With E3 on the horizon, more and more rumours about 2016’s biggest games have begun to surface. One tunic-donning Nintendo character, in particular, is amassing quite a collection of rumours.
The next Zelda game has been a source of excitement and speculation since it first appeared in a short presentation at E3 2014.
Fans had a very brief look at what they could expect for the next instalment of the beloved Nintendo franchise, and that was enough to tide fans over for a while – until now.
Yesterday, investigative blogger Emily Rogers tweeted that she had heard some rumours about Zelda from very reliable sources. When asked about what the rumours meant for the quality of the next Zelda game, Rogers said “It’s nothing bad. If anything, the new Zelda sounds like it could be pretty darn cool.”
Rogers followed up with yesterday’s tweets this morning by revealing the rumours she had come across.
This rumour is very interesting, as Nintendo has done this before with a past Zelda game. With the launch of the Nintendo Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess saw a split launch for both the previous console, GameCube, as well as the brand-new Wii. This doesn’t grant any validity to the rumour, but it does coincide with Nintendo’s past actions.
This could be great news for the Zelda franchise and the gaming industry as a whole, if it’s true. An optional female gender is both empowering for female gamers and liberating for those who would prefer to play as a female. Gender selection has proven to be very successful in games, especially in some other beloved Nintendo franchises like Pokémon, Fire Emblem and Splatoon. This could also mean that Linkle, a recently developed female counterpart for Link, may see her first adventure in a mainline Zelda game – though the tweet doesn’t specify that the female option will be Linkle.
The final rumour is a great bit of news because it shows how much work is potentially being put into Zelda. The Zelda franchise has never had full voice acting – unless you count Navi shouting “Hey!” and “Listen!”- And the introduction of that feature could be a welcome addition to next-gen Zelda.
It is unlikely that any of these rumours will be proven or disproven before E3 2016, and it’s expected that plenty of rumours and leaks will continue to flood in. Until then, take every rumour with a grain of salt, including those presented in this article.
