The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis on its way, and it’s starting to look more and more like a genuinely exciting and inventive entry in the franchise. Despite its modest graphical style and ostensibly limited scope in comparison to giants likeTears of the Kingdom,Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomjust might shine through its unique mechanical changes, breathing new creativity into a franchise that is already known for constant innovation.
The first thing most people will notice aboutEchoes of Wisdomis the absence of Linkas the main character; players will finally get to play as Zelda herself as she makes her way through Hyrule in an attempt to save it from a mysterious existential threat. But Zelda is not a mere reskin of her green-hatted counterpart, as she has her own set of unique abilities for use in both combat and puzzle-solving scenarios. She will use a magical artifact called the Tri Rod to capture, summon, and manipulate various real-world elements, including inanimate objects and living beings. Through this central mechanic, the game seems to be keyed into what makes other genres, namely the tower defense genre, so satisfying.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Leans Into Tower Defense Mechanics
Echoes and Robotic Constructs Make for Tower Defense-Like Gameplay in Echoes of Wisdom
As seen ingameplay previews ofEchoes of Wisdom, Zelda is able to use her Tri Rod abilities to call a variety of monsters to her aid, siccing them on her opponents like attack dogs. At the start of the game, summoning echoes is limited, as Zelda only has three charges to use, and different objects and monsters cost different amounts of charges. This means that combat revolves around three general strategies:
As revealed in theInto the Still World, a Journey Continuedtrailer, Zelda will also have access to certain robotic constructs, which have unique combat capabilities and don’t cost echo charges. Using these robots in tandem with monster echoes seems to give the game the feeling of a real-time strategy or tower defense game, where placement and timing of summons are key to victory. Managing in-game resources like echo charges will likely be essential for those looking to be as efficient as possible, and with the robots revealed to have their own health limits, looking after these minions will also play an important role in combat scenarios. There is stillmore to be learned about Zelda’s new abilities, but what has been revealed so far appears to tether the game to the conventions of the aforementioned strategy genres.
Quick Thinking Combined with Tower Defense Mechanics Could be What Sets Echoes of Wisdom Apart
It should go without saying thatEchoes of Wisdomis not a tower defense game, despite the parallels it seems to share with the genre. One of the most promising elements of its combat sandbox is its reactive nature: clever use of summons could allow players to kick their feet up while their monster echoes do the work for them, but most battles will probably be more mechanically layered than that.
Zelda can leverage her magical abilitiesto deal great amounts of damage, but she still needs to worry about self-preservation, keeping herself safe from harm while her minions attack. Throwing objects to aid these minions will also be paramount, as this can augment damage potential. This is to say nothing of the Swordfighter Form, and possibly other forms as well, which can serve as limited bursts of access to high-damage attacks, further deepening combat scenarios and providing a good mix of strategy and action.
