The Legend of Zelda’s Link Joins Overwatch In This Fan-Made Trailer

Overwatch players have just gotten the closest we’ll ever get to seeing one of Nintendo’s characters in Blizzard’s hero shooter thanks to a fan-made trailer. The trailer puts The Legend of Zelda‘s Link in the game and was created by a talented bunch of arts who built the model, background, visual effects, and everything else from the ground up. It shows Link using some of his most recognizable gear in a way that now fits in with the Overwatch aesthetic.

The video below was uploaded to Vimeo recently by Stéphane Vidélo, the individual who’s responsible for the rig & animation used in the trailer. Joining Vidélo to create the fan-made project was Jeremy Vitry who provided concept art, Aaron Walker who created the character model, Philémon Belhomme who worked on the render, props, and background, and finally Etienne Pov who was responsible for the visual effects.

[NOW PLAYABLE] Link l Overwatch from Stéphane Videlo on Vimeo.

The trailer introduces Link by way of Overwatch’s Play of the Game feature, the template which has proven to be the excellent format for memes and guest character introductions over the years. Some scenes after that show Link showing what he does best: Cracking open some chests to loot them and rushing enemies with his now supercharged Master Sword and his trusty shield.

Link will never be in Overwatch, but the trailer does lead one to speculate what types of abilities he might have if he ever did end up in the lineup of heroes. He’d probably use his sword and shield similarly to how Brigitte uses her shield and flail but would be geared more towards the offensive side of the game as opposed to a defensive support. He’d probably have a dash attack with his sword like we saw in the video and he’d likely make good use of those potions strapped to his chest. Link’s got a robust arsenal of different weapons like bows, bombs, and boomerangs he’s amassed throughout his many games, so there’s no shortage of ideas for what his abilities might be like.

Even if we’ll never get Nintendo’s characters in Overwatch, we can at least look forward to getting Overwatch on Nintendo’s consoles. Per Nintendo’s announcement from its Nintendo Direct event earlier in the month, we’ll see Overwatch land on the Nintendo Switch on October 15th. Plop your Link Amiibo figures down next to your console when playing the game and you can kind of sort of imagine he’s in there with you.

Thanks, Polygon.