchise recently, a character change wouldn't change that, in fact it may give some fans hope and give them the notion that an actual coherent story may be crafted out of Zelda at long last.

 

[Vaati101]

This will definately be ideal for a Spin-off game, but for a mainstream game... that's pretty much impossible since Link is the main protagonist in all Main games. He's been around since the dawn of Zelda, and removing him for one game just out of curiosity isn't really a good idea, in Nintendo's eyes anyway.

 

[Donutwizard]

I had a dream the other day, and it got me thinking about something. In the dream, I was reading an article in a gaming magazine that said the next LoZ game wouldn't have Link in it, but would be told from the perspective of Zelda instead. It also talked about how/why Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf were chosen as the holders of the Triforce.

So how do you think a LoZ game without Link would work out? What would be different about it (aside from the obvious)?

No. Just no. Anyways Link has just been in so many Zelda games, Nintendo just won't be able to let him go, not even for one game. Link is more apart of LOZ than Zelda or Ganon. And I am fine with that.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

It could very well work as a spin-off game. I myself am really wanting a sidegame, "The Legend of Groose", that delves even more into his side of the story, whether that would be after the events of SS or during. And even in main titles, if every now and again a part of the game were to switch over to another character, like the Arbiter from Halo 2, that would also be a really fun idea, helps flesh out the world more.

But to leave Link out altogether in a mainline game... Idunno, I guess it COULD work, but I don't see why you would need to do that, considering Link is the main protagonist of the entire series. He's been established as such from the very beginning. Other things about the series have come along later and wouldn't be so bad messing with, but this one seems a bit more set in stone. I'm a fan of fleshing out the world and making it more believable, but I don't think you need to take out such a key component in order to do so. I'm not saying the game would turn out bad just because of it, I'm sure that if they really worked at it it could turn out to be a great game that no one saw coming like what happened with MM, but it just seems unnecessary to me. The games already change a lot from entry to entry, it's good to have at least SOMETHING in common to connect the disparate games together, like... idunno, a tether or a link or something...

 

[TriFiERCE]

Here is your answer. Raios is an awesome green wearing courageous boy. Raios was raised by Kokiris, but he is one day told by the Deku tree that he is needed in Hyrule. Then there is Hasus! Hasus is a blind blue wearing boy who was raised by Zoras, though he is blind, he was raised so that his other senses are 100% He went with some Zoras too deliver fish too castle town, but that day changed his life! Dariou! He is a boy who lived with gorons, and is really strong. He went to Castle town to get help for his village, but then he met Raios and Hasus... Zweisus is a Sheikah boy who was trained by Gerudos thefts too be there ultimate theft, he was meant to steal from the royal family, when he was caught by Hasus... So what do you think of my story? Not enough explained? I'll explain more later.