Our apologizes for missing this one last week, but in our defense, E3 was crazy busy. Shown during Shigeru Miyamoto's closed door round-table discussion at E3, this early concept art of Link and a mysterious girl is your first real look at the next Zelda game in the works. And while at first glance it doesn't seem to reveal much, a closer inspection hints that this new Zelda game will put a heavy emphasis on the origins of the fabled Master Sword.
If you take a look at the image you will instantly notice Link is missing one piece of his famous ensemble, and no it's not Navi. It's the Master Sword. However, he's definitely still clutching the Hyrulian shield that goes hand and hand with the fabled sword. But that's where the little girl, front and center, reveals her significance. Notice the jewel found in the center of her chest, as well as the cape she wears that frills out much like the design of the cross-guard and hilt found on the weapon. Then there's the head of the girl that bottles up from a thin neck to a rounded face with a fine pointed tip at the very top of her hat, much like the handle of the blade. And finally, the purple glow cast on her, the only purple glow in the entire piece, focused entirely on the girl to give her the same color scheme as the sword.
Many are already venturing to guess this girl is the living incarnation of the Master Sword, which doesn't seem far off at all, seeing how they share a number of visual similarities. It's also interesting to hypothesize how this will change the tried-and-true Zelda gameplay if your sword is all of a sudden a living entity. Maybe it's how Miyamoto is creatively incorporating Wii Motion Plus controls into the next Zelda game. We don't know for sure, nor will we for some time. Probably not till next year's E3 will more concrete details begin to emerge about this next Zelda title. So if you haven't already, mark your calendars for next June, and the start of E3 2010. Woo!
And finally, here is the full teaser image to ogle over...
