Link Will Be Playable In The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will have a playable Link.

The ESRB rating for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has just come out. Unsurprisingly, the game passes with a E 10+ rating. That means the game is good for players 10 and above. The ESRB notes that the game has fantasy violence, but what we are interested in here is the rating summary:

“This is an adventure game in which players assume the role of Zelda as she attempts to dispel rifts throughout Hyrule and rescue Link. From a ¾-overhead perspective, players explore various environments while fighting stylized enemies (e.g., humans, creatures).

As Link, players use a sword and arrows to defeat enemies; Zelda can use a magic wand to summon creatures (e.g., wind-up knights, pig soldiers, slime) for battle.

Some enemies can be defeated by being set on fire; other creatures dissolve into mist when defeated. Battle sequences are somewhat frenetic, with several enemies attacking/fighting at once.”

As this game is advertised as a The Legend of Zelda game with a playable Zelda, it’s a little surprising to find out that Link will be playable too. So what is the situation here? We have seen in the introduction trailer that Link gets damseled himself, and that’s why Zelda has to do the heroics and rescuing this time.

While it’s unlikely, we do feel it necessary to bring up a scenario where a substantial amount of the game has you playing as Link, and switching between him or Zelda. It’s possible that Nintendo’s designers had cold feet and added an option to switch in case some players didn’t like Zelda’s playstyle.

Alternately, it may be a situation where you only play a small part of the game as Link. Either he is playable at the very start, or at the very end. Or maybe there’s a small segment in the middle where he is temporarily freed to do a little side quest before getting sidelined again.

And it is possible, that Nintendo thought to add Link as a multiplayer component. There may be a multiplayer mode where two players, possibly, a parent and their child, can take the roles of Link and Zelda, to work out some levels or dungeons together.

And, lest we forget, the game scenario involves Zelda being able to create echoes, AKA, imitations of objects and even creatures. So who’s to say Zelda couldn’t make an echo of Link himself?  A game where Link and Zelda are fighting together, and you’re playing Zelda, well, that’s the sort of thing gamer dreams are made of. Notwithstanding Hyrule Warriors, Nintendo promises a new experience within some very familiar trappings.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is releasing September 26, 2024, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.