The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Also, I just want to say: Lomei Labyrinth and Eventide Island are two of my favourite experiences in any game. I can't wait to start the DLC because Trial of the Sword seems like even more of the latter and I absolutely loved it and wished there were more moments like that in the game.

@NCZ What I absolutely love about the game is how many ways there are to problem solve. If you have 2000 people play the game, there will be 2000 different ways it will be played. Take spider guardians for example. You can drown it, cut it's legs off, aim for the eye, freeze it, stop its perception of time and get some smacks in, the list goes on.

@NoOriginalUsername

That's what happened to my brother and I with Vah Rudania. The terminal where you have to get there by lighting a blue flame, I did that by putting my arrow up against the nearby blue torch and shooting it through the hole in the door. He did that by grabbing a wooden torch, sticking it up against the flame, running into the entrance hallway, putting it up against the little window thing you can see the torch from, and then shooting an arrow through both his lit torch and the unlit torch. I was blown away not only that he came up with that but that it actually worked. The game is pure magic.

@NCZ Did Super Mario Odyssey beat it?

@Soul-dragon

I'll do a full ranking of the games I played once the year's wound down. I think barring some major upset my top 3 is pretty solidified though.

@NCZ I never disliked the English dub, but it's nice to have the option for those who want it.

@PeachesDaisy

What would be the point? It doesn't make any difference to the character, how he's portrayed, or how we hear him at all. There'd be virtually no tangible difference for no real gain. It'd be like dubbing animal noises.

@NCZ Also we all know what happened the last time they gave Link a speaking voice. Didn't turn out so good. Those games are a meme fest, but yeah...

@Shaun Ince I mean, to be fair, the other voices in the CDi games and even the cartoon weren't that good.

@PeachesDaisy Should Pikachu be dubbed by an English VA too?

@Garthunox I think if Pikachu ever spoke, it might be interesting to see who they'd use in a dub. My vote's on someone like Erica Mendez, Cassandra Morris, or Sarah Williams. Or someone like Debi Derryberry or Kath Soucie if (miraculously) Nintendo did a big-budget dub or native American cartoon. Ashleigh Ball also might be a realistic possibility.

@huzaifa_ahmed

It's a rhetorical question.

@NCZ Aha, I did figure that one. However I think it's just fun sometimes to pontificate on the subject.. :)

@Garthunox Yes, Danny DeVito.

@HyperVoiceActing This site is pretty dub friendly overall, almost no one here will insult you for liking this

@Food4thought It really isn't just to insult anybody for liking dubs period. I haven't played the game yet (I will soon), but the voice acting sounded fine to me. No major standouts, but no jarringly bad performances either. Solid overall.

@GreenGoblin75

As it should be.

@NCZ And what about his grunting voices, does Link still has the same voice like in the Japanese version similar to like Pikachu and Kirby did or does Link have completely different? I don't have Breath of the Wild yet.

@King Marth 64 That's what I was wondering for awhile. It seems to be a male voice actor entirely unrelated to previous Nintendo properties. It's pretty cool. He has voiced Donatello & Peter Pan previously.

@King Marth 64

No need to dub grunts.

@NCZ
Don't know about that... this tweet indicates that the grunts were dubbed:
https://twitter.com/billsvoice/status/838953145363382273

@nikipotamus I think you're misinterpreting that tweet. Bill was talking about Erik having to wait for his Switch to finally arrive in the mail, Erik isn't even in this game. Check out some of the tweets before that one.

https://twitter.com/billsvoice/with_replies

@Nightmare Crusher I stand corrected, then.

@huzaifa_ahmed There have been changes to different voice actors/actresses for Link ever since Spirit Tracks

@ShigyC

It's justified though. The reason why Link gets a different VA every few games is because they're all technically different reincarnations of him, with a few exceptions (e.g. Majora being a sequel to Ocarina, Phantom Hourglass - but not Spirit Tracks - being the same as Wind Waker, etc.)

Twilight Princess screwed with that though. Zelda kept her Ocarina VA despite being a different person, and Ganondorf got recast even though he's canonically the same person every time he appears.

Speaking of which this game did something similar but I'd rather find out the reasoning myself (if any) once I get to that point.

@Nightmare Crusher tbh I think Erik Kimerer frankly would've been a great teenage Link.

@ScottMyers

Only thing I've got is that his role(s) are NDA'd for whatever (plot? spoiler?) reason. It's kind of nerve-wracking because there's the off chance the king/old man isn't him and I'd just like to know either way, man.

@Ghosty404 MY BOY, THIS PEACE IS WHAT ALL TRUE WARRIORS STRIVE FOR!!

@HyperVoiceActing

http://i.imgur.com/W75VU88.jpg

@NCZ - I almost forgot about that.

@TrueMyriad

I think in many ways this game is setting the new standard for Zelda going forth.

@HylianBelmont

I gotta say, Sean Chiplock as the Great Deku Tree, that's the one matchup I never saw coming. Wow does he get to stretch his wings there. (No pun intended.)

@NCZ Oh definitely. It's yet another Nintendo dub that shows how much range of some of the VAs have!

@HylianBelmont

Plus I think it's cool that most of the VAs are new-ish or not as common as the usual non-union dub VAs. The sheer level of prestige BOTW has acquired would make it look great on a resume.

@NCZ I still feel this would benefit *hugely* from being recorded (at least partly) in non-LA areas such as London (Britain), Wales, Scotland, Toronto, Vancouver, & other areas with more diverse accents & talents. I wouldnt say it needed to be union, although that might attract the most people.

You can definitely tell that Nintendo really went out of their way to select new talents. It's really cool to see some of these people get (hopefully!) renowned for their work on such a massively well-received masterpiece of a work of art.

@huzaifa_ahmed

Why? The VO as it is is fine from all I've heard. It'd be nice to hear another talent pool but I mean, the game is already using VAs we don't hear every day to begin with. It's not like there's anything inherently wrong with the approach.

@NCZ Diversity of available talent, is good, but it takes *funding* to maintain a standard of quality through a rigorous auditioning process. I feel like perhaps it'd lower the weight of what VO for Zelda (on a resume) meant to future casting directors if it was generally seen as a low-budget/paid position. The fact that someone was *involved* in something that happened to get big...is cool. But as with say, anime dubbing...it doesnt look good on your CV, because it's such a small portion of the budget that went to that. Just because BotW is huge, doesnt mean that dub actors benefit much from that.


I also feel that changing up the talent pool would benefit the worldly feel of the setting, with genuine accents involved.

@huzaifa_ahmed

That's not how it works. You don't just throw money at stuff and that always makes it better. The quality of the work speaks for itself.

@NCZ I know, but it's a factor & being a much smaller part of it than an actor on, say, FF or KH, may make it "othered" by casting directors. We see this with world-renowned anime (see: Death Note/Ryuk recasting), & certainly I don't think Zelda is exempt from that. Beyond that, I feel the value of labor is what it produces - if it truly is that important, the performers deserve some of that. There's no reason that Nintendo should devalue it here, arguably biggest game this year. Why should this game (or anime, w/its lack of residuals) be treated so "specially", in a way that negatively impacts its workers?

Beyond that, I'm just confused as to why that went this route when most big games generally dont. You said something down the line about being "a different beast entirely" & I feel that might be the key thing here.

@JTurner

I don't think it'll be tough to figure out. On top of confirmations being easy to get ahold of, while I'm waiting until I play the game for myself, going in I already have a pretty strong hunch about who plays whom. And I'm pretty confident about who plays Zelda. I guess we'll have to see on that front.

@NCZ Either way, the voices sounded fine to me, at least from what I've heard. I haven't gotten the game yet (I will for my upcoming birthday), but the results don't sound too bad so far.

@huzaifa_ahmed And Maxwell... Dangit, I forgot two actors in my reply to NCZ earlier.

@NCZ i recognize all the names for LA Spanish but none from the English voices , and due to anime , barely the Japanese ones. I guess Nintendo isn't doing mainstream voice acting in this game? They are known for not doing so.

@Swiftie Muggle

They used Arts Vision and Ken Production who've respectively been the VO agencies of choice for the series since Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword/Spirit Tracks. English dub seems to be non-union.

@NCZ I'm admittedly a little peeved that they didn't match names with characters like they did in Fire Emblem Heroes (though, to be fair, Fire Emblem Fates showed that them doing the VA credits this way wasn't unprecedented). The only actor I recognize from the English cast is Bill Rogers (who seems to be getting a decent number of jobs since his move to LA), and judging by his role in HXH, I'd have to guess he plays Daruk. The rest of the actors, though, I've never heard before. On the plus side, since the cast is small, and google showed me that these are all actors' actual names and not psuedonyms, matching voice to actor should be pretty easy.

@NCZ I also recognize Sean Chiplock. Been seeing him in a lot of english dub video game voice over. (Feel silly for forgetting to mention him in the first reply).

@ScottMyers

I have a hunch on who a lot of the actors' characters are. I'm pretty confident on Zelda for example. That actress being in this is a surprise to me since I mainly know her for her work in Montreal, but apparently she splits time between there and the US.

But yeah, since the cast list is so small and all the actors actively maintain websites and social media profiles, confirmations should roll out pretty easily.

@NCZ Seems like such a random cast.

@Unknownsage13 I most certainly wasn't expecting Bill Rogers! Still it's rather cool though IMO.

@Unknownsage13 Honestly yeah. While I like Maxwell, Rogers, & Chiplock, I gotta say I expected something much more lavish for a series like Zelda - even the domestic VO is full of people I have never heard of (& I feel like I know enough Japanese VAs that that means something). Nintendo has always been *pretty* modest with their VO - domestic Fire Emblem aside, we've never gotten AAA VAs for many of the story-driven games which could likely benefit from it?

Even in the Japanese VO, we usually get one or two big names (ie. Hiei or recently Eren Yaeger as Link, or Android 16 as Marth), with the rest of the cast being much smaller names, often with no other credits. Anyway, personally I'd hoped for either a Dark Souls-caliber or Xenoblade Chronicles-esque dub, at least European actors with more "international" diverse accents I guess.

Haven't played this, but again, while I love some of the cast members, I do think it'd have been awesome to get, say, Jamie Bell as Link. It'd also have been rad to get Nobuyuki Hiyama back, seeing as he even *mo-capped* Link.

@huzaifa_ahmed I would say Kid Icarus Uprising and Code Name S.T.E.A.M. has AAA VAs. Maybe even Wonderful 101, since that was localized by the Treehouse.

@Webmike1 STEAM & Wonderful 101 were not dubbed, they were English-original IIRC. Icarus is, but I didn't count those as they tend to be more cartoony whereas there is much more cinematic & traditionally AAA in that aspect, more than any of Ninty's previous games.

@Unknownsage13

It's in a similar vein as FFXIV: ARR, which was another non-union dub Mortellaro did.

@Webmike1

Treehouse didn't do Wonderful 101. Platinum don't consider the English versions of their games to be "localizations", but "adaptations". They're done completely in-house by the English-speaking staff in tandem with the Japanese writing, production, etc. and with complete input by the relevant directors. Platinum called all the creative shots when it came to casting in their games. I guess it's a matter of the budget/resources they were given by Nintendo allowing for it since they're pretty economical with their development processes.

@NCZ I think there might be something lost in translation regarding what Platinum may have said about that. I'd generally use adaptation for something further *away* from the source, ie. something like most Toei kids' dubs does not really fit "localization" (of course, this term is within the umbrella of "adaptation") for me.

Altho it should be said that *any* translation is to an effect a localization (& by default an adaptation) - Gintama dub, as admirably as it follows the subtitles, was supervised by JP producers, etc...is an adaptation, as are the subtitles themselves. King James British is not literally "the Bible", it is a (arguably very good) representation of the Bible. The wording & language itself is as part of the story as the richness of the culture itself.

Although - & I wanted to bring this up in reply to your great point about Nintendo's dub history - the English-language audio for most Platinum games is often the *only* or original audio for most of their games - MGR, Bayonetta 1, Wonderful 101, etc. Calling them localizations is like saying Kill Bill is dubbed.

@huzaifa_ahmed

There's nothing lost in translation. Those are the exact words of JP Kellams.

"While I normally blog about other things, this time I'd like to talk about my role in the English adaptation of BAYONETTA here at PlatinumGames.

I suppose the first thing that stands out is why I did not use the word localization. Localization is a very software specific term, and while games are software, you have to consider what really comprises the bulk of getting a Japanese game into English. Sure, translating menus and such are classical localization tasks; however, the most important part of the job I had on Bayonetta taking the compelling script that Kamiya-san had written for the game and getting it into English."

In any case it's flat-out wrong to refer to any of their games as being "original" to one language. People tend to use terms like dub, adaptation, translation, localization, interchangeably but they are all very different things.

The majority of the creative directors at Platinum are Japanese and perform the story writing in Japanese first and foremost. But they work very closely in tandem with the English speaking staff and sign off on or have direct control over the various aspects of the English translations which are then integrated into the game. And often things brought up during this process are inserted into the Japanese script.

This is not "localization" because this is a process that shapes the game during its inception.

Fact is from a writing and creation perspective, there is no "original" language for those games. Therefore in cases like that it's not accurate to claim either audio track as being more "authentic" or "correct" or "original" than the other. Even referring solely to the audio tracks, Wonderful 101 being "english-original" is simply wrong because both audio tracks were handled simultaneously and by the same creative team.

From a timeline perspective? Yes, there are cases when a game's dialogue is first recorded in English and then in Japanese, or that a Japanese track doesn't come until much later. But creatively speaking, with a process like this, both languages at the end of the day are "the original". No point splitting hairs over it.

@SNaG

I still can't believe just how close it is. It feels surreal.

Not that I mind though. This has been my most anticipated game in a looooong time, and everything I see just makes me more and more excited. It has the serious potential to redefine the series the same way Ocarina of Time did all those years ago. I can't wait to dive in and get completely lost in it.

@NCZ

This in March, Persona 5 in April, Fire Emblem in May...

Wow, I'm booked for a while.

@SNaG

Or maybe just in April since Nintendo pushed back my preorder's delivery date to April for some godforsaken reason. So much for pre-ordering months in advance.

@SNaG

See, I still have my Wii U preorder (not shipped yet and Amazon doesn't have an estimate), but I'm getting worried I may not get to play it till April or so myself. In terms of real-world obligations, this next month is looking nuuuuuuuuts for me. Obviously I could still sneak in the time, but with a game as big and significant and apparently world-changing as this one, I'd love to savour every moment as much as possible.

At least when it comes to games I still have to finish Gravity Rush 2 and Tokyo Mirage Sessions, so once Zelda and Nier come along I'll basically be set for the next few months, but man, this is going to be *painful*.

@NCZ

Personally, I'm waiting till the day before, and if I don't get a physical, I'm either (a) driving to a Gamestop or (b) getting the digital copy. It's really dumb, and like you, I want to savor every moment.

@SNaG

"(a) driving to a Gamestop"

Godspeed.

@NCZ

Not as hard as fighting the Calamity Ganon, but pretty darn close.

(Also because I read that the game goes on the eshop at 3 AM EST and I'd rather play a little the night before or something cause I'm like that).

@NCZ This is a wonderful translation of some very interesting insight, thank you. Is it mostly in context of the French dub, or is Aonuna speaking in regards to the Japanese (or, better yet, his own potential involvement in the French dub)? Art is art, but I feel a certain disconnect is possible when discussing a production w/various separate recordings, especially outsourced ones. So I do wonder.

@huzaifa_ahmed

He is referring to the game as a whole. Not sure how exactly Nintendo handle it as a general rule of thumb but I know that with Kid Icarus Uprising, the game director Sakurai gave all the localizers leeway to do whatever they wanted with it as long as it was in good faith with the original. I assume Aonuma understands that the localization process is like that for all games, but Nintendo's translators and localization departments, since they work in-house are pretty well known for their attachment and in-tune with the developers, their needs and the overall culture that they want out of it to the point they don't need the original devs micromanaging absolutely everything.

@HienFan Which we don't even talk about those anymore.

@NCZ

Surprisingly fluent google translate:

When we questioned producer Eiji Aonuma about whether a European player would be able to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with the voices in Japanese, he replied that this option would not be in the game, and that the only possibility would be to change the language of the console itself, which would also change the language used in the menus and their game text:

"In the case of Nintendo Switch, if you change the language of the system, you can change the game to Japanese, but that will change everything to Japanese. Unfortunately, it is not possible to play with English text, for example, and Japanese voices."

@NCZ that's disapointing. I really didn't like the English voice acting in the trailer.

@Toki If I end up not caring for the English track, at least I can fall back on the French :V

@ThoughT

Listen to her voice in this clip: https://youtu.be/4YYL64C_xtU?t=13m15s

Then listen to her say it was all for nothing: https://youtu.be/zw47_q9wbBE?t=2m36s

It's basically identical. It really has to be her.

@ThoughT This definitely doesnt feel like an LA or a Texas dub. Definitely UK (I'd love a Xenoblade-esque dub!), although one thing I feel is relevant here, valid complaint tbh, Zelda's cry doesnt have the weight that the Japanese (presuming that's the original recording?) or any of the other dubs have. The dub doesnt seem bad, but it could be better & for sure I think a game like Zelda can easily afford it.

I like the idea of getting dual audio, but I really hope Nintendo doesnt simply eschew the budget for a really good dub, for dual audio. The Japanese audio *always* exists anyway (which, presumably, makes it cheaper & is why anime companies tend to cheap on dubs for dual audio). Economics are economics, but it'd really be a shame to limit this game to one of those "pssh, the sub was better" type deals.

@huzaifa_ahmed Also - I'm interested in learning of the Japanese cast for this. Link's VA I think may be a female one, to emphasize this Link's more androgynous design. I dig the idea. While a male/female option is nice, it's nice if they're using an androgynous option as the front-&-center model in promotional material. Wish more games did that.

It'd be awesome, btw, if they brought back the folks from previous games, to work with full dialogue, &/or going with a new cast to emphasize a new incarnation of these characters.

@Unknownsage13 I don't immediately recognize any of the voices in the trailer, so based on what Nintendo's gone with before, my bet's on either Seattle or London.

@CatsTuxedo Unless they've upped their quality, I don't think it's Seattle. Might be London.

Not that I, or most others, care *where* it's done as long as it's good. The recent trailer was pretty promising IMO.

@SNaG Star Fox Assault and Shank tell me that the Seattle pool is perfectly capable of a 'quality' production so I wouldn't rule them out just yet.

@CatsTuxedo Star Fox Zero was great as well I thought.

Speaking for myself, I don't recognize any of the voices in the trailer, so it's totally up in the air at this point in time.

But I think it might be useful to examine past history on Nintendo's in-house/first-party games and localizations.

Up until about 2010, Nintendo used Seattle for their first-party games almost exclusively.

Since then, things have varied a bit, but I think there have been some observable trends.

More "cartoony" games receive the LA union treatment. (Kid Icarus: Uprising, Codename STEAM)

Niche games, RPGs, and stuff that's generally extensive while requiring more dubbing expertise, tend to be LA non-union. (Fire Emblem 3DS games, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Star Fox Battle Begins)

Games localized by Nintendo of Europe are naturally done in the UK. (Xenoblade Chronicles, Fatal Frame, Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright)

Seattle projects basically just seem to be "everything else". So that would be games that don't have a massive amount of voice acting and/or are possibly lower-budget (e.g. Rhythm Heaven), series that have been traditionally recorded there (Star Fox), or a mixture of both (Mario). Just for the record actually, despite what you may think Charles Martinet himself doesn't actually live in Seattle. He lives in California and then depending on the project he'll either fly to Seattle or even to Japan. The rest of the Mario cast are Seattle though.

Games done by partners (e.g. Next Level Games with Punch-Out, Namco with Pokken or Baten Kaitos Origins, PlatinumGames with Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2) are a different can of worms. If I had to guess, my guess is how/where they're recorded is at the developer's discretion but dependent on the budget they're allotted by Nintendo, as well as how much creative freedom they're allowed in general. Don't quote me on any of that though because I'm purely speculating here.

Zelda here is hard to pin down because it's pretty much the most traditionally-AAA style thing out of all the above. It's the kind of thing they could afford to splurge on but really it's a different beast from everything else. And there's also the matter of how much VO is in the game. It seems like the cutscenes, at least the major ones, will be voiced for sure, but then there's the matter of how many cutscenes there are, how long they are on average, etc. At the end of the day it's not unthinkable that the Xenoblades will probably end up having more voiced dialogue than BOTW. It might end up being somewhere between them and the Fire Emblems when it comes to how much there is to work with.

Personally, I have a feeling that this might be a case like Fire Emblem Fates or Star Fox Battle Begins, where it might be non-union but not 100% use a pool of "typical" anime/game dub voice actors. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Kris Zimmerman doing this since she's one of Nintendo's most regular directors.

@NCZ If Kris Zimmerman is directing this then I'll actually die of happiness haha.

@HylianBelmont Same!

@NCZ If it's Kris I'd like that. Cuz then we'd get this nice mix of actors who we're used to hearing, and actors that we never hear.

Like me personally, I would love to hear several actors that I'm used to hearing show up in this just cuz it would feel very... Idk how to describe it, different?

Though at same time I want there to be plenty of unknowns or unexpected actors show-up just so we can be immersed in the game properly.

@CatsTuxedo Ah, I haven't played the Star Fox games so I was unaware they were dubbed in Seattle. I was primarily going of stuff like Mario Sunshine and the Tellius saga of Fire Emblem.

@SNaG I mean to be fair Radiant Dawn was a big improvement over Path of Radiance as far as the VA went. Still wasn't perfect mind you but I definitely enjoyed it a lot more in comparison (with Micaiah and the Narrator being the standout voices IMO)

@HylianBelmont I think the only one I liked was the narrator. He was a damn fine narrator though.

@SNaG He was absolutely perfect! They should hire him for Breath of the Wild XD

For what it's worth no one aside from Zelda sounds british to me. (Accents, tactics, deliveries, etc.) I don't believe this is a wholly british cast.

@NCZ I like that this feels more inclusive of other cultures & regions, & that it makes it feel more of an international game, more than just "Japanese game w/a dub" (which is often good in its own right). Would be *amazing* even just having the European-based languages on a single-region copy.

@NCZ Multi-language gives me a lot more hope for the VO being good and not low effort (and the game itself as well) so good news here. I wonder if in the (small) chance I dislike all the voices there'll be a voice volume slider.

@NCZ Nice! Probably won't turn on the other language dubs but I think that's a great touch. Nintendo IS pulling out all the stops.

@SNaG

The filesize is a lot smaller than Xenoblade X (which pretty much used the whole disc), so hopefully they can squeeze that in. Now that I think of it, whenever the filesize permits it, in recent times most of Nintendo's big RPGs have had dual audio.

@NCZ As a side note (since you mentioned XCX) this world gives me the same feeling XCX did when I saw that trailer. I find BotW looking far more interesting than Xenoblade 2, which is pretty ridiculous for me. So excited to play this next Zelda, just hope the Wii U version is roughly the same quality as the Switch's.

@SNaG

Xenoblade 2 was a real surprise for me. Aesthetically it looks almost like a mix of Xenoblade and Baten Kaitos. I'm curious to see how it goes but yeah, a lot of the character designs seem to be going in a different direction than the first game.

BOTW looks so amazing though. The art direction looks like a playable Ghibli film, it's unreal. I'm still conflicted about how I'll play it. I'll either get it on Wii U or I'll somehow wait until the holidays or whenever I end up getting the Switch. I'm not sold on getting a Switch day 1 just yet.

The main difference is that the Wii U version is 720p, and the Switch one is 900p (when played on TV). Both run at around 30fps. Since the game was developed with Wii U as the lead platform, I feel like the game will be pretty similar for the most part. The Switch version will probably look better for sure but if the differences aren't night-and-day or anything then I'll probably be fine getting it on the U.

@NCZ Judging by the dev cycle, I'd wager it's like a TP situation where it doesn't truly matter which system you play it on. I'm not sold on getting the Switch yet either. Though I'll probably capitulate when the Shin Megami Tensei game (AKA Switch Megami Tensei) comes out, I don't think I can wait that long for this Zelda.

@SNaG

I feel like the differences might be less substantial than TP this go around. In Twilight Princess, the Wii version had motion controls, widescreen, and the flipped world. The Wii version also came out first, by a few weeks. Here, the games are more-or-less identical beyond resolution and the hardware itself, and are coming out day-and-date. So it feels like Wii U owners aren't really losing out that much, which is a relief in a way.

@NCZ Just found out that the Xenoblade similarity can be attributed, at least in part, to Monolith Soft; they helped create the large open areas preset in the game.

http://www.siliconera.com/2017/01/30/monolith-softs-role-development-legend-zelda-breath-wild/

Also, I find it interesting that they've given Ganon his shadow beast thing from Hyrule Warriors.
http://imgur.com/4Q4ihES

@Nightmare Crusher Technically, we don't know if that was Zelda or not.

@Scrappy-Fan92 I could have sworn Aonuma made some comment about Zelda always having to wake Link up. Could be wrong.

@Nightmare Crusher All I can recall is Aonuma lampshading the tendency for Link to wake up at the start of Zelda games during yesterday's Treehouse Live.

@Scrappy-Fan92 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rPxiXXxftE

@Scrappy-Fan92 Very strong Shadow of the Colossus vibes here.

@NCZ You're sodding killing me, Nintendo.

@NCZ Yeah that I somehow saw it coming, and that pretty much slashes the exclusivity of Wii U only game.

@NoxiousSludge "Stellar" voice casts aren't limited to LA, just for the record.

Personal gripes aside, if Hyrule Warriors didn't even have an English dub made for it, I highly doubt Nintendo will be changing their stance on the voice-acting now or ever.

In fact, during the series' earlier days, Charles Martinet requested to be the voice of Link, but Shigeru Miyamoto not only rejected the idea, but told him outright that Link would never have a voice.

Besides, being left to imagine the voices for Link and the rest makes the games more immersive than they would be if the voices were laid out for you.

@CatsTuxedo I wasn't trying to say that only LA has good voice actors, I quite like the vast talent pools over here in Dallas as well as in Vancouver. There's no need to get all snotty about it.

@NoxiousSludge I'd like to point out that Xenoblade is one of the best Nintendo dubs of all, and that wasn't even done in the US (it was done by Side UK, in London).

I'd be totally cool with hearing more UK dubs in gaming. Xenoblade's dub was such a breath of fresh air. Hint hint Nintendo, Zelda would be a natural fit for UK voice actors...

@NCZ Personally, I thought Xenoblade had some pretty bad voice acting outside of a couple of characters (Xord, Metal Face, Dunban, Rikki).

@NoxiousSludge No love for Reyn!?!?!?

Nah, it's fine, we all have our own opinions. The four characters you mentioned were some of the highlights in my mind as well.

@NCZ That's not such a bad idea. Heck, i would think that UK Dubs may suit well for Zelda at this point if Nintendo of Europe could get down on this.

@NCZ Reyn wasn't "bad" per se, though I couldn't help but feel that he sounded like he had a stuffy nose all the time. But I guess it's fitting since he is kind of a moron. :p

@NCZ I wouldn't mind seeing characters like Zelda sounding british, but if they're going to voice Ganon, I'd like to see him sound like King Garon from Fire Emblem Fates and with a regular NA accent. It would just kind of feel weird seeing Ganon sound british unless they're trying to go for a James Bond type of villain with him this time.

@AmericanBuizel There are a lot more British accents than just the stereotypical RP dialect. Very few people actually talk like that. I guess they can play up the being-a-Gerudo/foreigner angle but yeah, I think it's fine.

@NCZ I know not all British people talk like that, just like how I know not all people in the United States talks with a stereotypical New York, Cali, Mid West, etc accent. However, I'm just simply saying that it would feel weird to hear Ganon with a british accent. But Idk, maybe I'm too used to hearing characters in Nintendo games having NA accents (with the exception of characters in Xenoblade Chronicles) and it would just feel like a missed opportunity if they didn't have Ganon sound like King Garon.

@AmericanBuizel "I'd like to see him sound like King Garon from Fire Emblem Fates and with a regular NA accent."

Well, Ganondorf is already voiced similar to Patrick Seitz, Clancy Brown, Richard Epcar, etc. sort of voice...by Donkey Kong himself, Takashi Nagasako.

& Garon has a similar tone, Akio Otsuka (who sounds like Keith David) dubbed over by Travis Willingham (who sounds like Patrick Seitz)..

But how is the characters related? Why would they sound the same?

@NCZ Xenoblade is one of my favorite dubs of all time. I wouldn't say the voiceover was 100% flawless (is it ever?) but as you said, the British dub made everything feel super fresh and gave the game some good character. I wouldn't mind that for this game.

@SNaG

It'd definitely be ideal but I'd be okay with the apparent direction in the trailer, where certain characters like Zelda sound English, and others sound American.

What I really hope for is that Xenoblade 2 retains a British cast. I can understand why X didn't go with one, due to its setting and apparent status as a sub-series/spinoff, but a straight-up sequel to the original game flat-out needs it, IMO. I can't imagine the world of that game sounding any other way.

@Dustinman2012 http://mynintendonews.com/2014/06/12/aonuma-denies-female-link-rumours-says-it-was-all-in-jest/

That is unlikely.

Honestly, I never really understood the big fuss about it. Link has looked feminine for years now and this isn't that different.

@Dustinman2012 Not according to Aonuma.

@NCZ Then why don't I see Link's traditional green outfit?

@Dustinman2012 He didn't wear it at the start of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, or Skyward Sword either.

@NCZ True, but I don't know. I think it maybe the daughter of Link and Zelda.

@Dustinman2012
Luckily we can quash these rumors

Listen to Link/the character in the gameplay from last month. He clearly sounds male.