Zelda Dungeon Talks: Do We Need A Guide Character That Travels Around With Link?

Hey everyone and welcome to this week’s edition of Zelda Dungeon Talks! In most Zelda games starting from Ocarina of Time we see Link travelling through Hyrule accompanied by another. A special guide character that gives us hints on where to go and how to accomplish things. Fi, Midna, Navi, Tatl and Celia are all examples of these side characters. Sometimes, these characters can get really interesting and start developing and growing on us more as a character with a significant impact on the game. Fi for example was an emotionless servant for the Hero of the Godess in the beginning of Skyward Sword but as the game progressed further, Fi started becoming more and more human to the point where she no longer sounded and acted simply as a human database. The point is though, would it like there is something missing if there wasn’t a character like this constantly with our hero? Tell us in the comments below.

In this week’s edition of Zelda Dungeon Talks, various staff members will share with us whether or not they think guide characters are necessary and why.

Alexis Anderson – View Profile

I don’t know that we need one. Companions don’t usually serve much of a purpose in game, except Midna for some attacks when Link was a wolf. But I like having one, it makes the journey less solitary and I feel comfort in knowing someone witnessed all of Link’s efforts. They’re good for hints during enemy fights and to remind Link of what he should be doing, but the hints aren’t totally necessary and the task remind can be put on the pause menu. So we don’t need a companion, but I love them and don’t want them to go away.

Kevin O’Rourke – View Profile

For the sake of tradition it is nice to include a guide that helps Link along his travels. While it’s not necessary to include a guide, it does help as an aide to the player if a companion is around to help explain the nuances of new gameplay mechanics, or offer advice to Link as he is going through his quest. Having a companion not only acts as a crutch to the player for them to fall back on if they need it, it also provides a story that doesn’t end up like a mythological tale where Link becomes this Achilles character that has limited motivation or moral guidance on his quest. Having a companion to question your motives, or provide you with a nudge in the right direction through dialogue alone adds a great storytelling piece to Link’s character. Having a second character helps remove the awkwardness of having to explain it all through simple actions, or through a monologue. Having a second character to bounce off of allows for a quick and simple explanation for a motive, and that alone makes the guide/companion character a huge boon in my book.

Jon Lett – View Profile

I’ve mentioned in a Gossip Stone article that the idea of a game-long partner/guide, while still full of opportunities, holds back Nintendo from a lot of potential development of side-characters. If you ask me, we do not NEED a guide to make our way through the game, but a partner is almost one of the staples of Zelda, giving Link a friend to speak through, and to learn more about as we go. On the flip-side of that, if we did not have a permanent partner, we could perhaps take on temporary partners that we meet along the way, getting secondary characters more involved in the adventure, letting us become more attached to them. We could later leave them to their own business and take on someone new for awhile, repeating the process, and even come back to a few as we go. There are endless “partner” possibilities with new series titles, and I think we should definitely keep the concept of having partners in general, whether small and helpful like Navi or strong and battle-ready like Midna. Do we NEED a guiding partner at all times? I doubt it. In fact we should try NOT having one all the time in Zelda Wii U, just to give Nintendo that one final push towards the whole “no more hand-holding” concept.

Alasyn Eletha – View Profile

I wouldn’t say a guide is needed, but I have always loved the companion concept in most Zelda games. Not having one is almost lonely. And especially recently when each new Zelda game is trying to connect the guide to the player with background stories and developement between these companions and Link, I can’t imagine a new Zelda game without one. Do we need a guide/companion? No. Should there continue to be some in future games anyway? Absolutely.

James Djinn – View Profile

For a little more than tradition, I like the addition of an interactive character with a story and a voice in my game. If Link is going to remain the silent protagonist that exists solely as a player avatar then I think I really need that secondary character to be the face and voice of the game. They do not even have to add anything like a special attack or a new skill for the player. Just someone that talks, interacts with the surroundings, and occasionally speaks to the other NPCs is enough for me. Plus I liked how the story of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker were much more driven by the sidekick characters than anything Link ever chose to do.