The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes lets you team up with three friends to conquer dungeons in the Zelda universe. But even though there are three heroes and a bunch of different costumes to wear, there will not be a female character playable in the game.

In an interview with IGN, director Hiromasa Shikata explained that Triforce Heroes’ story requires male heroes, leaving no room for playable female leads. He said that the story focuses on a prophecy, which was made with male heroes in mind. “The story calls for this sort of legend/prophecy where heroes will come together to help solve a problem,” Shikata stated. “And in that, they are male characters. So, because the game is set with that as the story background, you cannot choose a gender; you are a male character.”

When the interviewer expressed disappointment with this explanation, Shikata said that the developer doesn’t see a big problem with this choice and that there’s still room in the game for women to become personally invested in it. He said, “I understand what you’re saying, and just as general information, we do have a lot of female staff members who are playing this game and enjoying it. It doesn’t seem to be a big issue to them. They still are getting emotional investment in this game. And to be honest, Link isn’t the most masculine of guys in the world, depending on how you want to project yourself into the character.”

The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes focuses on co-op puzzle-solving and monster-battling, with an emphasis on crafting different outfits with different stats. It launches later this year for the 3DS. You can watch our E3 impressions of the game here.