The Big Picture: Link Be A Lady

[MB202]

I must be the only one in the entire world who did not think Link looked like a girl... or at least, not any more effeminate then the previous incarnation of Link (or Hell, even Marth for that matter). By the way, Eiji Aonuma went back on his cryptic quote, saying he was just joking around. Guess he doesn't have the same sense of humor as Masahiro Sakurai does when it comes to deliberately messing around with fans heads. Also, it always seemed to me that Nintendo never actually listens to the press or what the fans want. Yeah, sure they give them what they want every now and then, but from my personal take of how Nintendo goes about business, at least until Miiverse was a thing, what the fans and gaming community talk about might as well not exist. Case and point: Nintendo of America didn't realise EarthBound for the Virtual Console until recently because, and I quote "the idea never occurred to [them] before now", despite the MASSIVELY huge following the game has and deliberate attempts from sites like Starmen.net to make themselves known to them. If Nintendo can ignore or be ignorant about something like THAT, then odds are, they just plain don't pay attention to anything outside of their own bubble at all. At least until recently.

Also, yeah, thank Heavenly GOD there's no more intrusive bullshit Game Overthinker stuff. What I don't like about hte Game Overthinker is that you have to dumb yourself down to "enjoy" the character bits, which goes against what the series is SUPPOSED to be about, i.e. overthinking stuff.

 

[kajinking]

If they did make Link a woman, would they make Zelda a man? I mean, in some of the games, there's a romantic tension between the two. Of course, they could simply omit that for the theoretical installment, or, more interestingly, keep it and have lesbian undertones for the game. Two birds with one stone. Would THAT make the game industry drop its jaw or what?

Personally I'd prefer it if Zelda was kept a woman if they did decide to make a female Link, if they just decided to genderswap everyone it would really take away some of the impact and make it seem more like a parody or gimmick rather than an experiment.

 

[Carnagath]

Was really tempted to turn this off when he claimed that the lack of representation in AC:U is proof of "the vile rampant misogyny in the gaming industry" (or something similar to that, sorry, I can't stomach to listen again for a precise quote), but decided to watch till the end. Wow. He actually seems to believe that if they made a female Link game, a brilliant new day of social justice would dawn, and all the sexually unsure people would have an awesome character to play as. Really? It's Link. It would make no difference at all. Link's barely a character in most of the games. There is barely anything that identifies him as a "him" as it is, not even his appearance.

It's amazing to me how delusional some people are. They seem to live in their own bubble-versions of the world, where some kind of war is raging for the genitals of characters in videogames, and for their representation as a percentage. It's just depressing. And of course, let's not forget the hysterical cry du jour about "vile rampant misogyny". I really should stop watching Moviebob's content, I'm afraid the next facepalm he causes to me will go straight through my face.

You know what'd be great? Amazing characters. In general. With well written arcs. Female characters? Sure, if you actually have a story to tell and are not going through a "designed-by-committee" process of percentile representation pandering, as if you're running for fucking President. I would kill to play as someone like Casca from Berserk for example. That would be awesome. Female Link? Not exactly the next best thing, is it... Sorry for being such a misogynist.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

See, any character I see from Japan that seems slightly androgynous and I never start making assumptions one way or another. Hell, there are characters in anime voiced by women, with the figure of women, who end up just being men. That said, I think it would definitely be great of Link was a female this time around, especially given the number of women that play Zelda and have to watch as their gender is represented by a princess who's biggest specialty seems to be getting kidnapped, so I can see why a lot of people I knew were buzzing about this idea. But I knew that kind of thinking was a bit too far outside the box for Japan.

Rather than just making Link a straight-up female character, I don't understand, and have never understood, why Link's gender is not a choice for the player. Really, Link's gender makes zero difference because Link really has no personality. Link is a blank-slated Silent Protagonist so that players can better project themselves onto him, right? Well then it really shouldn't make a difference if he's a man or a woman in terms of the story and it really never has. Hell, you could even throw in small customizations, like skin tone or hair styles. I mean, they could still keep the 'classic' Link style for mash-up games and marketing, seems to work out well for Mass Effect.

Hopefully Nintendo will take the hint from all the buzz this generated and give it some thought.

 

[Baresark]

Except for the constant use of the term "misogynist/-y" in these videos, I too agree with Bob that it would be cool to see a little gender swapping. I just don't think it would as earth shattering as Bob thinks it would. The only actual difference between Zelda and Link for a long time as been the fact that Zelda wears a dress and Link does not.

 

[Gizen]

First, link has had the same design since the beginning. When someone mentions Link, they think of the rather androgynous green hooded male with a sword and shield. It's not somehow sexist to keep Link as a male, it just keeps him close to the design which everyone is most nostalgic with.

Nobody at any point said that keeping Link male is sexist. They said that making him female would be progressive. One does not equate the other, and nobody has indicated that there's anything wrong with male Link, only that people have wishful thinking for a female one.

Second, if there's one thing I hate more than not enough females in games, it's designers forcing these aspects into character design just to try and create the illusion that they're culturally or gender sensitive when in reality they just designed a token character.

If you're going to put a female in your game, then do it either with a new IP, or with a series that doesn't have fully established characters to represent the franchise (e.g. Assassin's Creed). Don't suddenly switch Link to a female and say "this is for the feminists".

This argument is flawed. It implies that any desire to take a previously male character and turn them female is 'for the feminists' instead of being 'because we feel like it' or 'because why not?' In fact, the latter reasoning is by far and away the most common one people are citing.

Here's how you make a good female character. You make a good character, and then you make it a woman. People act like male is the default, and any attempt to do a female is 'token representation' or pandering. When you make that claim, you are part of the problem, because male should never be default, default should be whatever the hell you want it to be. And when you're making something that you want everyone to enjoy, you should note that 'whatever the hell you want it to be' is not the same for everybody and keep that in mind. Ignoring the fact that not everyone wants the same thing is how male becomes the default option.

 

[LittleBlackDragon]

Male protagonist? Or female protagonist?
http://joystickjerks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/why-not-both.jpg
http://games-open.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/persona-3-portablegaming-addiction-101-gaming-news-from-the-gamers-dc8236rm.jpg

Oh yeah, I still need to finish this game.

Also, completely took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

As cool as it would be I'd actually prefer that they just go all in and make Zelda the protagonist for a change. Who doesn't want to play a magic ninja elf who is wise-as-fuck?

Um...probably the fact that the last couple of times Zelda has been the protagonist...

...it was in the CD-i games. Enough said.

Still...part of me would have been cool with this new Zelda having Zel herself as the protagonist. We already know she's very proficient with the bow, and this trailer we saw didn't show the protag using a sword at all, but was attacking strictly with the bow. Definitely curious to see how she fights in Hyrule Warriors.

CAPTCHA: NOSE BLEED

-_-;; The Captcha apparently was looking at some Rule 34 stuff.

 

[Genocidicles]

I'd rather a game where you play as Zelda (a good one) than a game where they make Link a woman. It just seems weird swapping the genders like that.

 

[PuckFuppet]

I'll miss those guys.

OT: I don't think making Link female would that big of a deal but I get where people are coming from in terms of it being something they think would have serious impact. Honestly I'd much rather play through the game as Zelda in a OoT like scenario that pits you against some serious odds and gives plenty of room for character development.

 

[Piorn]

Remember what happened to Samus, guys?

And the way I see it, Link becoming female has exactly possible ways it can go.
They don't make a fuss about it, the game is the exact same except a few lines of dialogue maybe, and nothing else changes.
No speaking roles, no awkward Bioware romances shoved down our throats, no gameplay features or plot points dealing with "emotions", "eating", "rape" or "children", and all the other stuff that seems to be obligatory for """""female characters""""" (can't put enough quotation marks around that one really) these days.

Link being male adds or detracts nothing from the core game experience and so shouldn't Link being female, but the game makers will feel obliged to add something to mark that gender transition. That difference will make or break the entire project.

 

[Penitent]

To be sure I think that it would be a welcome change, but I think that it needs to come with a certain degree of additional work if it's going to be anything other than a gender flip "stunt."
In other words, the first time Link shows up as a lady, the game needs to be one of the few times within the series that Link is given more personality than the gawping "Let's save Hyrule because...reasons" protagonist that he usually is.

No, I'd disagree. Making a big deal about the character's gender and choosing then to define their personality is what Other M did, and we don't want a repeat of that.

Just make the game like Nintendo would if it were Link as usual, then flip the pronouns. Nothing about it calls for anything more than that.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

it'll never happen though; Aonuma said they're listening to fans, but Link will never be genderswapped. If they're going to put a female lead in they'll do it for another series or make a new one. Kinda like how the face of Splatoon right now is the female Inkling.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

all I focused on E3 was Dragon Age: Inquisition.

If it makes you feel any better, that was the only game that I got excited about this entire time. Everything else was just...meh. Well, Bloodborne has me interested too, but really it was all about Dragon Age for me too.

Anyway, why is Link suddenly right handed? Link is left handed (save for Twilight Princess). Change him back. Either that, or he was drawing that bow with his off hand, in which case, dude is super strong.

I would love to play a Zelda game where you played as Zelda. You would think that Ganon, now that he knows about the cycle (Wind Waker), he would go, "Hm...maybe I should take out that kid who's always defeating me before I go after all of Hyrule." That way, Link is taken out of the picture and it's up to Zelda now to not only save herself and her kingdom, but Link for a change.

 

[Eri]

I still don't see how any of you people thought Link was a woman. Maybe some of you think even the slightest bit of femininity means "OMG WOMAN"?

 

[Trishbot]

I am still amused the first real game with Zelda as a core playable character on the front of the cover... is a Zelda game without her name in the title in Hyrule Warriors.

 

[Rad Party God]

Oh Bob, calling Geralt a "generic white dude" is quite ignorant on your part.

Also, this so much.

Appropos to the writing being a crucial factor, Geralt of Rivia may be a "generic white dude" to some people, but he has a lot of nuance that most AAA games' protagonists don't. He is respectful of nature, aloof, but understanding. Charismatic but also stoic. Resourceful and insignificant. Changing his gender would change everything in the story. Literally, everything, and it would be more siginificant than a gender-swapped link because the games would have an entirely different story, and an entirely different feel to them considering its another Game of Thrones-esque, high fantasy, dark medieval RPG.

Also, CDProjekt are Polish devs, not like the US-dominant game devs who make the majority of "burly white dude" game's protagonists. Cultural variation does make a difference, and since they're one of the few prominent Eastern European devs out there, I don't think they deserve as much crap as say Activision does for their constant lack of well-written female protagonists.

 

[RealRT]

You sir leave Geralt of Rivia alone.