Zelda Echoes of Wisdom isn’t far away releasing on 26th September 2024. We’ve had 3 trailers now for the game, plus some lucky Zelda fans have already got their hands on the game. There are plenty of reasons to be excited for the game, and today I am going to highlight 10 reasons to be excited for Zelda Echoes of Wisdom.

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Without further delay let’s dive into the details.

Dungeons

In the most recent trailer for Echoes of Wisdom we got confirmation of Dungeons, plus we have bosses too. It looks like standard items in Dungeons won’t be there, instead unqiue things and enemies will be there for Zelda to bank in her library of Echoes. One of the criticisms of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were the Dungeons, and this looks like it’s a return to form when it comes to Dungeon crawling.

In the latest trailer we see Zelda exploring a Dungeon called Suthorn Ruins, plus we even got to see a Boss key-looking item. Unique Dungeon bosses return too. We see a big rock boss in the latest trailer, with a glowing orb and it looks like it’s exposing after pounding the ground. This looks like a return to form on a few levels and I can’t wait to explore and get lost in the Dungeons here.

The Still World

In previous games we’ve had Dark Worlds, or other lands to explore. In Echoes of Wisdom we ahve The Still World. This is a version of Hyrule where inhabitants get sucked in and then they are ‘stilled’ – floating silently and motionless, and seemingly if they stay in there for long enough they will dissappear forever. Discovering the Dark world in A Link To The Past, or discovering the Depths in Tears of the Kingdom go down as all time gaming memories for me. Exploring The Still World here in Echoes of Wisdom is going to be a blast, and I’m looking forward to getting in there and checking it out.

Lynels

Lynels have been around since the original Legend of Zelda, however, they made a name for themselves in Breath of the Wild as some of the most fearsome enemies in gaming. While we haven’t seen them in-game yet, we have seen them in the promotional artwork for Echoes of Wisdom. We don’t know if they are roaming Hyrule, or if they are confined to The Still World. I hope they are roaming around the world, much like we saw in Breath of the Wild. It’s certainly going to be challenging fighting one of these beastly enemies, especially given Zelda is going to have to use Echoes. That poses the question, are we going to be able to capture a Lynel and create an Echo of it? That’s an exciting prospect.

Zelda’s abilities

Given this is Zelda’s first game where she’s in a starring role, she had to have unique abilities. Nintendo teased these over time, first showing us her echo abilities, then bind, then the swordfighter form. I like the fact Nintendo is leaning into Zelda’s magical abilities and she’s unique when compared to Link. I’m 50/50 on swordfighter form, on one hand it’s more of an active role in combat, whereas Echoes look a little passive when it comes to fighting enemies. However, Swordfighter Form looks like it’s restricted, with many people reporting after playing the demo at PAX that it only lasts for 15secs or so, plus you have to get resources to ‘power up’ Swordfighter form. However it pans out, I am looking forward to using Zelda’s abilities and I think this is going to be a really unique gameplay experience when it comes to a Zelda game.

Sidequests

We’ve got a rough idea of the main story in Echoes of Wisdom. Rifts have started appearing all over Hyrule, the King is gone, Link is gone too. Zelda gets put in prison, she has to escape and save Link, and also the people of Hyrule. But there are sidequests too, and this is where it’s going to get interesting.

In Link’s Awakening we had the long item trading side quest which threaded throughout the game, but Echoes of Wisdom looks like it’s going to be much more sophisticated when it comes to the sidequests. So much so Nintendo have implemented a Breath of the Wild style sidequest log in the UI. For those who want to go through the main story quickly that option is going to be there, but I am looking forward to getting stuck into the sidequests and adventures throughout Hyrule and The Still World, learning more about the NPCs as we go.

Horses

We haven’t had horses in a 2D Zelda before. We had Epona in Ocarina of Time, then in Breath of the Wild we could catch and tame wild horses. This time it looks like we need carrots to temp horses to Zelda, then we can ride them. This looks much better than the pegasus boots, which are used for a similar purpose in other 2D Zelda games. I’m looking forward to all the different types of horses we can find in Echoes of Wisdom.

Dark Link

There’s something wrong with Link, as he appears to be attacking us in the third trailer for the game. He appears to be glowing purple, and has some kind of darkness surrounding him. It could be this is not link, and perhaps it’s an echo of Link, or some kind of imposter Link. We see Link at the start of the first trailer, he looks normal here, he’s fighting Ganon, then he gets trapped in a rift and dissappears into The Still World.

We’ve heard from people who played the demo that Link is the boss in the first Dungeon, and you have to rip his shield from his hands to damage him, then you defeat him for acces to the Sword Fighter form ability. I’m really interested to see what’s happened to Link, where did he go when he got trapped in the Still World, and what is the mysterious entity that is causing the Rifts.

Zelda, Link and Ganon

All three main characters are here, which often means The Triforce isn’t too far behind. We’ve seen Link fighting Ganon in the intro sequence, which could be the start of the game. Zelda is also trapped in a crystal, but she breaks out and then goes on to don Link’s cloak and escape. I’m interested to see what role Ganon is going to play in the game. In the first trailer it looked like Link defeated Ganon, as he ofte does. It’s not clear if Ganon has a role to play in the rifts appearing across Hyrule. Did the Rifts appear when Ganon was defeated, is he causing all of this or is it someone or something else? We haven’t had a new big bad in a Zelda game for a long time, and this could be the perfect time to introduce a new big bad.

Dragons

Towards the end of the latest trailer we see a Dragon floating around. Dragon’s have been front and centre in Zelda games over the last 7 years, with them being the focus of the story in Tears of the Kingdom, but also playing a big role in Breath of the Wild. What role are they going to play here? Is this a friendly Dragon or an enemy? Given Zelda is surrounded by lava, I would assume this is an enemy dragon. I don’t know, but I am excited to find out.

Blend of 2D and 3D

Echoes of Wisdom looks like it’s taking the best of 2D and 3D Zelda games and blending them together. We have some of the best elements of 2D Zelda games like Dungeons, combined with the freedom and creativity from the recent 3D games. Nintendo would present us puzzles in 2D Zelda games before, but there was often a predetermined solution. Here in Echoes of Wisdom, I think there’s going to be multiple ways to solve puzzles. We’re going to be able complete tasks, sidequests and beat bosses in multiple ways, and that’s going to be one of the features that makes this stand out.

It seemed like the future of Zelda games was in the 3D open world, however, I can see Nintendo making more of these hybrid types of games. It’s also great to see Nintendo constantly reinventing the formula. We don’t know if it’s going to be successful yet, but if I was a betting man I would bet that this is going to be a massive hit, and that’s great news for Zelda fans. Nintendo must have heard the conflicting feedback to Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, and this gives them options when it comes to exploring the next Zelda title.

Let me know in the comments what you think.