Interest
Zelda: Breath of the Wild Character Uses Baby Talk to Explain Quest to Link
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
In the new The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game, Link can go on the Lynel Safari side quest to earn the Zora greaves for faster swimming. To start the quest, Link must talk with the character Laflat before taking on the mighty red-maned Lynel. Laflat asks Link to take a picture of the monster so that she can use it to convince people to stay away from Ploymus Mountain. If Link doesn't understand Laflat's explanation of the quest, she does something amusing in the Japanese version of the game.
選択肢「もう1度言って」
— Namatamago Switch (@0tmgo) March 6, 2017
を繰り返すと pic.twitter.com/F2WMAL682T
Twitter user @0tmgo posted images showing the result if players tell Laflat to repeat her explanation. She decides to "explain so that even a child will understand." Japanese typically uses "-desu" and "-masu" verb endings in normal speech, but those endings become "-dechu" and "-machu" when parents talk to their young children or use baby talk in other circumstances. Laflat decides to use the baby-talk endings when she has to repeat her explanation of the Lynel quest to Link.
Why does the character switch to baby talk? That may be because Laflat is used to talking to local children, and she mentions that she will use Link's picture to scare kids away from the mountain. Maybe Link's youthful appearance in the game puts her in a motherly mode. Whatever the case, it's entertaining for Japanese players.
Japanese net users reacted in amusement to the Twitter images of Laflat's baby talk. One commenter noted that this type of linguistic joke is a characteristic of Japanese games that doesn't really show up in Western games.
What do you think of this type of joke? If you've played the English version of the game, is Laflat's response to Link's inability to understand just as entertaining? Tell us in the forum.
The The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the Wii U and Switch went on sale on March 3 as a launch title for the new Nintendo Switch console. The console and game are both proving popular in Japan and the Americas. YouTuber Venick409 already beat the game in 84 minutes.
[Via Hachima Kikō]
