Hot on the heels of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo has surprise-announced yet another new Zelda game – The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Of course, this game arrives with a number of very nice twists, perhaps most notably that Princess Zelda herself will feature as the protagonist of this game.
That’s right, you’ll finally be able to point at a Legend of Zelda game and say “the protagonist’s name is Zelda” and you’ll be correct. While Princess Zelda has been a playable character in other Zelda games, this is the first time she’s getting the sole spotlight, with the entire adventure revolving around her personal hero’s journey.
As revealed in the first trailer for the game, Echoes of Wisdom will see Zelda pushed into the hero role after Link is consumed by a mysterious rift. Left to her own devices as this force spreads, Zelda must innovate to survive, relying on her own unique abilities to fight back against enemies, and discover the source of the rifts.
What are Princess Zelda’s abilities in Echoes of Wisdom?
In a very neat twist, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom actually adapts craft-style mechanics for Princess Zelda. She won’t wield a sword or shield as Link does – instead, she’ll be able to “memorise” the shape of objects using a special Tri Rod. This magic wand can then re-create those objects as “echoes” which can be placed in any part of the game’s map.
You can use echoes to climb up walls, placing one echo at a time – if you place a desk, you can hop on it, and then create a stack of two desks, and three desks, to get to your destination. You can also create echoes of water blocks, which you can swim within – even upwards, to cliffs above you.
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These echoes are also used in combat. Enemies are naturally a bit slower-moving in Echoes of Wisdom, leaving you time to summon rock echoes (and other weapons) for attack and defence. On their defeat, you’ll be able to create echoes of these enemies, and they’ll fight for you in future.
As with Tears of the Kingdom, it appears Echoes of Wisdom will lean heavily into innovation and deep thinking, with players encouraged to experiment with the echo mechanic, to figure out the best paths forward. You’ll be able to create many different echoes, and then collate them all for a multitude of gameplay solutions. Should this system prove as flexible as it looks, there should be many paths forward in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.
As announced, the game is set to launch on 26 September 2024, so it won’t be long before we learn more about it.
