Highlights

  • In The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, players can control Zelda for the first time, using her Tri Rod weapon for combat.
  • Zelda can create echoes of monsters and items to aid her in battle, adding a new layer of strategy to the series' gameplay.
  • The game challenges conventions by shifting focus from Link to Zelda, offering a fresh perspective on combat and exploration in Hyrule through her unique play style.

For almost four decades, The Legend of Zelda has established and remained faithful to a solid formula, even in spite of massive transformations like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its successor, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The series has always kept the beloved hero Link at the forefront in some capacity, despite the series being named after Zelda, the princess that Link either rescues or fights alongside. Now, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is defying conventions by allowing players to control Zelda herself, with a twist on gameplay and combat never-before-seen in the Legend of Zelda franchise.

In The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Link has vanished, leaving Zelda in charge of saving Hyrule from disaster. While fans have become familiar with Link's classic sword-based combat, along with his wide variety of tools, combat has undoubtedly changed in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom with Zelda as the playable protagonist. The series has proven over time that Zelda is no stranger to combat, but it is nonetheless different in this next installment. Specifically, she will be using her newfound Tri Rod and the "echoes" that it can create as her primary weapon and tool in battle.

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How The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom's Tri Rod Changes the Series' Combat

Zelda Can Use the Tri Rod to Create Echoes of Monsters That Will Fight Alongside Her

One of the most significant ways The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is adjusting The Legend of Zelda's combat is by giving Zelda the ability to create echoes of monsters to fight alongside her. Whereas Link typically engages in direct combat with his enemies, Zelda will be able to utilize the ability of other monsters to keep her enemies at bay by summoning them during a fight. Zelda can also place bait to attract other enemies to a specific location where she can then summon her own monster to ambush them.

Zelda's Tri Rod Can Create Echoes of Items That Can Be Used Against Her Enemies

The Legend of Zelda series has not shied away from putting a sword in Zelda's hands in various installments, but it appears Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom may neglect doing so. In Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Zelda has largely no need for a sword thanks to her newfound Tri Rod and the endless number of echoes it can create, including monsters. Even so, Zelda doesn't necessarily need to rely entirely on the monsters she summons to defeat her foes in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, as she can also summon items that she can then use to deal damage to the enemies she encounters.

For example, Zelda can create an echo of a rock in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom that she can pick up and throw at her enemies to damage them. This will come in handy for those moments when players have no monster echoes available, which will most likely be early on in the game. This will also give Zelda an edge in her fights, as she will be able to deal damage to foes while any monsters she summons are dealing their own. Link has long been able to pick up items and throw them, but it's likely this ability will be even more useful in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom than it ever has.

Zelda may not be engaging her enemies in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom as directly as Link has in the past, but it appears that shouldn't stop her from overcoming her foes and making her way through Hyrule. It will be interesting to see what monsters and items Zelda can create using the Tri Rod in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, as well as how it all comes together to make its combat feel fresh and original.