My love for the Warriors games began after a weekend rental of the wonderful Dynasty Warriors 4. I managed to play through all of the Wu dynasty
The fact that Hyrule Warriors even exists is such a surreal thing for me. Anyone who is a fan of these kinds of games usually hears the same kind of things, like “Oh, these are just mindless button mashers! They make a new one every year! How do you even like these games when they take no skill?!” I accepted a long time ago that these were just niche titles and I’d just go on and enjoy them on my own and chalk it up to another instance of enjoying more “weird games.”
Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition very quickly became my favorite Nintendo Switch game the moment I picked it up. It was all the classic Warriors gameplay I’d loved over the years but with a magnificent Zelda skin, complete with a simple-yet-campy plot that tried to give a reason as to why all these characters even meet up in the first place. I didn’t mind though; I was just having fun mowing down hordes and hordes of Cia’s and Ganondorf’s minions Warriors-style.
And then the game introduced me to the side story involving Linkle.
Linkle is a simple Cucco shepherd, born and raised in a small town near Hyrule. Upon waking up to another simple hum-de-dum dull day, she hears the alarming news; Hyrule Castle is under attack by a vicious demon. This spurs Linkle into action, as she rushes back into her cottage, donning her trusty garb, to grab both of her deadly crossbows and, most importantly, the compass her grandmother left her to guide her towards her next adventure!
See, Linkle has believed ever since she was a child that she is the hero destined to save Hyrule from destruction. The villagers are clearly dumbfounded as she storms out of her home. She makes her way towards Hyrule Castle, determined to defeat this powerful demon and recognize her destiny as the hero she believes herself to be.
From the very second I saw her and her introductory cutscene, I loved Linkle. She’s one of those lovable “adorkable” characters and has so much charm that it’s very hard to not like her or even relate to her a bit. She owns a compass and a map and still frequently manages to take the completely wrong path despite her tools and a very clear sign stating what direction the castle is in. Despite her shortcomings, she’s full of confidence and is ready and willing to help out those who need her and give her all for what she believes in.
When it comes to beating up the baddies, Linkle is armed and ready. She wields a crossbow in each hand, which on its own is already an impressive and terrifying feat considering how dangerous just one is. In addition to that, she also has an entire army of Cuccos that help her out in her missions. That’s right, Linkle has an army of Cuccos at her disposal. Every Zelda veteran knows how dangerous Cuccos are, so an entire army of them may as well be the only force Hyrule ever really needs to save it.
If that wasn’t enough, Linkle doesn’t even need a weapon to kick butt in the first place. Her alternate unlockable weapon is her boots. Yes, Linkle will, quite literally, kick butt on the battlefield. I love to imagine Linkle running out of ammo in the middle of a fight and seeming to have her back to a corner, but then she’d just starts kicking everything and the enemy is completely blindsided, not expecting her boots to be a deadly and lethal weapon.
Linkle’s origins can be traced back to some concept art for the original Hyrule Warriors. She was in fact supposed to just be a female Link. Obviously this plan never came to fruition, but she was also proposed to be Link’s sister. This idea was scrapped as well, as Eiji Aonuma didn’t want there to be a clash with Link’s sister from Wind Waker, Aryll. Remnants of this idea can be seen in one of Linkle’s alternate outfits, which is just Aryll’s clothes design.
As she never made it into the original release, concept art for her existed in the Japanese-exclusive artbook in the limited edition version of the original Wii U release of Hyrule Warriors. Her design was so popular however, Aonuma and Koei Tecmo producer Yosuke Hayashi decided to put her in the game in the rerelease on the 3DS, Hyrule Warriors Legends.
There are other tidbits about Linkle as well, such as her crossbow sharing certain traits from the side game Link’s Crossbow Training, wherein her crossbows will glow red when she shoots a bomb arrow, or glow green when she rapid fires. There was also a cut level for her where she was planned to stop Ghirahim from doing a dance which would curse Link, and the climactic encounter resulted in a dance-off between Darunia and Lana, which Linkle would put a stop to. The twist was, however, that she wasn’t saving Link by doing this, but Tingle! It’s a very silly plot, and I’m quite disappointed it didn’t make it to the final product, but it was cut since it was a bit too silly for her overall story.
I said at the beginning that I’m still baffled that a game like Hyrule Warriors exists. Not only am I baffled about the existence of the game, but it’s equally surprising that it gave us a “female Link.” Linkle very quickly became my favorite character
She has the determination to face dangers head-on, and even though she isn’t technically the hero according to a prophecy, by the end of her story she becomes a hero through forging her own path. She is a force to be reckoned with and through
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check a map and comically bound in the complete opposite direction of where I need to go despite an obvious sign telling me the proper way I should go.
