Fans everywhere were shocked and excited when Nintendo announced a female version of “Legend of Zelda” protagonist Link, named Linkle, for the upcoming “Hyrule Warriors Legends” game for the 3DS. The company has now released a gameplay video of the character in action and it looks like the overall reception to Linkle has been fairly positive.

Unlike the numerous versions of Link, each of whom is usually a sword wielder, Linkle is more comfortable with crossbows and it shows in the gameplay video below. It seems the character isn’t all range as she actually uses the crossbows themselves as close-range weapons, according to Gamranx.

She can still use the said weapon for longe-range combat of course, as the video also shows some of her unique combos moves in the game. Her play style looks very unique compared to some of the other characters even though the game still has her plowing through thousands of enemies like in any other Omega Force developed game.

Linkle also has one particular item that Link always seems to carry in the main “Legend of Zelda” games: a bomb. Unlike Link, however, Linkle has a huge bomb and its part of her crowd clearing finishing move which looks very effective.

While her moves on the 3DS look great, an article from Nintendo Life points out how good she would look on the Wii U version of the game. Nintendo had previously confirmed that the 3DS exclusive characters can be carried over to the original Wii U game, but so far no screenshots or videos have been shown of these characters appearing in the Nintendo console.

Other 3DS exclusive characters aside from Linkle include Toon Link from “Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker” and Skull Kid from “Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask." Oddly enough, Toon Link will not be playable in the game’s main campaign, though the character will have his own “Wind Waker” mode to make up for that.

“Hyrule Warriors Legends” will come to the 3DS in early 2016 for Japanese gamers, while those in the rest of the world will have to wait until March 25. “Legends” will feature all of the downloadable content from the original “Hyrule Warriors” along with exclusive characters and locations for the 3DS.

(Credit: YouTube/KOEITECMOofficial)

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.