In last month’s Nintendo Direct, we learned that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom would finally put the titular character in the spotlight nearly forty years after the franchise’s first installment. However, as revealed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), Link will be playable, too.
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.
It is presently unclear whether both characters will be switchable at will or not. New information will likely be shared by Nintendo soon, considering that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is slated to launch in just over two months, on September 26. Here’s an official overview of the upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive:
Across the vast lands of Hyrule, strange rifts have appeared and have taken many people, including Link. Now alone, Zelda meets the fairy Tri, receives a mysterious staff called the Tri Rod, and sets off on a journey across Hyrule to save her kingdom. By waving the Tri Rod at a table she found, Zelda learned how to create an imitation of it called an Echo. Once you learn an Echo of something, you can recreate it whenever you’d like. Even if there’s a wall blocking your path you can create Echoes of tables to get a leg up. You can create wooden boxes of old beds and unusual things like water blocks. How you use them separately or together is entirely up to you.
As a reminder, there’s a live action The Legend of Zelda movie in production at Sony Pictures Entertainment. It will be directed by Wes Ball (known for directing the Maze Runner trilogy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), while the screenplay will be handled by Derek Connolly, who worked on the Jurassic World trilogy, Kong: Skull Island, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.
