Summary
Despite starring a protagonist who has never filled that role in a mainlineZeldainstallment,The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomlooks more and more like a classicZeldagame with every reveal, wearing its franchise connections on its sleeve with recurring characters, themes, and resources. One such recurring character who hasn’t been seen in the franchise for two decades is now returning inEchoes of Wisdomto provide Zelda with some valuable items.
The Business Scrub is a recurring side character intheLegend of Zeldaseries, offering players important, albeit expensive, items they may need on their adventure. InEchoes of Wisdom, however, the Business Scrub runs the game’s smoothie shops in its most distinguished role in nearly 26 years.
The Business Scrub Returns in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s Business Scrub Hasn’t Been Around Since Zelda: The Minish Cap
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s Business Scrub hasn’t been seen in the series for twenty years, which means the most recentZeldainstallment it appeared in wasThe Minish Cap. Its debut was inOcarina of Time, in which it appeared in vast numbers compared to other installments. After that, it appeared inMajora’s Mask, though less in number than before, then once again inOracle of SeasonsandOracle of Ages. It’s not the most prominent character in the franchise, but thanks toOcarina of Time’s massive success and wide recognition as thebestZeldagame ever made, the Business Scrub holds a special place inThe Legend of Zelda.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s Business Scrub Runs Hyrule’s Smoothie Shops
Despite being arecurring side character inThe Legend of Zelda, the Business Scrub hasn’t always functioned the same way. On the one hand, it always plays a vendor role, offering Link various wares in exchange for rupees. However, the Business Scrub has often only been accessed by first pacifying it in battle. Beginning with itsOcarina of Timedebut, the Business Scrub would fire a Deku Nut at Link, which would then need to be deflected back at the Business Scrub. Once the Business Scrub was pacified, players could speak with the character to receive an exclusive deal on valuable merchandise.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s Business Scrub hasn’t been seen in the series for twenty years, which means the most recentZeldainstallment it appeared in wasThe Minish Cap.
This trend continued inMajora’s Mask, but changed with the release ofOracle of SeasonsandOracle of Ages, where dealings with Business Scrubs were a bit more casual compared to previous iterations. Specifically, whereasOcarina of TimeandMajora’s Maskrequired players to defeat the Business Scrub before they were allowed to purchase wares from it,Oracle of SeasonsandOracle of Agesremoved that requirement entirely, letting players interact with them as they would a normal vendor immediately upon encountering them.
WhileThe Minish Caponce again required players to pacify the Business Scrubs before interacting with them, from the look of things,Echoes of Wisdom’s version of the character seems to take things back to the days ofOracle of SeasonsandOracle of Ageswhen Business Scrubs were strictly business. It appears Business Scrubs are truly only there to sellsmoothies to Zelda inEchoes of Wisdomwithout needing to be pacified beforehand, though that’s only according to what has been revealed so far.
The change would be a welcome one anyway, since smoothie shops inEchoes of Wisdomare such a central part of its gameplay.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis certainly not short on recurring characters and themes, just like any other game in the franchise. Even so, it’s great to see the Business Scrub back in action, and this time, selling something it has never sold before that capitalizes on the success ofBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom’s cooking system.
