Nintendo Direct made its long awaited return yesterday, hosted by the company’s charismatic President of America Reggie Fils-Aime who updated us on all the happenings in the world of Wii U and 3DS – including an interesting spin on legendary character Link.
The Nintendo Direct for 12.11.15 saw the announcement that popular Final Fantasy VII character Cloud Strife will be stepping into the Super Smash Bros. arena as a surprise bonus character for both platforms, more characters are set to be revealed in the coming months.
Amidst the news we found out that a Wii U bundle including Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon will be launching in time for Black Friday and that Splatoon will be getting new and free downloadable content this week.
It was also confirmed that the new Legend of Zelda game for Wii U will arrive next year, but still no fixed release date and the series’ highly anticipated debut on the console remains a puzzle.
However, there is good news for Zelda fans who own the Nintendo 3DS handheld. During the Nintendo Direct presentation Hyrule Warriors Legends was announced as a spin-off to the Wii U title that was created by Koei Temco. Although considered as ‘non-canon’ besides the classic Legend of Zelda timeline, the combat-based Hyrule Warriors offers an interesting expansion on familiar locations and themes but none have been quite as unusual as the new playable character who’ll be introduced in Hyrule Warriors Legends – a gender-swapped version of hero Link, called Linkle.
A new playable female character named Linkle enters the Zelda universe in #HyruleWarriors Legends. #NintendoDirect pic.twitter.com/UsQPJILMRu
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 12, 2015
Sporting the same green hood and blonde locks as her male counterpart (albeit in pigtails) Linkle was first seen in the artbook that accompanied the previous Hyrule Warriors game and whereas the boy version wields sword and shield, this little lady will be skilled in archery with her primary weapons will be twin crossbows.
Considering the everlasting confusion from the Nintendo uninitiated over which one is Zelda and which one is Link and the gender questions thrown up by this we think it’s really kind of amusing that they would now go with a girl Link.
This pocket version of Hyrule Warriors will also include familiar characters from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker which was a favourite on Nintendo Gamecube.
This week’s video presentation marked the first time Nintendo Direct has aired since the passing of the much loved Nintendo Worldwide President Satoru Iwata who was succeeded by Tatsumi Kimishima back in September.
Also See: Nintendo Announces Iwata Successor – Tatsumi Kimishima Becomes Worldwide President
The last Nintendo Direct was broadcast in July and has been promised to once again become a more regular feature under the company’s new corporate structure. The next is expected in December and will be Super Smash Bros focused.