I've been playing Breath of the Wild for the last couple of days and it's absolutely amazing, BUT (besides the voice acting being a bit shit and totally unnecessary) there's one thing that's been bugging me, and that's the character of Link. And I blot that because you can no longer name your Link anymore.
Now plotwise I've only just gotten past the first Divine Beast quest, so maybe some rug could be pulled at a later time, but for now Link is being presented and treated by other plot related characters as the be-all end-all of heroes. It's been a running joke with this franchise for a while now with Link being THE CHOSEN ONE, but I honestly can't remember him being more one-y than he is in BotW. In previous games he started out on a farm or in the woods as just a simple lad, gradually becoming the hero that saves the world. This gave him, despite being a silent protagonist, an arc. And it made him sympathetic enough that we as the audience would want to see him succeed. But in BotW he literally wakes up as the savior of all that is good.
And other characters can't seem to shut up about it either. Every new character that has some plot significance will at some point in the conversation mention how legendary, and great, and awesome you are, because you're Link. And then all Link does is just stand there in all his silent, emotionless, vacuous splendour. And he even joins in on it, when he recalls some grand, timeless love interest he once had with a powerful maiden.
Without a companion, like for instance Midna, there's nobody for Link to connect with and have him display some humanity, or to have someone there to put him in his place in a narrative sense. I never thought I'd look back on Twilight Princess Link as likeable, but there you go.
And it feels so at odds with what the game is trying to convey; that you're just some stranger wandering the wilderness.
So am I alone in this, or is Link a bit too much of a celebrity douche in Breath of the Wild?
Now plotwise I've only just gotten past the first Divine Beast quest, so maybe some rug could be pulled at a later time, but for now Link is being presented and treated by other plot related characters as the be-all end-all of heroes. It's been a running joke with this franchise for a while now with Link being THE CHOSEN ONE, but I honestly can't remember him being more one-y than he is in BotW. In previous games he started out on a farm or in the woods as just a simple lad, gradually becoming the hero that saves the world. This gave him, despite being a silent protagonist, an arc. And it made him sympathetic enough that we as the audience would want to see him succeed. But in BotW he literally wakes up as the savior of all that is good.
And other characters can't seem to shut up about it either. Every new character that has some plot significance will at some point in the conversation mention how legendary, and great, and awesome you are, because you're Link. And then all Link does is just stand there in all his silent, emotionless, vacuous splendour. And he even joins in on it, when he recalls some grand, timeless love interest he once had with a powerful maiden.
Without a companion, like for instance Midna, there's nobody for Link to connect with and have him display some humanity, or to have someone there to put him in his place in a narrative sense. I never thought I'd look back on Twilight Princess Link as likeable, but there you go.
And it feels so at odds with what the game is trying to convey; that you're just some stranger wandering the wilderness.
So am I alone in this, or is Link a bit too much of a celebrity douche in Breath of the Wild?
