There's been no hiding the fact that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a great looking game. Opting to provide fans with an immense open world that's crawling with baddies, dungeons, and more, it looks like a true step forward for the franchise. Still, many gamers have been saddened by the lack of a playable female Link in the newest game, so much so that longtime franchise producer Eiji Aonuma issued a statement regarding why a female character wasn't featured as an option in the game.

We were fortunate enough to receive a sit-down interview with legendary game creator Shigeru Miyamoto during E3 2016, where we brought up the lack of playable female Link in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. According to Miyamoto, the reason for this is because Link is an existing male character, and therefore the main series of Zelda titles will always feature the tried and true version of the protagonist.

"Some people might wonder, you know, because the title is Zelda – it's a female character – why isn't the protagonist a female character? But really, to me, The Legend of Zelda, the main series, Link is the protagonist. So if you look at something like Hyrule Warriors, where there are multiple characters, then you know you can use different types of characters."

Miyamoto then wrapped things up by stating "... for me, I think for the main series Link has always been the protagonist." Understandably, this is sure to upset fans that had hoped that rumors of a female Link would turn out to be true, but it seems an interesting sticking point for Nintendo.

This sentiment more or less mirrors what Aonuma stated about the decision, as both developers believe that Link is inherently a male character. To have a female hero take on the mantle, in their eyes, would be to change what makes their mute hero what he is – which is likely why Linkle exists as another entity within the Hyrule Warriors universe. Whether or not readers choose to accept this justification remains to be seen, but Miyamoto's vision of what makes Link, well, Link includes the familiar hero everyone has known since the series' inception back in 1986.

Whether or not this will change as future installments release remains to be seen, but it appears that fans will have to become accustomed to the long-standing version of The Legend of Zelda's protagonist.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is set to arrive for both Wii U and NX sometime in 2017.