The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis a brand-new direction for the franchise, boldly asking the iconic sword-wielding hero Link to step aside and make way for the titular princess herself as the new main playable character.Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s ESRB rating summaryhas confirmed that Link won’t be entirely out of the picture, but Zelda is still likely to be the one players control the most. As Link, players will, of course, be using a sword. However, as Zelda, they will be using the new Tri Rod, which seems to take afterZelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Ultrahand ability in its mechanics.
Wielding the Tri Rod, players will be able to create echoes (or copies) of different items and enemies. When playing as Zelda, rather than using a sword to defeat enemies, players will use the Tri Rod to create copies of enemies that will fight for them. While this is certainly a unique approach to combat for the series, it does come with a bit of a speed bump it will need to get over in order to keep players involved for an extended period. Specifically,The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomwill need as much enemy variety asZelda: Breath of the WildandZelda: Tears of the Kingdomhave in their weapon variety.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Needs Plenty of Enemy Variety to Match Previous Installments
Zelda: BotW and Zelda: TotK Specialized in Weapon Variety
InThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildand its sequel, players were given access to the biggest arsenal Link has ever had in the series, and this was largely backed up by its unforgiving durability system, which forced players to collect and use as many weapons as they could find. Then,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomupped the ante with its Fuse abilityby allowing players to essentially create their own weapons by adding different items they collected on their travels. This ultimately allowed players to approach combat in a unique and creative way, rather than relying on Link’s standard arsenal to get the job done.
Not everyone has been able to get behind the new weapon and durability system introduced inZelda: BotW, but it has nonetheless set a standard for the series. IfZelda: Echoes of Wisdomis proof of anything, it’s that the franchise will have a difficult time going back to its roots, simply because that could mean letting go of the creativity that this new era ofZeldahas spoiled its players with. The only obstacleZelda: Echoes of Wisdomreally has to overcome now is that it will need to match the freedom players have inZelda: BotWandZelda: TotK’s combatand it can do that with enough enemy types to keep battles feeling fresh and exciting.
Diverse Enemy Types Are the Key to the Tri Rod’s Reception in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Since Zelda won’t be using a sword inZelda: Echoes of Wisdomand will instead be summoning echoes of the enemies she captures using theTri Rod, those enemies will need to be diverse enough (melee, ranged, flying, elemental, magic, small, large, etc.) to prevent combat from feeling too monotonous. Only a handful of “echoable” enemies have been revealed forZelda: Echoes of Wisdomso far, which is a bit concerning. That being said, Nintendo likes to keep its cards close to its chest, so there is likely much more hidden behind the scenes.
Ensuring there are plenty of differentenemy types inZelda: Echoes of Wisdomwill make seeking out new monsters to create echoes of them all the more exciting. Zelda might not be doing most of the damage herself, but more enemy types might even turnZelda: Echoes of Wisdominto a type ofPokemongame. Chances are that Nintendo has considered this, but that much may not be revealed until the game releases in September.
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!
