For over 25 years Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda provided niche gamers with an amazing fantasy, action-adventure game with one of the simplest concepts; save the Princess. Though this story, nor Zelda’s didn’t appeal to very many people compared to something like fellow Nintendo franchise Mario, and compared to the latter Zelda has undersold since it’s initial release.

Zelda and Mario sales by game/console as of early 2013. Credit to Neogaf for graphs.

It’s no secret that Mario is the better salesman between himself and Link, but is there a reason for that? Mario has branched off into multiple genres, including golf, kart racing, baseball, and others but Nintendo has only allowed Link into one alternative genre; fighting and it was as a Gamecube exclusive character for Soul Calibur II and in their signature Super Smash Bros. series. That has changed as yesterday morning Nintendo announced Hyrule Warriors (working title), an official Legend of Zelda spinoff starring Link himself facing dozens of enemies on screen and even bosses from The Legend of Zelda franchise.

The Hyrulian hero in Hyrule Warriors.

This new title to be developed by Techmo Koei will feature Dynasty Warriors gameplay elements, as Link fights his way through wave after wave of enemies in order to get to the next level. There’s even boss from the franchise that will be featured in the game using their signature techniques and attacks, which should be fairly interesting to see play out come final product and quite a sight with hundreds of enemies alongside them.

Hyrule Warriors logo.

But is Link in his very own beat ’em up enough? Will it finally get gamers to view him as more than the guy who “rescues the Princess”? Just going from the trailer alone Hyrule Warriors has a lot of potential, there’s actually a lot Nintendo could do with Link, they just choose not to use him in any other way besides canon, which is kind of silly when you consider the fact that most of the Zelda games have no continuation link. Majora’s Mask, A Link to the Past II, and A Link Between Worlds are the only true sequels within the franchise, though technically Skyward Sword is a prequel to Ocarina of Time according to Eiji Aonuma.

Hyrule Warriors teaser trailer.

The interesting thing about Hyrule Warriors is that Link is seemingly on his own for the majority with allies only coming during boss fight. So far the only confirmed weaponry is the signature Master Sword/Hyrule Shield combo, bombs, and the flame rod, but I’d like to think other Zelda signatures such as the bow and boomerang will also be making their way into the game. Also what’s the story with Link’s sort of, kind of new gear? Is there a story behind it or was it just a simple redesign?

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Link will be the bad ass you’ve always wanted him to be in Hyrule Warriors.

There are so many unanswered questions about this new Legend of Zelda title that needs to be answered, unfortunately we won’t get any until E3 2014, unless Nintendo surprises us with another Nintendo Direct within the next four months.  Regardless of the unanswered questions, however Hyrule Warriors is making me even more interested in picking up a Wii U next year than I ever was before.