A question that The Legend of Zelda fans have been asking for what feels like forever is if the titular princess is ever going to be a playable character in a mainline instalment, and though she’s obviously had crucial roles in many Zelda stories over the years, we’ve never actually got to play as her. But according to series producer Eiji Aonuma, it’s not something that’s out of the question.
When the question was posed to him in a recent interview with IGN, Aonuma acknowledged the fact that there’s “always room for thinking about” whether Zelda’s character could take on such a role, and added that “there may be some sort of possibility” that that actually ends up happening at some point in the future.
“It is interesting when you think about the name of the series, The Legend of Zelda, but Link is always the main character,” Aonuma said. “Zelda has always been involved, and they have a relationship and their own rules in each of the games, but it is true that I think there’s always room for thinking about this type of thing and Zelda’s role. And there may be some sort of possibility for something like that in the future.”
Obviously, that’s not exactly concrete confirmation that we’re going to see a Zelda game where Zelda herself is an actual playable character in the near future, but at the very least, it’s something that Nintendo is open to. For fans of the franchise who have been hoping to step into the princess’ shoes for so long, that’s bound to be at least an inkling of good news.
As for what the future holds for the series, it’s been confirmed that the next Zelda game won’t be direct sequel to Tears of the Kingdom, and that Tears of the Kingdom’s acclaimed Ultrahand mechanic won’t be making return.
Interestingly enough, Aonuma has also declined to comment on whether we might ever see full-blown modern remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
A live-action Legend of Zelda movie is also currently in development.