The new 'Zelda' didn't make the one major change it probably should have made

Nintendo gave us a huge reveal of "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" today, showing its enormous, visually splendid open world that allows series hero Link to go anywhere and do whatever he wants when he gets there.

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If you wanted to play as a woman in the new "Zelda," you'll have to look somewhere else.

Unfortunately, we'll only be able to refer to Link as "he" in this game, as Nintendo told GameSpot earlier this week that players will not be able to play as a woman in this game. Some fans had speculated that we might see a female Link this time around based on the character's androgynous appearance, but that's not the case.

The reasoning is, well, pretty preposterous. Basically, Nintendo thought about making Princess Zelda (who is generally a major character in each game's story) the protagonist, but they realized Link would have nothing to do, so they went with Link instead.

That doesn't make any sense. Maybe you could play as Princess Zelda and Link could follow you around and help you, or he could be the damsel in distress that you have to save this time around.

Nintendo

Linkle, the female version of Link from "Hyrule Warriors."

Also, there's no legitimate story reason why Link needs to be male. In fact, they created a female Link for the spin-off game "Hyrule Warriors" last year. Link has always been intended to be a blank slate for players to project themselves onto as they play the game. He is, quite literally, the link between the player and the story. He could be anything if Nintendo tried hard enough.

If Nintendo just wanted to make a game where you play as a guy, that's fine. They should've just said as much instead of coming up with such a ridiculous reason for it. The game still looks really impressive, and I can't wait to play it when it comes out next year, but this is a major missed opportunity by Nintendo.