The cast of the upcoming Hyrule Warriors Legends was already pretty stacked, but the latest addition to the team may be the most surprising. For the first time in the history of the Zelda franchise, a gender-swapped take on protagonist Link will be playable.
Going by the not particularly clever name of Linkle, this female version of the iconic hero features her own unique skills. Instead of wielding a sword like her male counter-part, Linkle dual-wields crossbows, and can also unleash some pretty potent kicks in order to take down the army of foes that stand in her way. As previously announced, gamers will be able to transfer Linkle, as well as the other members of the Hyrule Warriors Legends cast, to the original Wii U version of the title.
For those that followed the Wii U version of Hyrule Warriors, the news of Linkle may not be too surprising. While she did not make an appearance in that release, she did show up in the artbook that accompanied the title. Regardless, this iteration of the iconic hero is sure to shake up the status quo of the franchise. Sure, we’ve seen several takes on Link before, but it’s hard to deny the fact that Linkle represents a pretty big step forward for the series.
Hyrule Warriors Legends is scheduled to launch exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS on March 25, 2016.