Summary
For almost four decades,The Legend of Zeldahas established and remained faithful to a solid formula, even in spite of massive transformations likeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildand its successor,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The series has always keptthe beloved hero Linkat 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 Wisdomis defying conventions by allowing players to control Zelda herself, with a twist on gameplay and combat never-before-seen in theLegend of Zeldafranchise.
InThe 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 inThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomwith 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.
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 waysThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis adjustingThe Legend of Zelda’s combatis 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
TheLegend of Zeldaserieshas not shied away from putting a sword in Zelda’s hands in various installments, but it appearsZelda: Echoes of Wisdommay neglect doing so. InZelda: 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 inZelda: 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 inZelda: Echoes of Wisdomthat 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 inZelda: Echoes of Wisdomthan it ever has.
Zelda may not be engaging her enemies inZelda: Echoes of Wisdomas 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 inZelda: Echoes of Wisdom, as well as how it all comes together to make its combat feel fresh and original.
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!
