Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomwas initially planned to have Link as the main playable character, a senior Nintendo official has said. This revelation was offered as part of a wider overview explaining some of the intricacies of howEchoes of Wisdomwas designed.
The latest installment in Nintendo’s long-running franchise is scheduled to hit the store shelves on Thursday, September 26.Echoes of Wisdomwill make history as thefirstThe Legend of Zeldagame starring the titular princess.
Link Just Wasn’t Working Out as Echoes of Wisdom Protagonist
But this historic moment wasn’t planned from the get-go, as Nintendo originally wanted to have Link as the game’s protagonist. That’s according to the long-timeThe Legend of Zeldaproducer Eiji Aonuma, who said as much in a recent developer interview shared as part of the action adventure’s marketing campaign. What made the company change its mind was that Link just wasn’t working out as theEchoes of Wisdomprotagonist. “If you have a sword and a shield, you can just fight using those,” Aonumaexplained, adding that there was “no need to rely on the monsters' power” with this setup.
Zelda Was Found to be the Perfect Fit for Echoes of Wisdom Premise
This prompted theEchoes of Wisdomdeveloperto try introducing the Master Sword and Hylian Shield later on in the story, thus forcing the player to first learn how to use Echoes before obtaining more direct tools of confrontation. But this didn’t work either, as it merely resulted in a “typical"The Legend of Zeldagame with extra steps, Aonuma recalled. Ultimately, the developers figured out that Zelda was the perfect fit for carrying theEchoes of Wisdompremise.
If you have a sword and a shield, you can just fight using those. There’s no need to rely on the monsters' power.
This revelation wasn’t the end of Nintendo’s development dilemmas. Having Zelda as the main playable character also raised some design challenges; having her run around Hyrule in royal clothes wouldn’t make much sense, but neither would having her fitted out for adventuring in a story that’s all about her going on an unexpected journey. That’s why the developer ultimately decided to have her inherit Link’s hood, which was designed back when he was still planned to be the protagonist.
Even though Zelda is the undisputed star of the upcoming game,Echoes of Wisdomwill still have Link as a playable character, as per its recently published ESRB rating. But based on what little Nintendo has shown so far, the only thing that seems like a given is that Link will be playable at the very beginning of the nextThe Legend of Zeldaentry, until he gets trapped in a mysterious purple rift while rescuing the princess, thus setting her grand adventure in motion.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
WHERE TO PLAY
Save Hyrule—this time with the wisdom of Princess Zelda!The people of Hyrule are being stolen away by strange rifts—and with a certain swordsman among the missing, it’s up to Princess Zelda to save her kingdom in the latest adventure in The Legend of Zelda™ series!Team up with the ethereal creature Tri and use the Tri Rod to create “echoes,” which are imitations of things you find in the environment—then recreate those echoes whenever you like to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Use echoes like water blocks to reach new heights, make bridges out of old beds, throw rocks at foes, or find your own combination of echoes to do things your way. You can even make echoes of monsters to fight at your side in combat!
