Times You Don't Play as Link

If I faked a British accent, this would pass as a Zeltik video.
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0:00 INTRO
1:08 KAFEI
3:07 GROOSE
4:48 GONGORON
6:33 PHATOM ZELDA
8:13 KING OF RED LIONS
9:55 OUTRO
MUSIC
Skyward Sword - Eldin Volcano
Majora's Mask - Stone Tower Temple
Skyward Sword - Groose Theme
Skyward Sword - Groosenator Theme
Phantom Hourglass - Lithovores
Phantom Hourglass - Goron Island
Spirit Tracks - Aboda Village
Wind Waker - Outset Island
Wind Waker - Pirates
Twilight Princess - Ordon Village
Skyward Sword - Lumpy Pumpkin

[@monopolyrubix1875]

Epona has dialogue in TP if you talk to her as a wolf. She seems pretty intelligent, she knows that you're Link when most other characters don't, and tells you to transform back so you can get moving.

[@Gourune]

If you could do that in BOTW my horses would say some pretty awful things about me.

[@Leopez02]

That's why Epona is a good horse it knows who's he's master even as a wolf! 😮❤

[@Leopez02]

​@@Gourunecould it be possible with Wolf and Midna Link amiibo?😊

[@logandulken163]

If you count king of the red lions, then by this same logic, mineru is playable in totk.

[@Ds_Neptune]

Groose makes me so confused, I swear I started that game hating the s**t out of him and by the end of the game I found myself almost with his face on a shirt, a little flag and asking "how did I get myself here?". Okay, to be fair, he does have a gradual redemption arc while also not becoming someone else, that's hard to write when he is not even a protagonist Edit: Oh, also, I really liked the video! Good job, keep it up :)

[@Gourune]

I really hope the next Zelda game has a character like him that isn't the main protagonist, but is still prominent in the story and grows along Link.

[@manupm9161]

If sailing with the red lion count as playing as him, then you also play as linebeck in phantom hourglass, is he is the one controlling the ship, you only decide the route

[@vianabdullah2837]

Playing as Zelda in Skyward Sword sounds cool until you remember that she took the same path as Link. So you'd have to travel to the 3 main regions again on top of the multiple times the game already forces you to do so.

[@Vwowtree]

We should’ve played as Kafei more

[@lipecau]

you forgot the statues in wind waker and twilight princess. The falcon, twili carrier bird and midna are technically controlled by the player in TP. Also, Tingle in Wind Waker if you count the Tingle Tuner

[@lipecau]

oh wait! The Cucco in TP aswell!

[@meow762]

​@@lipecau that was so fun! TP was my first zelda game, i remember being shocked when in other games the cuccoo started hitting me back instead of letting me control them lol

[@Gourune]

I did consider most of those, but shot them down early on. I wanted to go with ones that were more niche which is why I shot down Midna since she's your guide in TP. That's also the case for Zelda in ST, but only 12 people played that game lol. The statues felt a little forced and didn't give me much to work with. And like I said I only wanted to do one entry per game, so I went with Red Lions instead for the bit. Thank you for bringing those up though!

[@zephyare1700]

Dont forget about the animal companions in the oracle games: Moosh the flying bear Rikki the boxing kangaroo Dimitri the red sea lizard/crocodile

[@Gourune]

I have a confession, I've never played the Oracles games :(

[@Keanine]

Might just be me, but I enjoyed Phantom Hourglass on my replay a couple years back even more than when I first played it as a kid. For some reason I didn't find returning to the Temple of the Ocean King repetitive at all despite my recollection and the internets general consensus

[@grak6363]

i adore phantom hourglass and think it still holds up, plus the ocean temple is legit speed running heaven so idk why people as a whole are so against it. glad to see another phantom hourglass defender 🙏

[@LeopoldLitchenstein]

I just didn't like the touch controls in those games. I think they have some great ideas, but the touch controls make them one and done for me

[@Keanine]

@@LeopoldLitchenstein Honestly fair. My second playthrough was on an emulator on my phone, so the controls actually worked really nicely! There's also a mod out there which enables d-pad movement, playable on hardware with an R4 cart, but I think you might still need the stylus for a couple things, I don't remember

[@Keanine]

@@grak6363 right! I really enjoyed how each area seemed to have multiple ways of getting through them, each faster than the next as you got more items. It's so different each time you return! I honestly wonder if maybe I didn't realise those paths existed and I went the long ways as a kid?

[@toumabyakuya]

@@grak6363 Because, without an speedrunner's mindset, repeatedly returning to it is tedious and boring.

[@ZipplyZane]

I would say it doesn't matter if Link is telling the King of Red Lions where to go, as long as he's not actually steering. And it doesn't look like he steers in any way. It's more like he jumps in, tells the ship where to go, and it does what it needs to go there.

[@Gourune]

@@ZipplyZane Link jumps in and goes “MUSH!”

[@j00j7]

He’s steering using the crank on the back, he’s got his hand on it the whole time and turns it when the boat turns

[@ZipplyZane]

@@j00j7 I actually found and watched a video to be sure before I posted. And yet I totally missed that. You are correct, in both HD and the original. I will delete my post in a bit.

[@HyruletheCheetah]

Wish we could have played as Groose more too

[@meow762]

i lost at the kafei quest as a kid :( i remembered it being so difficult lol

[@oucyan]

For the King of Red Lions, while I agree with you that he's the one navigating, I would argue that Link is the one choosing where to go and when.

[@enis-karra4575]

You talked about how you can control Zelda in Spirit Tracks' Tower of Spirits and *completely forgot* to mention how you also have her playable during the Final Battle. First with the battle at the top of the Demon Train against Malladus & Cole where she possesses a Guardian and acts as your shield to get to her possessed body, and then as your assist against Malladus final phase where you distract him so you can then move her in his back to shoot him with the Light Bow. One of my favorite boss fight of the franchise beacause of this who makes this mechanic relevent (and imo fun) 'til the very end

[@snas7954]

Technically you play as medli and makar, but using command melody in wind waker

[@KeiranTrick]

Having not watched the video yet, I'd argue those (and the statues) don't really count. You're not playing as Medli and Makar, you're playing as Link who is mind-controlling Medli and Makar. Same with the seagulls.

[@Gourune]

@@KeiranTrick Medli and Makar are in a weird grey area for me. You do control them through Link, but they have their own unique abilities like being able to fly/glide. That's why I didn't count the statues in WW or TP as all you really do is hop around.

[@wickedonce8863]

As one of the seven Spirit Tracks elitists, I forgive you 😔✊️ I'd have liked to move Zelda around the same way you move Link, with the stylus, and you swap back and forth between them with the face button in the corner! I mean imagine being Phantom Zelda and then tapping on Link to pick him up and then tapping again to chuck him across the room WOULDN'T THAT HAVE BEEN GREAT

[@dellstrike]

On the GameCube version of WW, if you have a gameboy and a connector cord (idk the official name of it), you can play as Tingle. Very limited but you can drop bombs and a couple other things for Link.

[@toumabyakuya]

Eh, liked the overall video but your sarcasm wasn't really required. Also: Kafei was turned into a kid by Skull Kid, did you truly expect him to fight monsters with his weak body?. Zelda isn't boring to play as on Spirit Tracks, it just sounds like you (like most modern players) want everything done immediately and lack patience.

[@Gourune]

That would be cool if he did. People have theorized Kafei is the Termina-counterpart to Link, so maybe he's got a few tricks up his sleeves that are too big for him now that he's a child. With Zelda it's not a matter of patience, but a lack of depth. It would've been sick if she could possess other enemies, bosses, NPCs. Seemed like missed potential to me. Also the sarcasm is a form of flattery! When I sound like a massive hater for something I actually love it with all my heart. You should hear me play TF2.

[@toumabyakuya]

@@Gourune *"When I sound like a massive hater for something I actually love it with all my heart."* Yeah, no, I don't like it. It just sounds way too harsh and negative for no good reason. *"People have theorized Kafei is the Termina-counterpart to Link,"* That would be cool. Sadly, we only saw Kafei when he was cursed to be small in MM, so he couldn't do that. *"It would've been sick if she could possess other enemies, bosses, NPCs."* That's not how her power works. She can posses the Phantoms because they lack a soul. All other monsters cannot be possesed by her.

[@MartijnMuller]

Tingle games are surprisingly fun. That's a hill I'm willing to die on.

[@Gourune]

I believe you, I can be mean sometimes...

[@elitobin]

i only wanted zelda playable for coop because multiplayer makes every game better

[@KingJero1313]

Luckily majora's mask for n64 is on switch now create a load point and boom instant retry 😂🤣

[@voidwarrior9908]

My man forgot you can play as the cuccos on twilight princess if you hit them enough

[@fatalwaffle1715]

Cool Video Bro.

[@Gourune]

ty ;)

[@fatalwaffle1715]

Np.

[@mariangutierrez2129]

If characters you can steer are considered as a "Playable character", then Tears Of The Kingdom DID give us playable Zelda, because she technically guides us in the sky when fighting the Demon Dragon at the end of the game.

[@findingamogus3237]

Bro how is no one talking about echoes of wisdow where you play as zelda.😂😂

[@user-ip5jy3ef1h]

That moment when Zelda dies in the funny choo choo game:

[@Exeggutorking]

Remember tingles rosey ruppeeland

[@Tazerboy_10]

😲 - Woah!

[@squmulonimbus]

Groose is kind of reddit shit but so is playing as zelda in general imo. Like "they did the thing omg". That being said I do hope the new game is fun, despite not being the biggest fan of the visuals from the links awakening remake

[@whiteghostlp6447]

Spirit tracks >>>>

[@BraydenGomez-qw4xp]

What about links awakening, wouldn’t Marin count as a playable charecter

[@BoggoNewman]

Bruh u missed stuff from spirit tracks, I know there arent a lot of fans but at least mention the final boss fights where Zelda is also playable

[@BloatedMarshmellow]

Nintendo direct

[@Gourune]

yuh.

[@Drizzilenotreal]

HI KAFEI!!!!!!!!

[@Hamantha]

wtf? Where’d you get guardians? 😅 They’re called phantoms commonly

[@LilacMonarch]

I didn't even know Kafei had a slap. Although to be fair it is completely pointless. At least rolling can maybe make you go a little faster

[@Gourune]

I only discovered it through complete accident. When I got to Sakon's Hideout, I was messing with the buttons to see if he could do anything cool lol.

[@LilacMonarch]

@@Gourune It makes me wonder if at some point they considered using crystal switches or something

[@Drizzilenotreal]

it looks more like a punch {at least in mm3d} to me tbh

[@Rislear]

this video is kinda reddit

[@ShirubaGin]

Oh boy you're now idea what danger you're in now that you criticized Spirit Tracks. They're coming... I'm already...

[@BillMCypher]

as someone who loves spirit tracks, the game is certainly flawed, and could definitely be better.

[@whismurmagic7903]

YOU SHUT UP ABT THE TINGLE GAMES THEYRE GOOD