Movies News Talk
The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom will be available for Nintendo Switch on September 26, 2024, following the Link's Awakening remake's early fall release schedule. With Nintendo apparently keeping many of its major announcements for a Nintendo Switch successor in 2025, this will be one of the platform's biggest releases in 2024, ahead of Super Mario Party Jamboree and Mario & Luigi: Brothership.
On September 26, a new Hyrule Edition of the Nintendo Switch Lite will become available. The console, like several other Zelda variations for prior systems, is shiny gold with the Hyrule Crest embossed on the rear. Under the right analog stick, there is also a little Triforce symbol. Switch Lites sell for $199.99, foregoing the hybrid capabilities of the normal Switch in favor of a purely portable offering. A Tears of the Kingdom Switch OLED version with dock designs and detachable joycons was previously available.
Although Link will not be the main character in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, he will feature in a limited capacity. The plot appears to begin with Link saving Zelda from Ganon, who emerges in his traditional boar-like form. As Link cracks the crystal that holds Zelda, a dark spatial rift emerges and captures him while she escapes. More rifts like these cause difficulties across Hyrule, resulting in additional disappearances throughout the kingdom.
Zelda's mission to defend Hyrule from these rifts and recover Link is aided by a new character named Tri, a strange fairy who gives her a staff known as the Tri Rod. Following Zelda around in gameplay footage, Tri appears to be playing the role of a continuous companion, similar to earlier characters such as Navi, Fi, and Ezlo. The Great Deku Tree, first featured in Ocarina of Time and later resurfaced in multiple following 3D Zelda Games, is another iconic source of wisdom that reappears. The video for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom does not include any character names, but Zelda does interact with several NPCs in gameplay footage. One person appears to be an inventor akin to Robbie from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, with goofy tufts of hair and large glasses. A Gerudo woman and a Zora character who could be a princess like Ruto or Mipha arrive, as do a number of familiar and new adversaries in Hyrule.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom expands on the gameplay basis of the Link's Awakening remake, but a departure from Link's usual sword and shield results in a totally different method to navigating through the world. Instead, Zelda uses the Tri Rod, which gives her the ability to duplicate things and creatures found across Hyrule. These copies known as Echoes bring some of the tinkering featured in Tears of the Kingdom to the top-down manner of play, however the emphasis here is likely to be on solving discrete puzzles rather than unrestricted invention.
In its most basic form, this can imply building objects on top of each other to allow Zelda to reach new heights, ranging from classic objectives like as scaling plateaus to more odd locations such as trees. Some Echoes can deflect wind gusts, while others can distract adversaries or ignite combustible situations. Despite the clarity of the problems offered to Zelda, the solutions may be more open-ended than in earlier gimmicks such as flattening Link into walls or shrinking him down to fit into small spaces.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the next game in the Zelda franchise, and it promises to shake things up dramatically. In place of the conventional hero Link, Princess Zelda herself takes center stage, mirroring Princess Peach: Showtime!'s recent approach. Like that title, the series' basic gameplay has been altered to reflect the change in character, however many of Zelda's defining traits will still exist in Echoes of Wisdom.
This is not Zelda's first appearance as the protagonist; her other leading role was in the controversial Philips CD-i game Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, a non-canonical entry created without Nintendo's input. Things appear much more promising this time around, with the attractive art style from the Link's Awakening remake returning for a smooth top-down journey. After the tremendous experience that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom brought to the table in 2023, Echoes of Wisdom should be a welcome return to Hyrule without the same degree of emotional commitment.
Because Zelda lacks a sword, the Tri Rod is also her primary weapon in combat. Throwing echoes at adversaries has the ability to harm them, whether by blunt force impact or elemental effects. Duplicating opponents allows them to fight other enemies as a proxy for Zelda. Some replicated creatures can also bring new movement options, and gliding on a bird's talons appears to be an intriguing approach to open up previously unreachable areas.
The major alterations in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom may not appeal to everyone, and the Tri Rod technique results in a slower pace of action than in previous Zelda Games. As a new take on an old franchise, it has the potential to be a memorable experience. Zelda fans have had a lot of fun with the Nintendo Switch, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom could be a wonderful way to say goodbye to the platform while Nintendo prepares for its inevitable successor.