Echoes of Wisdom announcement thread - Zelda Universe Forums (2024)

I knew Zelda would get a 3rd set of abilities to go with the echoes and the drag ability whose name I've forgotten. I'm looking forward to seeing how all the different abilities work together when you're actually playing.

Also good call from the people who predicted the enemy (likely a boss fight) at the end of that video! I'm both looking forward to and dreading that battle.

Quote from almax000

More OoT elements, this game feels like OoX.

I noticed that Nintendo tried hiding the Hebra/Death Mountain area through all these videos, screenshots, footage, and other promotional stuff.

Does it mean nothing fancy enough to show or some big surprise?

It could just mean it's the last one they're working on and isn't ready to be shown in detail yet. They probably want to avoid putting anything in the trailers that won't definitely be in the final game, especially placeholder art and temporary animations, because the best case scenario is disappointing some people when it's not in the game. Worse, and more likely, is putting people off because it won't look as good as the final version.

Quote from Reign

I'mr eally loving every new look at this game. Swordfighter Form seems like a good compromise for people who wanted Zelda to have a sword (I personally prefer she have her own gameplay to differentiate her from Link), and I like that they're going with classic dungeons, I was worried the rifts would essentially be shrines. I also think it's funny how Dampé has recently become a recurring character so long after his original introduction.

I agree that sword form is a good compromise. In RPGs I really like playing characters with interesting magical abilities, but I also like having the option to just hit things because sometimes an enemy or object isn't worth the trouble of using a spell.

In TotK I often had the problem that I knew I could build a cool contraption to defeat enemies, but I also knew it would be quicker and easier to just stab them, so I usually picked that option. Limiting how often and how long you can do it is a good compromise so the option is there but I assume it will usually be better to use your other abilities.

Also I noticed the sword form meter also said 'Lvl 1' so presumably there will be a way to level it up and either have it last longer or get new abilities. Or both.

See Also

The Darkest Zelda Game Isn’t Majora’s Mask or Twilight Princess

Quote from Mirren

Quote from darkbeastganon

I can't put my finger into what, but the Still World feels familiar somehow

Distortion World from Pokemon Platinum?

I was actually thinking the Void from Dishonored, a game I may have brought up once or twice.

Quote from darkbeastganon

I can't put my finger into what, but the Still World feels familiar somehow

Distortion world from Pokemon

It's not really a spoiler because it's plainly obvious if you look at the new key art.

But Lynels are back.

Quote from Mirren

It's not really a spoiler because it's plainly obvious if you look at the new key art.

But Lynels are back.

I noticed that. Apparently getting used to fighting lynels in BotW and TotK hasn't stopped me dreading fighting them in a top-down game.

Quote from Reign

I like how instead of Link having a magic bar, Zelda has a "sword bar". It's a cute inversion.

What if each level adds more strength and more abilities to the sword? A what if we also get archer mode? Hammer mode? Spells?

Quote from Danikat

It could just mean it's the last one they're working on and isn't ready to be shown in detail yet. They probably want to avoid putting anything in the trailers that won't definitely be in the final game, especially placeholder art and temporary animations, because the best case scenario is disappointing some people when it's not in the game. Worse, and more likely, is putting people off because it won't look as good as the final version.

I’m sure by now the full game is done and the game is being manufactured and they’ll soon be distributed.

Personally I think Hebra/death mountain is going to have a huge twist (maybe the appearance of the Ritos) and they’re going to save it for the last big reveal. We also have only seen The Great Deku Tree, and none of the lost woods, so I think there might be a surprise there as well.

I think it’s smart to not show off every single location/surprise in these early trailers, and I’m honestly shocked at how much they’ve already shown off.

The title card for the Suthorn Ruins dungeon uses LBW Hylian to spell out the same name, the same script also used by Hylians in BoW and ToK. This script was originally a variation of SS Hylian -- a few letters redesigned or reassigned to look more like English at a glance. So a timeline placement for EoW around LBW or the Wild Era both have another little boost.

WW Hylian still has the record for most game appearances, it being a revision of OoT Hylian.

Everyone is suspicious of the dots and dashes all over the map in this game, wondering if it, too, is a language. Hope we can figure it out quicker than Zonai, which seems to just be a mess of indecipherable squiggles.

I've never actually beaten a 2D Zelda

I hope this is the first. It looks promising so I just preordered

I’m really curious about how open this game is.

In some clips Zelda has 5 hearts, no sword mode, and Tri has 4 triangles. Sometimes Tri has 4 triangles, Zelda has 3 hearts, and there is no sword mode.

In this latest trailer, when she picks up the sword Tri still only has 3 triangles. I’m wondering if this has all been trailer magic, as to not give things away prematurely, or if it’s open enough that you can get 2 extra hearts and a triangle before getting the sword feature

I'm not sure how much of the snowy mountain will be actually part of the game. When I checked very closely the first images, I noted that the mountain, the volcano and the forest are actually a sort of background images and the game world seems to end before them. Of course that doesn't exclude them completely from being playable, as we've seen for the volcano (which has a part in the gaming worldmap).

Quote from Niko94

Hebra/death mountain is going to have a huge twist (maybe the appearance of the Ritos)

If there is going to be Rito, they must be located south to Eldin Volcano and have the classic WW appearance. They MUST! I demand it!

A few observations that I'm most intrigued by -

• Zelda grabs a Bottle at 4:55 of the trailer. This is something I've been wondering about since the last presentation, where they revealed the Smoothie items. I had been curious if each Smoothie was simply its own item, ala the Elixirs from the Era of the Wilds games, and thus be unlimited, or if they would be bottled drinks like potions in classic Zelda games. This suggests to me that Smoothies and the potion mixtures we've seen in shops will be limited to the number of Bottles you possess, which I welcome because the cooking feature of the Era of the Wilds games felt a little overpowered.
• Volvagia has a very prominent green orb dangling from her throat, which is part of a necklace. My initial guess is that's her weak point for us to strike to do damage to her, but then that only raises the questions for me as to why is she wearing that necklace in the first place, and why would an inorganic object be her weak point? Perhaps the necklace has revived her and it's the only thing keeping her alive, or it's an object that's corrupting her, and we'll actually free her from its influence.
• At 4:37 we see Zelda fighting off a group of dark matter enemies alongside another NPC in what I believe is Castle Town after a rift to the Still World has emerged there. We've already seen spots on the map that are enemy encampments, like what we saw in the Era of the Wilds games. This could be something similar, but my personal hope is that it's part of a setpiece battle to reclaim the town. After the regional quests in Tears of the Kingdom, particularly the defense of Gerudo Town from the Gibdo, I hope to see more scripted, elaborate battle sequences in Zelda games.
• At the very end of the trailer we see a seemingly possessed or ethereal version of Link about to attack Zelda. I agree with Reign 's take that this is where we acquire the Mysterious Sword upon defeating that Link. It makes me think that leveling up our Sword Form will come by defeating more of these Links. I think it would also be really fun if these evil copies of Link relentlessly pursue us across Hyrule or in dungeons, similar to Mr. X or Nemesis of Resident Evil games.
• All of the trailers for the games have shown off a lot of sidescrolling moments, between rooms in dungeons, and now spots in the Still World. This might be a crazy prediction, but I'm calling it now that this is Nintendo experimenting with how well 2D sidescrolling gameplay fits Zelda. I would not be surprised if they're including so many of these sequences as a test run for a fully 2D, sidescrolling Zelda game in the future.

Quote from Mirren

Volvagia has a very prominent green orb dangling from her throat

Volvagia is male though. At least the OoT one was.

Quote from MagicalEnbySarah

Seems like attack has been permanently switched to Y and B is jump. Zelda jumps off a tree but falls off a cliff and leaps out of water to grab a fairy.

Oh really? I thought we still had to jump automatically.

Quote from Mirren

All of the trailers for the games have shown off a lot of sidescrolling moments, between rooms in dungeons, and now spots in the Still World. This might be a crazy prediction, but I'm calling it now that this is Nintendo experimenting with how well 2D sidescrolling gameplay fits Zelda. I would not be surprised if they're including so many of these sequences as a test run for a fully 2D, sidescrolling Zelda game in the future.

I agree with most of your observations but I think this is just a holdover from it using the LA Switch engine, since LA has a lot of sidescrolling sequences too.

It looks cool, but why must all the trailers have that generic and annoying voice-over in it? Just let the damn game speak for itself and allow people to speculate about what they see in the trailer. I rather read through a text-wall than hearing the "in your face"-voice which you typically see in Indie World-Directs.

However, I don't know what to feel about limited use of different classes. I think there is potential that it will just get frustrating at times with a constant time-limit. At the same time I understand why it is there, basically for the same reason weapons break in BotW and TotK; because most players would probably just play as the sword fighter class if it was unlimited. But even so, why does that have to be a problem? Let people play the game how they want. Isn't Zelda all about freedom nowadays, why these limitations?