10 Things to Know Before Playing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

10 Things to Know Before Playing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Welcome toMojoPlays, and today we’re going through all the details important to know before playing “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.”

Release Info

Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first. If you’re interested in “Echoes of Wisdom,” you probably already know that the game is releasing on September 26th, 2024, which means it’s right around the corner. It hasn’t even been that long since the game was revealed, during a June 2024 Direct. While there isn’t a special edition of the game, Nintendo is releasing a Special ‘Hyrule Edition’ of the Switch Lite. There are also some small bonuses from various retailers. Picking it up at GameStop gets you a nice fabric poster of the princess. And pre-ordering at Best Buy gets you an acrylic stand featuring Zelda and her companion, Tri, the game’s logo, and an octorok.

Dark Times in the Kingdom

Nintendo sometimes keeps certain story aspects secret, and that’s probably still the case here. But we can gather the basics from the trailers. It seems to begin with Link coming to Zelda’s rescue once again after the Princess has been captured by Ganon. And after defeating him, the hero is sucked into a rift caused by the villain's trident, but not before freeing Zelda. With rifts appearing all over the land, pulling landscapes and people into them, it falls to Zelda to save everyone. We’ve gotten a grander sense of this in footage pulled from the game’s Japanese website, which shows even the King falling victim. There are also posters of Zelda around the kingdom, either ‘missing’ or ‘wanted,’ though she meets her companion, Tri, in a jail cell, and, again from the Japanese site, we see her hiding from and distracting Hyrulian guards.

“Breath of the Wild” Aspects

Although “Echoes of Wisdom” is a spin on the top-down style of gameplay, there are a few aspects it has adapted from the “Breath of the Wild” era. Zelda will be able to collect various ingredients on her travels, which she can later use to make smoothies. Depending on your ingredients, smoothies can grant resistances to different damage types, or simply heal. Zelda will also gain a few accessories that grant different benefits, as well as different outfits, though whether these grant any bonuses or are purely cosmetic is unclear. Additionally, the UI is very much in the style of the last two main entries, including how your Quest Log is broken up between Main Quests and Side Quests.

A New Hyrule

Looking at the map of “Echoes of Wisdom,” you can see how much inspiration Nintendo took from “A Link to the Past” in terms of layout. However, the size of the kingdom has been greatly expanded on. This looks to be the largest top-down setting yet, which shouldn’t necessarily be surprising considering they were released on handheld-only platforms for so long. Even still, we’ve seen a surprisingly large number of locations, including Castle Town, Kakariko Village, and Gerudo Town, as well as the new Suthorn Village. That’s not to mention homes for the Gorons, Deku, and both kinds of Zora, plus all of the paths, wilderness, and perhaps even dungeons connecting them all.

The People of Hyrule

Just as it’s great to see Hyrule expand, it’s interesting to see what races Nintendo included this time around. The most unique case is the inclusion of both types of Zora. When the race first appeared, they were enemies that dwelled in rivers. They were re-designed in the 3D era as friendly, before both were canonized as separate. They don’t often appear in the same game, but “Echoes of Wisdom” shows the two groups at each other’s throats when Zelda arrives. The Gorons and Gerudo make a return, the latter being their first appearance in a top-down entry. We’ve seen one member of the Sheikah, who could be Impa, attack some guards. Interestingly, the Deku Scrub race returns after a lengthy absence, while the Rito are nowhere to be seen.

Playable Link

I don’t want to spend too much time on this one. “Echoes of Wisdom” will be Zelda’s big time to shine, after all. But for those curious, it seems Link will still be playable at some point in the game. The ESRB rating description confirms this, stating he uses a sword and arrows to defeat enemies. This most likely points towards the opening section of the game, in which Link comes to Zelda’s rescue. But some have begun to speculate that Nintendo is keeping something larger secret, like him becoming playable again later in the story. Regardless, we’ll have answers soon enough.

Using Echoes

Sharing the spotlight with Princess Zelda are her unique mechanics. The first we got a look at was the Echo ability, courtesy of a Rod given to her by Tri, this game’s companion and the first true one in a while, not counting the Sages of “Tears of the Kingdom.” Zelda will be able to copy items and enemies from across her travels, producing them to solve puzzles, navigate obstacles, and fight enemies in a variety of ways. That means there will be a lot of creative ways in which you can tackle any given problem. It also looks like you’ll be able to have three creations out at once, represented by the number of triangles above Tri’s head. Other footage indicates we can increase this number through upgrades.

Faithful Steeds

It may sound silly to make a big deal out of this. But hey, look! Horses! The animals have become staples in larger 3D games, where their vast worlds have need of them. But “Echoes of Wisdom” will be the first top-down entry to have them. Before, Link could only gain quick bursts of speed through items like the Pegasus Boots. We’ve seen different colored horses, though it’s unclear if there are benefits to different types. Additionally, Zelda will summon them from anywhere on the map by producing the Echo of a carrot. Horses will allow Zelda to bypass certain obstacles, as well as deal damage by barreling through enemies.

The Bind Ability

“Echoes of Wisdom” features an ability very reminiscent of Ultrahand from “Tears of the Kingdom.” Zelda can use Bind to magically tie herself to different objects and creatures. She can either tie its movement to hers, moving obstacles from her path or defending against enemies, or tie her movement to it, like using a moving platform to cross a pit or a bird to fly through the air. Like her Echo mechanic, Bind looks like it can be used to interact with the world in so many different kinds of inventive ways. Funnily, you can also use it to stop enemies from running towards you, or away from the minions you spawn.

Into the Unknown

One of the aspects Nintendo has so far kept relatively quiet about for “Echoes of Wisdom” are the rifts that have appeared across Hyrule. The second trailer teased Zelda’s ability to enter these at certain points, likely holding some type of alternate world that everything and everyone got sucked into. It wouldn’t be the first time the series included traversal between two different worlds or realities, or the second or even third. But what exactly we’ll find on the other side of these portals, so far, remains a mystery, whether they simply provide extra challenges with new gameplay or something far more important to the story. After all, Zelda will have to save Link from this place somehow.

And those are the ten things to know before playing “Echoes of Wisdom.” How excited are you to take Zelda on her first official solo adventure? Share your thoughts in those comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great gaming videos every day!