The Switch is well and truly on its final legs, and with its successor surely looking set to launch in less than a years’ time from now, most would have expected that support for the system would be slowing down in terms of both first and third party releases. The most recent Nintendo Direct, however, turned out to be a surprisingly packed one. There’s more major upcoming releases to look forward to if you’re looking for games to play on your Switch in the coming months, including even an entirely new Zelda game. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom one of the highlights of the aforementioned Direct, and here, we’re going to go over the biggest and most significant details Nintendo has revealed about it.
NEW 2D ENTRY
It’s been a long time coming, but The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is, at long last, a brand new 2D Zelda entry. The last time we got one was The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS back in 2013, which was over a decade ago at this point. Sure, we did get remake of Link’s Awakening for the Switch in 2019, but as the first entirely new 2D entry in the series in 11 years, Echoes of Wisdom is a doubly significant release for the franchise. The top down action adventure also going to sport an art style very similar to the one used in the aforementioned Link’s Awakening remake, which itself was, of course, an evolution of sorts of A Link Between World’s aesthetic.
PLAYABLE ZELDA
Even though she’s a crucial character and literally has the entire series named after her, Princess Zelda has never been a playable character in a single mainline Zelda game to date, and as time has gone on, demand for that to change has continued to grow increasingly louder from series fans. And though many had assumed that Nintendo would likely never relent to those demands, it turns out that that’s exactly what Echoes of Wisdom is doing. The game will flip the traditional script, and have Link, who is usually the protagonist, disappearing and being in need of rescue, with Princess Zelda having to step up as the main playable protagonist. It’ll be a series first, and as you might expect, it will also impact the gameplay in significant ways. More on that in a bit.
STORY DETAILS
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s reveal trailer started off with Link and Ganon squaring off in a 1v1 duel, which ends with the latter’s defeat- only for a strange rift to appear, swallowing both Ganon and Link whole. Before he disappears entirely, however, Link is able to free Princess Zelda from the crystal she was encased in while he was fighting Ganon. Now, with mysterious rifts having appeared all over Hyrule and many people and parts of the world having been swallowed by them, it falls to Zelda to unravel their mystery and figure out how to undo their damage.
The question, of course, is which timeline the game falls in. Nintendo has unsurprisingly provided little to no concrete details on that front, but the layout of the Hyrule showcased in the trailer does seem to suggest that maybe we’re in the same Hyrule as A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds- though whether or not that means we’ll be in the same (or largely similar map) remains to be seen. The game is also using the same art style as Link’s Awakening, which, of course, is a direct sequel to A Link to the Past, which also suggests that we might be in the same timeline in Echoes of Wisdom.
TRI ROD
The Tri Rod will be central to The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, not only with gameplay, but also from a narrative standpoint. On her journey, Zelda’s primary companion will be Tri, a mysterious fairy, who gives the Princess a special weapon known as the Tri Rod, which will be pivotal to her quest to save Hyrule. Clearly, the Tri Rod is going to be tied to the Triforce- more specifically, the Triforce of Wisdom, which is the piece that the Princess is always associated with (hence the game’s subtitle).
CREATING ECHOES
On the gameplay front, the Tri Rod will be your primary way of interacting with the world. The Rod’s main function will be essentially creating duplicates of objects. Zelda can wave the Tri Rod at, say, a table, following which she can create infinite imitations of it, known as echoes. So if you find yourself standing in front of a tall ledge or cliff, you can create echoes of tables to create a makeshift staircase for yourself. From navigating environments to solving puzzles, creating echoes will be a crucial part of the gameplay experience.
MORE DETAILS ON ECHOES
One of Echoes of Wisdom’s more eye-catching details is how many options it’s looking like it will provide with its echoes. The game is going to feature a large number of echoes as options (though the exact number hasn’t been revealed), and which ones you want to use and how you want to use them will be entirely your choice. It certainly looks like player freedom will be emphasized with puzzles probably having multiple possible solutions. In the game’s recent gameplay reveal, we saw a number of different echoes, including large boxes and beds that you can use to make bridges or what have you, trampolines that can be used to give you some extra bounce, and even blocks of water that you can summon to float up through.
COMBAT
As you may have guessed, summoning echoes is going to be as central to the combat as it will be to navigating the world and solving puzzles. How exactly? Well, because Zelda will be able to create echoes of enemies, who will then automatically fight against her foes on her behalf. Several different enemy types will be available as echoes, each bringing their own attributes and abilities. It seems like the game will encourage creativity and player freedom in this area as well. For instance, you can summon creatures to attack your foes head on, but you can also summon a piece of meat to distract foes.
SIDESCROLLING SECTIONS
Here’s another way Echoes of Wisdom is taking cues from Link’s Awakening, in addition to the diorama-esque aesthetic and art style. Just like the older classic, the upcoming entry will also feature sidescrolling sections. How extensive these will be and how frequently we will encounter them in the game remains to be seen, but we did see a couple of different sidescrolling sections in the recent reveal, including an underwater room.
LAUNCH
If you were beginning to grow concerned that the second half of the year was looking a little light for the Switch, Nintendo has now announced multiple major releases for the console, and Echoes of Wisdom is going to be one of them. The action adventure title will release on September 26.
SPECIAL EDITION SWITCH LITE
Nintendo often likes to pair its major first party releases with new, special edition, themed console versions, and it’s going to stick to that trend with Echoes of Wisdom. On September 26, alongside the game, Nintendo will also release a special edition Zelda-themed Switch Lite. The console will also come bundled with 12 months of an individual Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription.
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