Producer Eiji Aonuma explains why the choice to add voice acting to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was made, also commenting on the game's inclusion of sci-fi.

Voice acting in the Zelda franchise is practically non-existent, which makes Nintendo's decision to include spoken dialogue in the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild even more unusual than it looks at first glance. However, producer Eiji Aonuma has an explanation for us.

In a recent interview with Polygon, Aonuma described why the decision was made to add voice acting to Breath of the Wild.

"It’s really difficult to leave an impression on players with just text," Eiji Aonuma commented. "It’s not that I made everything voiced. But I have these moments where I want to leave impressions on users. I add voice there."

Early on in the game's development, Aonuma recalled first hearing a character with an "actual human voice" which he claimed really struck emotion in him. However, series purists should not be too alarmed, as the mostly silent protagonist Link will be remaining voiceless in Breath of the Wild. Aonuma claims this is because if the character were to say something that the player does not agree with, the relationship between the user and Link would be lost.

The lack of voice acting for the series' protagonist means that incorporating a female Link would not be hard, though unfortunately Nintendo have confirmed that The Legend of Zelda games will continue to only feature the classic, male Link. While this is a shame, it is only true for main series titles which means we could see more of Linkle in spin-offs such as the Hyrule Warriors games.

A recent announcement revealed that the development team behind Breath of the Wild has also received assistance from Xenoblade developers, something that may have helped to inspire the more sci-fi elements of the upcoming game. Aonuma commented on the game's choice to incorporate the science fiction feel, later in the interview.

"Link basically adventures through a ruined world. I wanted to add technology as the opposite side of that. I thought it would be interesting for Link to use technology to explore through this wild and ruined world. I figured that would add another layer to the game."

Without spoiling anything, the producer also mentioned that the technology found in Breath of the Wild may well have played its part in the world's corruption, something that is likely going to be at the heart of the game's story. So far we know very little about the story of the game, though fans have been able to discover a range of secret messages in the released gameplay footage. Given the dedication of Nintendo's fanbase, it's safe to say that it's only a matter of time before something important is discovered.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be available in 2017 for Wii U and Nintendo NX.