We almost had a The Legend of Zelda video game where players could create their own dungeons. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which launches later this week, lets players obtain “echoes” of items and enemies, which they can explore, fight, and solve puzzles with. A new Ask the Developer interview from Nintendo revealed that this gameplay idea came from the original concept for Echoes of Wisdom: an “edit dungeon” concept where “players could create their own The Legend of Zelda gameplay,” according to Grezzo game director Satoshi Terada.
Ultimately, the team went in a different direction after recognizing the potential of the echoes mechanic created for the “edit dungeon” concept. While I’m still quite excited to play Echoes of Wisdom, part of me is disappointed that we aren’t getting a The Legend of Zelda dungeon maker game. It’s OK that Echoes of Wisdom went in a different direction, but this is an idea Nintendo should certainly return to in the future.
The Zelda dungeon-maker game we didn’t get
It’s not uncommon for game developers to experiment with different gameplay concepts or ideas early on in development to find what works. Terada explained that in one of these early concepts, “Link could copy and paste various objects, such as doors and candlesticks, to create original dungeons.” Later in the Ask the Developer interview, Nintendo director Tomomi Sano said that this “concept involved copying various things during your adventure out on the game field, then bringing them back to create a dungeon in a dedicated place.”
While something like Super Mario Maker 2 is a level creator first and foremost, it seems like this “edit dungeon” concept for Echoes of Wisdom was mixing dungeon creation with the exploration expected from a 2D Zelda game. When The Legend of Zelda series Producer Eiji Aonuma finally went hands-on with Grezzo’s work, he liked the dungeon-creation idea but was more intrigued by being able to “place items that can be copied and pasted in the game field, and create gameplay where they can be used to fight enemies.”
In a typical Nintendo style, Aonuma extrapolated what he considered the best parts of a game concept after a year of development to create something different that feels wholly unique. That commitment to original game design and not always going for the obvious is part of what makes Nintendo great. Sadly, it can also result in disappointment when we learn what was left on the cutting room floor.
Why we need a Zelda dungeon-maker game
Right now, the closest thing we’ve gotten to it officially are the Chamber Dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening’s remake, but that’s limited in a lot of ways. On the indie front, there are games like Super Dungeon Maker or Quest Master, but those lack the level of polish a first- or second-party Nintendo game would likely have. Just look at Super Mario Maker 2 to understand how great a Zelda dungeon-maker game could be.
Super Mario Maker 2 is one of my favorite games on Nintendo Switch because of how intuitive creating levels, sharing them, and playing those made by others are. I often bounce off the level-creation systems in games like LittleBigPlanet, Dreams, and Meet Your Maker, but there’s something inherently intuitive and approachable to Super Mario Maker 2’s level creator that keeps me coming back. I’d love for a Zelda Maker game to have that same sense of approachability as I place together rooms or entire dungeons for other players to navigate. If it were like Mario maker and let players switch between the visual styles of 2D Zelda games from different eras, that would be a cherry on top.
The idea of a The Legend of Zelda dungeon-maker game has so much untapped potential, and I see a lot of demand for it based on the reaction to this reveal in the Nintendo interview. I’m glad Nintendo and Grezzo could create a new type of Zelda game with Echoes of Wisdom, but I also hope they revisit that “edit dungeon” concept one day as I think they left behind another equally fantastic idea.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom launches for Nintendo Switch on September 26.
