Hurray! Link won’t be talking in next Zelda game

It’s kind of an unwritten rule where Zelda games are concerned: in the 24 years the series has been about, hero Link has never been heard speaking (those dreadful CD-i games aside). Sure, he’ll grunt as he chops through grass or “Hiii-yaaaahhh!!” when slashing up an enemy, but generally speaking, he’s a mute.

I love Zelda games for that. Many great game heroes have been silent (Link, Gordon Freeman, Chell, Samus Aran), and all the better for it. And thankfully, it’s not going to change in Link’s case.

Speaking to Nintendo Power, series director Eiji Aonuma confirmed that Link would remain the strong, silent type in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, due out on Wii next year:

“Personally, I don’t want to have Link speak in the game. We haven’t had him talk at all up to this point. It’s part of the series history. It would just, to me, break the image of Link to have him speak. In terms of other characters, if Link never talks and everybody else in the game is chatting and whatnot I also think that’s sort of an off mixture, so it’s not something that, to be honest, I’ve really thought I want to be superactive about or I’ve really pressed for it. It just hasn’t come up to me personally.”

Good for you, Aonuma. Even though some may see text boxes as dated, we all know videogames have barely ever done voice-acting well. Until the perfect voice is found, I’m more than happy to keep reading my Zelda dialogue.

[Via Destructoid]