Will Princess Zelda ever be playable? Nintendo says it would take a "particular" gameplay idea

gamesradar.com:

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is here, and at this point it's probably no spoiler to say the titular Princess is once again a non-playable character in her own series. Nintendo says it's open to giving Zelda a starring role in a future game, but only if there's a "particular" sort of gameplay that fits her.

"We feel like what takes most priority is this idea of gameplay," producer and series boss Eiji Aonuma tells Vanity Fair (opens in new tab). "If it turns out that the particular gameplay we’re trying to bring to fruition would be best served by having Zelda take that role, then it’s possible that that could be a direction we could take. With that said, of course, because we are not sure what the next gameplay experience is going to be, we can’t say what Zelda’s next step is going to be."

Zelda has never been the primary playable protagonist in her own series, though she is briefly playable in certain sequences of the DS game Spirit Tracks. She has been a part of the roster in everything from the grand Nintendo crossover of Super Smash Bros. to Zelda series spin-offs like Hyrule Warriors and Cadence of Hyrule. And, of course, she was the lead in the infamous, semi-official CD-i games.

Players have been begging for Zelda to be a playable part of the main series for years, and there's a new cycle of hope and disappointment every time a new game gets announced and released. Tears of the Kingdom was no exception to those hopes that Zelda would be a playable hero, nor has it been an exception to the disappointment.

it's happening again pic.twitter.com/K1u0w708i4June 11, 2019

Nintendo has often emphasized that it designs its games with a focus on play above story and characters. In a recent interview with The New