The Legend Of Zelda Echoes Of Wisdom is coming out in just over three weeks, and the anticipation for it is growing with every in-depth dive and trailer that drops. Having a title focused on Princess Zelda is something that not many expected in 2024, yet it follows in the path of a certain other Princess getting her due earlier in the year. Just like in that other title, the game isn’t trying to simply make a “cut and paste” title with a new protagonist. Instead, all-new game mechanics are being crafted to ensure that the title feels unique and that Zelda comes across as a true hero with her own skills.
At PAX West, Nintendo had a demo set up for The Legend Of Zelda Echoes Of Wisdom, and VGC could do a gameplay demo for the earlier parts of the game. Through the preview, they learned key elements of the game and how it would all work. For example, the process of getting an “Echo” is rather simple, but you need to keep your eyes open. The player has to look for “shimmering” objects out in the overworld and in other players so that the Echo can be added to their collection.
Just as important, Princess Zelda can only summon so many Echoes at one time. There are little items about the spirit Tri that help indicate that. If you try to summon too many, the previous Echoes will slowly disappear to make way for the new ones.
You might recall that Zelda can also summon Echoes of enemies, but that only happens after she fully defeats a foe, so keep that in mind as you do battle against them! By the time the VGC crew got done with the preview, they already had about 20 Echoes, and it’s unclear how many the final game has, which is likely by design.
While they, and many others, are excited for what the final version of the game will bring, they do wonder if Nintendo “fully commits” to the gameplay mechanics shown. The most recent trailer highlighted the birth of “Swordfighter Zelda,” which kind of defeats the purpose of the Echoes, even though the new form does have a time limit.
If they pull off the game like many hope, this could not just be another successful entry in the franchise on Switch, but it could lead to an entirely new path for the series to go to and help build up Zelda’s legend even further.
