Zelda Skyward Sword Producer: Link Shouldn't Talk
- Thread starter John Funk
- Start date
The "One sided" conversations have worked for Mario, have worked for Link, have worked for Samus, and so on and so forth. I see no reason for that to change now. I can't imagine what adding him actually speaking a couple pointless lines like those two could possibly add to any LoZ title. It would feel like having him talk for the sake of having him talk.Decabo said:
We'll be lucky to even HAVE controllers next gen, but I agree with the sentiment completely.Macgyvercas said:
Anyway.
Why would we need to make Link talk? He has always been (plotwise, as well as gameplay wise) more or less silent anyway, apart from the no doubt mono-syllabic answers he occasionally has to give in game. It would be weird to make him talk all of a sudden, like making a character from a black and white film, who used to wear a black tuxedo, canonically start wearing a Hawaiian shirt, just because these dangfangled "colour" televisions came in, and we physically can.
So, in conclusion, I really hope it doesn't happen (At least not without some sort of good explainer, like the Triforce of Courage replaces his larynx when he has it, and losing it allows for speech, or something silly like that.)
Everybody in the Zelda game talks in text boxes anyways... I don't even think it makes a difference. They usually set him up with yes or no questions and he just nods his head. It's worked out for this long.
I don't get the whole "Link must be left handed" or "It's not a Zelda game if Link is Right Handed" nonsense. A friend of mine refuses to even touch the Wii version of Twilight Princess, both for the right handed Link and the flipped maps.... personally, I just don't get that kind of fandom.
Get over the minor asthetics. If you want to get technical, he's ambidextrous. Except he doesn't switch his sword hand halfway through a game, only in between them XD
Get over the minor asthetics. If you want to get technical, he's ambidextrous. Except he doesn't switch his sword hand halfway through a game, only in between them XD
While I agree with what you say, I would also like to respectfully remind you that the Mass Effect games had full voice acting for the main protagonist, and they're very popular games (and that for a reason). Of course, I agree with what you say, but in my opinion, I eventually get sick of faceless, voiceless, nameless protagonists when they are as abundant as they are today. I mean, nearly every FPS has them, and FPSes are the main genre of published game.CTU_Loscombe said:
Just my two cents =)
Link shouldn't speak but it'd be nice to get some damn voices for the people he meets. Even mario's games have characters at least saying a few words.
I love that Link doesn't talk. Talking requires a character to have a personality, and having a personality raises the potential for players to not like that personality. With a silent protagonist, there's no possibility of an inner struggle that could give way to some cliche daddy issue subplot or lame forced love story. It doesn't really matter why Link keeps showing up to save the world, all we need to know is that he's here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And they don't make bubblegum in Hyrule.
Link should not talk. the other characters could, though. i know they can't have every possible name voiced just in case and i doubt they'd do Fagballs but during cutscenes or something where the characetrs don't need to say your name, they could talk. if it's just text again, i'll be happy with that as long as Link no talkey
While I agree with the general sentiment, I disagree with your first example. I personally found GTA3 to just be plain boring when I played it, largely because the main character was so dull he barely counted as a character. I never really felt like I had any reason for doing anything. To contrast, when I was playing Vice City it really felt Tommy Vercetti's Tony Montana-style concentrated sociopathic fury, while in San Andreas I empathised with CJ and his loyalty to his homies and his family and really felt his frustration and helplessness at being manipulated by Officer Tenpenny. Both characters were also occasionally very funny, which was a MAJOR plus.uppitycracker said:
I think a better example is Gordon Freeman from Half-Life. The games do their DAMNDEST to make sure they never break the immersion- as well as Freeman being completely silent there are also virtually no cutscenes at any point in the entire franchise. This helps you identify with the character to the point where you feel personally invested in the game. If Gordon said so much as a single word, the entire series would collapse in on itself. I think Link is kind of similar, although he definitely has more of a predefined personality.
That...is an interesting thought. Not sure it would actually work (it would need one hell of a script wirter and voice actor to pull it off), so just to be on the safe side, I'm hoping he stays mute.joshuaayt said:
Although I could've sworn I heard him say "Come on" in Wind Waker...
He says "C'mon!" to those statues in the Tower of the Gods [http://www.zeldadungeon.net/Zelda09-the-wind-waker-walkthrough-06.php#6_2].Mr. Gency said:
He also supposedly speaks in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link stating: "I found a mirror under the table." [http://www.zeldadungeon.net/Zelda02-the-adventure-of-link-walkthrough-02.php#C2_1]
I wouldn't argue that the Legend of Zelda's stories are anywhere near good. Zelda has never been interesting, Ganon is tired, and I'm still sore about how Nintendo handled Zant in Twilight Princess. Really, the only character in the Legend of Zelda I ever cared about was Marin. I'd probably say Link's Awakening had the best story of all the Legend of Zelda games, in fact.Thorvan said:
Anyone who wants to hear Link talk should watch this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itv-cnWZeR4]. I'm pretty sure it's the same voice actor.
I call it "The Tom & Jerry Effect". They showcase their personalities perfectly through actions and body language, but when they try talking, it spoils their character. As Ronan Keating sang "You say it best, when you say nothing at all,".