Zelda with a sword is great, but did it have to be like this?
When The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was announced, not only were we getting a new Zelda game in a matter of mere months, but for the first time ever in a mainline Zelda game, we would have the ultimate dream: a playable Zelda.
As much as I love the idea of Zelda conjuring “echoes” to creatively defeat foes and traverse Hyrule, my only complaint after that initial announcement was that I wish she could swing a dang sword, too. “But I’ll gladly take the W,” I thought.
Today, Nintendo released the third trailer for the game, which revealed two incredible pieces of information. One is that a sizable portion of the game will take place in the “Still World,” which feels like some combination of Tears of the Kingdom’s Depths and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. The other is that Zelda will, indeed, be able to wield a sword.
But there’s a very significant catch—she “transforms” into a swordfighter through magic. Again, I’ll gladly take the W. But like … why can’t she also just learn how to swing a dang sword?
My girl don’t need magic to swordfight
Zelda’s Swordfighter form is a cool gameplay mechanic. Zelda can hold it only a limited time, which means for the first time in the Zelda series, you have to use your sword like one of the other delicate, expirable tools in your combat toolbox. It’s basically the opposite of how I played Tears of the Kingdom, where I’d use my expendables and inevitably end up thinking, “Aw, f**k it,” and charge in.
It’s also intriguing from a lore perspective, because the blue light surrounding Zelda bears a heavy resemblance to Fi, who we found out in Skyward Sword is the spirit inside the Master Sword, empowering it. Also, she looks a lot like Link in this form. Is Zelda the boy after all?
But once I get past all that, I have to admit that there’s another voice inside me saying grumpily, “I just want my girl to be able to swing a dang sword.” It’s not like there’s an absence of weapon-wielding ladies in the franchise. The Zelda franchise has an entire race of badass, weapon-wielding warrior women in the Gerudo. Breath of the Wild’s Mipha, too, was skilled with a spear.
In Ocarina of Time, Zelda herself surely knew her way around a shuriken and a dagger in her double-life as Sheik. You also can’t tell me that Windwaker‘s Tetra wasn’t a badass swordfighter. She was a pirate captain. She had a sword on her hip.
But still, it seems there’s this feeling inside Nintendo that once Zelda is in her “true form,” swords are a no-no. The Swordfighter form still necessitates a transformation, which is kind of frustrating, but it’s also the closest we’ve gotten to the warrior princess I’ve always wanted.
It’s a step. I’ll take the W, for now.
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