Earlier this morning, Nintendo finally did the thing and announced The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, a mainline Zelda game that cast the titular princess in the lead role, at its most recent Direct. Yes, we know about Age of Calamity, as well as Zelda’s Adventure, but does most anybody else? No.
Many (well-adjusted) fans cheered for the announcement of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and to celebrate, they even brought back a joke seemingly as old as time. You see, despite Zelda being the namesake of the series, Link has been the protagonist of most of the franchise. For a long time, fans have hoped for a Zelda-led title that would reverse their roles, making it so that Link is the one being saved by Zelda. This hypothetical game’s name: why, The Legend of Link, of course.
In their excitement, many took to Twitter to jokingly declare that Nintendo obviously got the name of the game wrong. Others have taken the opportunity to show off their own fan art of the concept of a Zelda-led game.
And then there’s this big brain play.
As fun as it is to ponder why Nintendo didn’t actually go forward with the joke, there are two very likely reasons. The first is that Nintendo’s developers may be so detached from the internet and all the jokes we make on there that it never seriously crossed anyone’s mind. Nintendo is known for actually retaining its staff, which is why there are so many senior folks there that have worked on some of these franchises for literal decades, like Aonuma. They probably don’t pay all the chatter online any mind, and hey, good for them.
The more likely case is that it absolutely did come up at some point, but in order to keep the brand intact, they went forward with the Legend of Zelda moniker. Also, the last time there was a Zelda-led game that changed up the naming scheme…it kind of sucked.
As funny as The Legend of Link is, it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue in the same way. Though you and I may be certain it isn’t confusing, there are other more casual gamers and purchasers who might be thrown for a loop by the sudden name change. There are already people who think Link is named Zelda because he’s the hero of the games, so naming the Zelda-led game after Link might give someone an aneurysm. Much as I hate it, it’s just simpler this way, but The Legend of Link shall live on in all our hearts and minds. And Twitter now, I guess.
