Nintendo surprised its fans yesterday by announcing a new chapter in its 40-year Zelda saga, one of the biggest franchises of the Japanese video game titan.
During a webcast event, the firm said that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is scheduled for release on the Switch console on September 26.
Eiji Aonuma, producer of the Zelda series, said in a webcast that fans will be able to play as Princess Zelda herself instead of the elf warrior Link, a first for an official entry into the game’s canon.
“This time Link has disappeared and it’s Princess Zelda’s turn to take on the role of protagonist,” Aonuma said.
Fans eagerly await each new Zelda chapter – the franchise has racked up more than 140 million sales since it began in 1986.
Last year’s edition, Tears of the Kingdom, sold 10 million copies in just three days.
Nintendo showed off some gameplay of the new title during the webcast, revealing cartoon-style graphics similar to 2019’s Link’s Awakening instead of the sleek realism of last year’s game.
The series is credited with helping to forge “open world” games, where the player is free to roam virtual landscapes, an idea later taken up by games like Grand Theft Auto and Skyrim.
