reiduran:

dresdencodak:

Inspired by Anita Sarkeesian’s Video Game Tropes vs Women, I wanted to pitch a Zelda game where Zelda herself was the hero, rescuing a Prince Link. 

Clockwork Empire is set 2,000 years after Twilight Princess, and is not a reboot, but simply another iteration in the Zelda franchise. It just so happens that in this case, Zelda is the protagonist. I’m a very big Zelda fan, and worked hard to draw from key elements in the continuity and mythos.

This concept work is meant to show that Zelda as a game protagonist can be both compelling and true to the franchise, while bringing new and dynamic game elements that go farther than being a simple gender swap.

Hope you like it!

Interesting art and neat idea. I’d play the hell out of it because it looks fun as shit.

That said, I kind of want to bring up some opinions.

I don’t necessarily think that feminism means taking a certain trope and just swapping out the gender roles. Seriously, Zelda here just looks like a gender-bent version of Link. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a BAD thing (because shit, I’d love to play a game like that), but touting this as promoting feminism doesn’t really make it sound good. Why does Zelda have to be in Link’s role to be an empowered female? You could extrapolate that this idea is saying that in order for a woman to be part of the feminist ideal, she has to look and act like a man and that’s simply not true.

In Ocarina of Time, Zelda was pretty awesome. Not only was she the regal representative of the people of Hyrule, she was a badass ninja. Her magic was unparalleled. You can take that. You can run with that. Hell, keep her a Princess, but when shit goes down, she doesn’t wait for a hero, she goes out and does it herself because her people matter to her that much. Her noblesse oblige, if you will. She lives for her subjects and she’s willing to die for them as well.

I dunno. Feel free to yell at me for this or whatever. I just don’t feel like “but a girl”  should be a selling point. What I’m seeing is simply “Like Link, but a girl.”

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO