Nintendo, after almost four decades, is taking The Legend of Zelda Somewhere new. With Echoes of wisdomThe video game company is not only relying on experimentation for its latest Switch release, Tears of the Kingdom—It also does something no other Zelda title has done before: giving the princess a power previously granted only to Link.
“They gave Zelda a sword” has been the refrain of Echoes of wisdom since it was announced in June. But that’s not all that makes the game unique. Rather, it’s part of a top-down 2D series for the franchise, one with a different look and feel than the Tears of the Kingdom which still utilizes the freedoms players were given with previous games, such as the ability to create everything from Korok prisons to giant mechs.
In EchoesThat means being able to take various pieces of the world itself to replicate and repurpose. For series producer Eiji Aonuma, it also means players won’t get bored of Zelda (the games). “We started to feel,” Aonuma said He said recently, “that fans can’t continue playing this franchise unless they can think independently and try various things freely on their own, rather than following a set path.”
It may not be intentional, but this change also means that players won’t get bored of Zelda (the character). Here, the eponymous heroine can craft things and fight her way out of dungeons in ways Link never could.
The game starts with many Legend of Zelda The games do: Zelda has been captured and Link is on his way to save her. This time, however, after fighting off his captor, Link is dragged into a deep purple rift and Zelda has to break free. She does, but their happy reunion at home is cut short when Zelda is blamed for the rifts appearing all over Hyrule. Now, as a fugitive, she must figure out how to close the rifts and save Link with the help of a magical new friend, Tri, who grants her the ability to create copies (“echoes”) of objects and enemies.
Zelda is not a prolific fighter, so echoes become her primary weapons, her main everything. Beds make excellent ladders when stacked a certain way; flying pieces can launch Zelda across large gaps; pots thrown in the opposite direction create distractions. The joy of Echoes of wisdom The goal is to figure out how to use everything you find to your advantage. In one puzzle, for example, I could see the pieces the game expected me to use: two rocks stacked conspicuously and perfectly aligned to cut off the steam from two vents that would prevent me from advancing. I bypassed the whole process with some carefully placed buckets of water. I swam to my freedom and moved on, feeling like a genius.
Ingenuity is at the heart of Echoes of wisdom. Since there are multiple ways to solve many of the game’s mysteries, progressing through them sometimes gives players the feeling of having sneaked through a section under the developers’ noses. Areas I had no business being in were made accessible with a few cleverly placed beds, a trampoline, and some childlike persistence. I summoned armies of bat-like Keese to fight my battles for me while Zelda dozed nearby. Was this how I was supposed to play? Probably, but I felt naughty nonetheless.
The game’s echoes are so effective that I barely used Link-esque Zelda abilities except in situations where the game demanded it. The princess can transform into a blue bomb that shoots arrows and wields a sword, but time spent in this form burns energy that needs to be purposefully replenished. It’s meant to be used sparingly.