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The key art revealed for Echoes of Wisdom clearly shows a Piece of Heart perched atop a pillar in the background, indicating that the health bar-increasing items will once again be scattered across Hyrule. Pieces Of Heart are featured in many classic Zelda games, including Ocarina of Time, and are valued for giving Link an extra Heart Container for every four collected. However, their last appearance was in 2013’s A Link Between Worlds. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have since both excluded the item, although even then they did each have a comparable replacement.
Excluding Echoes of Wisdom, Pieces Of Heart have appeared in 11 main Legend of Zelda titles so far. Notably, Breath of the Wild’s Spirit Orbs, and subsequently Tears of the Kingdom’s Lights of Blessing, do clearly take inspiration from Pieces of Heart. Much like Pieces of Heart, a group of four of these items can be redeemed into a person’s choice of a new Heart Container or Stamina Vessel. The option of improving Link’s Stamina Wheel gives somebody an additional degree of control over the Hero’s growth, but in either case it should be noted that this does require the use of a Goddess Statue. In contrast, the effects of collecting four Pieces of Heart are immediate.
Typically, Pieces of Heart are treated as hidden collectibles, and as such, are often placed as the reward for completing an optional puzzle or minigame. Unlike the highly-visible Shrines of BOTW and TOTK and their rewards, however, Pieces of Heart do not draw much attention to themselves, and so finding one is much more of a pleasant surprise. On the other hand, there is a strong parallel between Shrines and the design philosophy of Echoes of Wisdom, which suggests that creative solutions to puzzles (in this case the use of Echoes) remain a prominent part of The Legend of Zelda.
The sheer potential of the Tri Rod and Echoes as the basis for puzzles is clearly similar to that of previous mechanics like Ultrahand, and so there are countless inventive ways in which Pieces of Heart could be hidden around Hyrule. For example, from what has been shown in the trailer alone, the key art’s Piece of Art could be reached via a combination of platforms and trampolines. On the other hand, it is equally possible that Zelda could knock the Piece of Heart down by shaking the pillar with the help of an explosive echo.
It is unclear just how many Pieces of Heart will be available to collect in Echoes of Wisdom, but it seems safe to assume that there will be a large number of them. Hyrule seems to be incredibly big in the trailer, quite possibly making it the largest version of the kingdom in a top-down game ever. This means that there will be plenty of space for placing Pieces of Heart and other collectibles, and so Zelda could easily develop an enormous health bar over the course of the game.
The precise number of Pieces of Heart has varied greatly, even between different versions of the same title. The original Link’s Awakening, for example, has just 12, but the remake for Nintendo Switch contains 32. Meanwhile, A Link Between Worlds, arguably the most similar title to Echoes of Wisdom at this time, has 28 Pieces of Heart. It seems unlikely for there to be any less than this in what is almost certainly a larger game, giving a minimum of 7 extra Heart Containers for Zelda to obtain in addition to those gained elsewhere.
Pieces of Heart are a simple game mechanic with endless potential as the reward for using Echoes creatively. Although Shrine rewards in modern titles have replicated them to some extent, they simply lack the same nostalgic appeal, which will help to ensure that the change is well-received. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom may continue to innovate and reimagine Hyrule, but its inclusion of Pieces of Heart proves that older ideas can still be a valuable addition to any game.