General Zelda Which Game Had the Best Relationship Between Link and Zelda?

[Salem]

Definitely ALTTP Zelda, she was so memorable, Link mistook Marin for here.

JK, ST Zelda seems to be the closest.

Deviantart is that way. Keep the ****** dating sims / otp fangirling out of my adventure games, plz (and whatever it is that boys do... is there a word for that? Not trying to be gender-exclusive in my antagonism).

Same here, SS was dangerously close to being a dating sim for my liking.

 

[Dragoncat]

Yeah. Dating sims are...dating sims. All they are is point and click, pretty much. And the romance is the main focus. SS was as close to a dating sim as Sesame Street is to a porno flick. Dating sims have a bunch of different options for the pairing, there's no combat or anything like that...now I know in SS, there's the Peatrice sidequest, but still.

Granted, I have never played a dating sim. They're not my cup of tea...however I'm pretty sure my description of them is accurate. Curm, if you don't like pairings and fankids, that's fine. I do though, and there's a lot like me, and I'm sure they're not all girls. By that logic, anything created by a guy would have no romance in it, and that's not true. First thing that comes to mind is the Heroes of Olympus/Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. Or Maximum Ride by James Patterson. Both are male authors and they have a bit of romance in their books along with the action and adventure.

Edit - My mistake, missed the part about you not wanting to be gender exclusive. The word youre looking for is fanboying.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Curm, if you don't like pairings and fankids, that's fine. I do though, and there's a lot like me.

Then we're going to have to agree to disagree.

I never want Zelda to have these things.

 

[Dragoncat]

Then we're going to have to agree to disagree.

I never want Zelda to have these things.

Agree to disagree it is.

Thought this was relevant:

Only replace "the show" with "the games"...Nintendo might not ever let Link kiss Zelda or whoever else in game, but the fandom will. Fandoms often have bigger, more epic, more whatever things than the game/show/whatever itself. You have people who enjoy that, and people who want to stay out of it for whatever reason. I am the former, you are the latter.

 

[JuicieJ]

Same here, SS was dangerously close to being a dating sim for my liking.

Um... what? Do you even know what a dating sim is? lol

 

[Sydney]

Deviantart is that way. Keep the ****** dating sims / otp fangirling out of my adventure games, plz (and whatever it is that boys do... is there a word for that? Not trying to be gender-exclusive in my antagonism).

If we're talking about incorporating romance in future titles, then the LAST thing I want is anything obsessive the fangirls/fanboys come up with. It's not me being rude, as I'm a shipper/fangirl myself, but fans tend to take things to the extreme. If they want to slip in subtle romance along the way, that's fine, but I don't believe romance should ever be the main focal point for a Zelda game. I buy the games to go on an adventure, not a date.

---

If we're talking about which game had the best relationship between Link and Zelda, my obvious choice would be Skyward Sword. Although I can sit here all day nitpicking at the game's flaws, they really nailed it on the head with establishing Link and Zelda's characters. They made it clear across the board that the two had -- at the very least -- mutual, romantic feelings for one another. Claiming that it was nothing more than a friendship is just being oblivious to what's fact. I'm certain that there were other games where the relationship between the two characters was emphasized greatly, but not as much as in SS. I'm almost positive the game was like a gift to Zelink shippers.

 

[Random Person]

Well, I'm not entirely sure which was executed the best. Some contenders are WW, MC, ST and SS but there's not much of a variance for me to say one of these games most definitely did it better than the others.

I can, however, say that my favorites are both MC and ST. MC because I'm a sucker for the kawaiiness of childhood friends growing up together, particularly the scenes where they're children. SS had this too, but I think what sets it apart is that Link is a bit more Random in SS. You can make him be the awesomely nice guy, the best friend, or the sarcastic smart alec if you want... oh em goodness it DOES feel like a dating sim!... so I couldn't appreciate his Personality playing off of Zelda's like I should've. Whereas in MC, Link's stoicness (not a word) was very laughable when compared to Zelda's hyperactivity. Despite their very different Personalities, these two were friends. One was a hyper princess, the other was a serious swordsman.
And then we have ST which gave us two kids actually getting to know each other and begin to develop feelings. We get to see Zelda's frillyness with Link's adventurous spirit and watch as they collide with each other. There are other good ones out there, but those two are my favorite.

 

[Salem]

Romance in a video game is nowhere close to being a dating sim. I reckon you've never played one.

Um... what? Do you even know what a dating sim is? lol

Guys, I was mostly talking about that Cawlin's letter love triangle nonsense, also chossing if you want to return Peatrice's affection or not.

Also, OoT was almost like that to some small extent, at least according to Miyamoto, there wasn't too much of it in the game itself.

I guess to me "dangerously close" is the equivalent of "anything resembling dating sim even a little bit".

I haven't played dating sims, that figures. I thought it's about choosing which person to be with or something.

 

[JuicieJ]

Guys, I was mostly talking about that Cawlin's letter love triangle nonsense, also chossing if you want to return Peatrice's affection or not.

You mean that sidequest that further accentuated them all being teenagers in a school together?

 

[Mangachick14]

With SS...heck, my cousin was watching me do a playthrough and he thought she was his sister.

I don't know about your cousin, but being someone who actually has a brother, I can say with certainty that siblings DO NOT act like this. Unless they like incest...

As for your comment about Ilia... well, she was a one-trick pony. After you save her, she's no longer relevant in the slightest and what's worse, she doesn't even give you anything helpful. I think they did SS Zelda so much better because she was a concern from the beginning of the game until the very end, and she's relevant to the story. They didn't just brush her off once her story arch ended, and unlike Ilia, she's not just there to be there. Ilia never does anything either. Heck, she wouldn't have even been able to save Ralis if it hadn't been for Link, Telma, and Renado. She also doesn't do anything for Link, despite all he does for her. He goes through all this trouble for her and what does she do? She thanks him briefly and gives him one of the most useless items in the game. Personally, I think she liked his freaking horse more than him. SS Zelda, on the other hand, apologized for dragging him into her situation and finishes the forging of the Master Sword for him. She actually stood up for him when he was being bullied and took the time out to help him find his missing loftwing. It's small, but it shows that the concern goes both ways for their relationship. I never got that from Ilia. It seemed like Link cared about Ilia, and Ilia cared about Epona and practically everyone else except poor Link. I'm sorry... I just thought Ilia was absolutely terrible.

 

[Salem]

You mean that sidequest that further accentuated them all being teenagers in a school together?

I guess? I mean as long as it's a side quest, that's fine.

 

[DarkestLink]

@Mangachick14

Oh I agree Ilia sucks, but she still had a stronger relationship IMO...if anything, just because she was there. SS Zelda was about as active as TP Zelda.

 

[Random Person]

View attachment 34973

As for your comment about Ilia... well, she was a one-trick pony. After you save her, she's no longer relevant in the slightest and what's worse, she doesn't even give you anything helpful. I think they did SS Zelda so much better because she was a concern from the beginning of the game until the very end, and she's relevant to the story. They didn't just brush her off once her story arch ended, and unlike Ilia, she's not just there to be there. Ilia never does anything either. Heck, she wouldn't have even been able to save Ralis if it hadn't been for Link, Telma, and Renado. She also doesn't do anything for Link, despite all he does for her. He goes through all this trouble for her and what does she do? She thanks him briefly and gives him one of the most useless items in the game. Personally, I think she liked his freaking horse more than him. SS Zelda, on the other hand, apologized for dragging him into her situation and finishes the forging of the Master Sword for him. She actually stood up for him when he was being bullied and took the time out to help him find his missing loftwing. It's small, but it shows that the concern goes both ways for their relationship. I never got that from Ilia. It seemed like Link cared about Ilia, and Ilia cared about Epona and practically everyone else except poor Link. I'm sorry... I just thought Ilia was absolutely terrible.

This seems to be looking at Ilia more from a gameplay perspective than what she did to the story. If you recall, Ilia's present was meant to be given to Link before he went on his journey to Hyrule. Imagine if they hadn't been attacked by moblins and Link had actually got that gift. At that moment, it was an extremely helpful gift to a boy who couldn't turn into a wolf and teleport everywhere. The complaint should be addressed more towards gameplay choices, not Ilia's Personality. Its not really fair to compare her gift which was meant to be given earlier to Zelda's gift of the True Master Sword, which wasn't a gift for Link at all but something her past life was forcing her to do. It should moreso be compared to the sailcloth.

Also, Ilia's concern for Epona seems like an obvious cover up for how she feels about Link. She wants Link to be the best Person he can be, which is why she gets concerned when he doesn't treat others (or Epona) correctly. She wants Link to be safe throughout his journey, which is why she is infuriated when she sees Epona injured, a clear sign that Link was doing something dangerous.

Ilia's emotions and actions are very understandable. They sometimes don't make sense to the Person on the receiving end, but that's how a relationship is sometimes. (Actually, alot of times).

 

[JuicieJ]

Its not really fair to compare her gift which was meant to be given earlier to Zelda's gift of the True Master Sword, which wasn't a gift for Link at all but something her past life was forcing her to do. It should moreso be compared to the sailcloth

The sailcloth wasn't even a personal gift, though. It was part of the ceremony.

Also, to all haters, Ilia is awesome... just poorly executed.

 

[Random Person]

The sailcloth wasn't even a personal gift, though. It was part of the ceremony.

Hence the term "moreso." While the sailclothe wasn't specifically meant for Link, I think it's pretty safe to assume Zelda wanted to present it to Link as a gift. Not to mention, it was made by Zelda. So its more like a Personal gift than the True Master Sword.