In a wild twist of events, we’re getting a new Zelda game this year after all. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom is the latest adventure where players control the titular princess as sets out to rescue Link. It hits Switch on September 16.
When the trailer began, it looked like a possible remake of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages or a direct sequel to Link’s Awakening, but it turns out Echoes of Wisdom is an entirely new game in the hit Nintendo series. Still in the chibi art style of the 2019 remake of Link’s Awakening, it looks like a puzzle-centric game where Zelda uses a magic wand to clone objects and enemies in the environment. In addition to the overworld map there are also side-scrolling areas.
Take a look:
Link appears to get engulfed by a purple chasm early in the game, with Zelda looking for clues about where to find him and bring him back to Hyrule. Pig Ganon is also back to cause trouble. I wonder if Zelda will get to duke it out with him in the final boss fight or if that will be when Link returns to the stage to deliver the final blow as he’s done in every other Zelda game over the last 30 years.
It’ll be interesting to see how long Echoes Of Wisdom is and if it ends up feeling like the mainline adventure the Hyrule princess has deserved. Fortunately, Nintendo seems to go hard on all of its Zelda games, whether they’re open-world adventures or top-down dungeon crawlers. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the 3DS is still one of the best games the company’s ever released.
Arriving in September, Echoes of Wisdom will kick-off what seems to be another low-key stacked year for the end of the Switch’s lifespan. While the reveal of the Switch 2 is expected in the months ahead, today’s Nintendo Direct showed the second half of 2024 is shaping up to be another strong one for the handheld hybrid.