Should Link talk from The Legend Of Zelda

richymcdermott

The legend of Zelda probably the most profound and critically acclaimed game franchise of all time is beloved to many people that holds deer into people heart.

I started the zelda series with twilight princess 3 years ago on the wii and having played skyward sword and Ocarina of time it jumped up on my list to some of my favourite games of all time.

But it got me thinking after seeing a random video on youtube where someone suggested that link and zelda fr that matter should talk at this stage than be text dialogue. The youtube comments for the most part was against the idea of link and Zelda speaking.

Me personally im perfectly fine without link or Zelda having a voice and i rather see it without it.

Where do you guys stand on the subject. Are you for or against the idea.

DeSelby83

I think some characters just shouldn't speak, I think it may take away from their character. If half life 3 ever comes out I would hate in freeman spoke. Same with link and zelda, at this stage I think people have made up their mind how they speak etc and any change in that would upset things.

Banjo

Agreed. That ship sailed some time around Majora's Mask. Doesn't help that if you're used to naming your profile, his name isn't even Link in your version of the game

deathrider

I'm kinda put off playing the Zelda games because of this. I know it's trivial, but I just can't manage to connect to him when he's silent. I've played other games where the hero is silent, but not ones that are heavily story based. Your characters never spoke in Pokémon, yet that didn't bother me, because the story was not the game's main attraction.

Corholio

deathrider wrote: »

I'm kinda put off playing the Zelda games because of this. I know it's trivial, but I just can't manage to connect to him when he's silent. I've played other games where the hero is silent, but not ones that are heavily story based. Your characters never spoke in Pokémon, yet that didn't bother me, because the story was not the game's main attraction.

Honestly, you're hugely missing out if your not experiencing the games because of that. The story is so good and told so well that not talking soon becomes a non entity. I think it adds a bit of mystique actually.

tok9

As long as na'vi or whoever doesn't remind me about something they mentioned twenty times before I really don't care.

Kiith

As above, you are really missing out if you've avoided playing the Zelda games. While the story is important in all the games, it's about the adventure itself, rather then just Link. It's not that personal a story, so Link not speaking isn't that big a deal. And his actions alone speak volumes about his character.

I assume that some character don't speak in games so that you can imagine yourself in the role? Rather then having a certain dialogue forced on the user, you can pretty much make it up yourself if you want.

Gordan Freeman was a sassy, jive speaking mofo in my game :pac:

ShaneU

Some characters shouldnt talk. Isaac Clarke for example, can't go 5 minutes in Dead Space 2 without him chatting away to a hologram, completely ruined the game for me.

jaykhunter

No thanks. I have horrific flashbacks to 3D sonic and CDi Zelda. Samus getting chatty didnt help either. if mario was a chatterbox it'd negatvely affect his game too. "Woohoo!" and "here we gooo!" is much as i can take from the plumber! I think the potential to ruin things is much greater than what would please zelda fans. We've lived almost exclusively without a voice for 25 years, we're doing fine without it!

...well excuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!

Tipsy McSwagger

In the 2 greatest games of all time the main character doesn't talk, Half Life 2 & Zelda ALTTP.

cherryghost

Characters that don't talk pave the way for gamers imagination. They can be whoever they want the characters to be.

Being shoved English-American dialogue into our ears means sometimes we've only got one mindset on the characters portrayed.

Creamy Goodness

Hmm nope don't think I'd want link talking.

I've already got that cartoon link voice stuck in my head now reading this thread "Sorry, you're majesty!" I couldn't stomach a whole game.

o1s1n

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

In the 2 greatest games of all time the main character doesn't talk, Half Life 2 & Zelda ALTTP.

And you know what? I think thats part of what makes them so engaging. You ARE the character rather than just the guy moving the character feom point A to point B.

VinLieger

No they shouldnt talk, however nintendo really needs to get over putting in those bits of unskippable text, OOT as much as i love it was notorious for it

krudler

Never, its one of the series biggest charms. They should make the text skippable or be able to make it move much faster like the codec convos in MGS though, yeah yeah, kitten, lost, you'll give me a net to catch that thing for the other guys thing , got it..

Kinski

No, and more importantly they need to trim the dialogue in Zelda games, especially from repeating conversations with NPCs such as shopkeepers.

You go to stock up on potions.
"Hello. My name is *****" //text scrolls by soooooo slowly, and no amount button mashing will change that.
New text box: "This is my shop." //repeatedly spam A button even though you know it makes zero difference.
New text box: "What would you like today?"
New text box: "Buy Sell"
You choose buy, and finally get to make your purchase.
New text box: "Thanks."//Great! We're done!
New text box: "Please stop by again!" //WTF? Why does the NPC have to say this, and if they must, why couldn't it be in the last text box?!!!
New text box: "Good-Bye" //ARRRGHHHH!
And you're done. Except you realise you forgot to buy deku nuts.

RobertFoster

jaykhunter wrote: »

if mario was a chatterbox it'd negatvely affect his game too. "Woohoo!" and "here we gooo!" is much as i can take from the plumber!

I think Mario talks too much these days. Getting him to triple jump is like he's about to sneeze - "Ah! Wah! Yahooo!" Any time he says anything I just picture Charles Martinet now.

Kinski wrote: »

And you're done. Except you realise you forgot to buy deku nuts.

Or you've hammered on the button so much that you're back to "Hello. My name is *****" :pac:


I don't mind silent protagonists, or even vocal ones if they're done well. It's adding a voice to a known character that's the problem as it probably wouldn't match what you'd expect.

CastorTroy

Quite happy with him not talking. You barely notice when having conversations with NPCs that he doesn't actually say anything unless you're actually answering a question. Then the fact that Link is a new character in almost every game means they would need a different voice each time.

krudler

The only thing Link should say is what he already says: "hyahhh!"

CiDeRmAn

Maybe if he was like Luigi in Luigis Mansion and hmmed the theme tune as he was moving around the game world, the occasional whistled dungeon theme.... And then the da, da, da , DA! when he opens a chest....

krudler

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Maybe if he was like Luigi in Luigis Mansion and hmmed the theme tune as he was moving around the game world, the occasional whistled dungeon theme.... And then the da, da, da , DA! when he opens a chest....

That plays in my head when I find stuff Ive been looking for

Stercus Accidit

krudler wrote: »

The only thing Link should say is what he already says: "hyahhh!"

hup, hup, hyahhh, kyah, hup, hup, hyahhh!

Pure poetry.

CastorTroy

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Maybe if he was like Luigi in Luigis Mansion and hmmed the theme tune as he was moving around the game world, the occasional whistled dungeon theme.... And then the da, da, da , DA! when he opens a chest....

And just have no music from any other sources. Everyone provides their own tunes like Darth Maul in the Lego Star Wars:Empire Strikes Out animated movie when he enters doing the Duel of Fates

K.O.Kiki

Link should talk as much as Ammy did in Ōkami :pac:

If you want talking protagonists, sure; go ahead... just make a new series for it.

Beyond Good & Evil did it -- great Zelda-style gameplay, great voice acting with a decent plot.
That I can get behind, because every character is new and thus needs to be fleshed out.

Characters in Zelda games are already fleshed out by years of history AND are meant as more of a self-insert in regards to gameplay; therefore they should not be voiced, ever.

And I also agree with cutting down on the amount of fúcking buttons I need to mash to go through a conversation. And also that I should never see a chest-open text past the first dungeon; unless you haven't played since, say, 1-2 weeks, and then ONLY ONCE.
AND ALSO, "would you like to me to repeat this?" should NEVER, EVER EVER be the default option. That goddamn owl in Ocarina...