The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, released in 2024, is an action-adventure game for the Nintendo Switch. It was co-developed by Nintendo and Grezzo, and published by Nintendo. This title marks the first time in a mainline Zelda game that Princess Zelda serves as the primary playable character. Her mission is to rescue Link and the kingdom of Hyrule, aided by a fairy named Tri and a magical tool called the Tri Rod.

Zelda uses the Tri Rod to create “echoes”—copies of objects and monsters she can summon freely. Each echo has a cost, and the number of triangles visible behind Tri indicates how many can be active at once. She can also use Bind to attach an object to herself, or Reverse Bind to move along with an object. Besides commanding echoes in combat, Zelda can temporarily transform into a Swordfighter form resembling Link, wielding a sword. This form drains energy and must be recharged by collecting orbs from the Still World.

Travel options include echoes, fast-travel Waypoints, walking, or horseback riding. Zelda can change outfits and equipment, and combine ingredients to make smoothies.

The story takes place in the “Downfall” timeline, after Tri Force Heroes and before the original The Legend of Zelda. Hyrule is connected to the Still World through rifts, where people, objects, and terrain are frozen in time. Dungeons contain bosses that must be defeated to progress. Characters include Gerudo, river and ocean Zoras, Gorons, Deku Scrubs, and Yetis. Dampé builds automata that work like echoes.

After Link rescues Zelda from Ganon, he falls into a rift and disappears. Similar rifts cause the king and his advisors, General Wright and Minister Lefte, to vanish. Imposters of the king and advisors frame Zelda for the rifts, imprisoning her. She escapes with Tri, who gives her the Tri Rod, and sets out to repair the rifts and free those trapped. She confronts a fake Link, rescues the real Link from Ganon, but discovers Ganon is an imposter created by Null, a primordial evil that can also create echoes. Null captures Link. After Zelda repairs the shrines of the Golden Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore, they explain that Null lived in the void before reality, consuming life to remain alone. The Goddesses created the universe to seal Null, who resents them. Null tries to break the seal by creating rifts, and the Goddesses send the Tris to fix them.