Nintendo Tried To Let Link Talk In The Latest Zelda Game But Gave It Up Later

Almost every time a new Zelda game comes out, it’s followed by a discussion: Why did we never hear Link speak? The same thing happens to Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the latest entry in the franchise launched two months ago on Switch and also the first main Zelda game where Princess Zelda is the main playable character. This time, the developers actually tried to make a change to let silent Link talk. But in the end, they had to give it up. 

Series Producer Eiji Aonuma and Game Director Satoshi Terada have shared the struggle in an interview with Famitsu (translated by Automaton). The developers, obviously aware of the frequently asked question by Zelda fans, were attempting to let Link talk in the game, breaking his silence for more than thirty years. 

Aonuma says, "we made Link talk a bit at first (…) but it felt really wrong. We kept thinking 'he'd never say that!’ (laughs)." Terada adds, "whatever we tried to make him say, it just didn’t feel right." 

It’s not just about the feeling of being terribly wrong, but also a more critical question: What would Link say if he could? A question the duo said that "no one knew the answer to" because, obviously, he had not spoken in the past. "Because of that, we needed a setting where he couldn’t talk, and that led to a part of the game’s storyline being formed." This explains why the fairy Tri, a companion who acts as Zelda’s voice, was added to the game. 

Would you like to hear Link's actual voice in the game? If yes, what do you think he'd say? Let us know.