Highlights
- Zelda fans finally get their wish with Princess Zelda taking the lead in Echoes of Wisdom, and she isn't coming alone, as she will be wielding the power of the Tri Rod.
- Tri's unique ability to create echoes adds a fresh twist to combat and puzzles in the game.
- Tri also continues the legacy of fairy companions in Zelda games, bringing depth to the story and making the game feel familiar to long time fans.
This week’s Nintendo Direct presentation revealed a brand-new title in the Legend of Zelda franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. The title features Princess Zelda in her first solo adventure. Link and a host of Hyrule’s inhabitants have been stolen away by mysterious rifts, leading Zelda to team up with a strange fairy, Tri, who can use the power of echoes to create imitations of things from her environment. With a retro aesthetic akin to 2019’s The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake, the title continues some of the series’ best traditions. As Zelda’s fairy companion on this quest, Echoes of Wisdom’s Tri inherits a huge legacy.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will see Princess Zelda set off to find and eliminate the origin of Hyrule's mysterious rifts. For years, The Legend of Zelda series has toyed with fans' hopes for a Zelda-led adventure. Last year’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom set the stage for a starring role for Hyrule’s Princess, locking her in another era of time and having her story play out in a series of cutscenes. With Echoes of Wisdom, the Princess is finally getting the solo outing the character deserves, and her fairy companion, Tri, is set to carve out a legacy of her own along the way.
How The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Adjusts Franchise Combat
Zelda will have the Tri Rod instead of a sword in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which drastically changes the franchise's familiar combat.
Echoes of Wisdom’s Tri Introduces a Brand-New Ability to the Zelda Franchise
Echoes of Wisdom's Zelda will utilize a new key item, the Tri Rod, to complete her adventure, allowing Tri to share her unique abilities with the Princess. Tri can create echoes - tangible imitations of items, objects, and creatures from the environment, and employ them for a variety of purposes. As seen in Echoes of Wisdom's announcement trailer, once the Tri Rod learns an echo, the pair can use it to solve puzzles, explore the map, and defeat enemies for the full duration of the adventure. In a manner reminiscent of Tears of the Kingdom's ultrahand abilities, it appears players can choose how and when to use their stored echoes to overcome the title's challenges.
During its reveal trailer, Echoes of Wisdom depicted several unique implementations of Tri's echo ability. Zelda can be seen making a stepladder out of beds, throwing echoed rocks at enemies, and even creating echoes of the enemies themselves. These echoes were then capable of fighting on behalf of Zelda and helping her to navigate rough environments. While Tri's powers are sure to inject Echoes of Wisdom with plenty of variety, it's her role as a fairy companion that adds the most weight to the character's introduction.
Echoes of Wisdom’s Tri Inherits a Huge Legacy
Tri’s appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is more than just a fun gameplay element. The character is the newest in a long line of fairy companions, inheriting an immense legacy from those who came before. The classic Legend of Zelda series featured fairies as essential and highly knowledgeable companions to Link, including Ocarina of Time’s Navi, Majora’s Mask’s Tatl, and Ciela from Phantom Hourglass. However, fairies, as a whole, play an even bigger part in the Legend of Zelda franchise. From the Seven Maidens in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures to the Great Fairies that permeate nearly every Zelda title, fairies are among the franchise’s most powerful allies and prevalent races. Tri’s introduction in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom looks to write the next chapter in that long and storied legacy.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom finally delivers the solo adventure Hyrule's princess has long deserved. With Tri and the power of echoes at her side, Zelda's first starring role is shaping up to be quite the sprawling adventure. It remains to be seen what mysteries await the pair as they explore the land of Hyrule, but, like so many heroes before them, Zelda and Tri are set to overcome every challenge they face together. Fans of The Legend of Zelda series don't have long to wait until they join the search for Link and the source of Hyrule's mysterious disappearances, as The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is set to release on September 26, 2024.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a top-down adventure that shakes things up by pushing Princess Zelda into the protagonist role. Armed with the Tri Rod that allows her to create copies, Zelda will go on an epic journey to protect Hyrule and find the missing Link.
