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Echoes of Wisdom: Legend of Zelda developers talk game themes, timeline, favorites

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Echoes of Wisdom: Legend of Zelda developers talk game themes, timeline, favorites

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The newest chapter in one of Nintendo’s longest-running franchises started with a remake.

The game giant’s announcement in June for Echoes of Wisdom, the latest in the Legend of Zelda series and the first to allow players to control the titular princess, may have surprised fans, but the game had been in the works for quite some time, the developers said.

After video game developer Grezzo completed the 2019 Link’s Awakening remake for Nintendo Switch, the team began brainstorming on a new game. The project would be directed by Tomomi Sano, The Legend of Zelda’s first female director.

“We wanted players to be able to come up with their own ways to solve the puzzles and to find their own solutions for things,” Sano told USA TODAY through a translator. “It’s way more than we even imagined that they would do, and we find it really interesting, and we’re just happy to see all these surprises.”

More: Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom: What to know about new Nintendo Switch game

Zelda as the protagonist

Zelda originally was not the protagonist of Echoes of Wisdom, the developers revealed in Nintendo’s Ask the Developer series, so what motivated the change?

It started with the echoes system — where Zelda can use her Tri rod to create copies of objects and monsters — being the core of the gameplay, Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said. Aonuma is also a senior officer for entertainment planning & development at Nintendo. Link, with his sword and shield, didn’t really make sense as a character who would be motivated to use the echoes, he said.

Fans have requested a Zelda-led game for a long time, too.

“For me, that’s always been a theme that I’ve had in mind, and I’ve been looking for opportunities where it makes sense to have Zelda be the protagonist,” said Aonuma through a translator. “I hadn’t really come across that until we got to this game with the ecosystem and it was just a really great match for Princess Zelda and that’s why Princess Zelda is the protagonist.”

Zelda is the priestess of wisdom, and the game’s challenges require more logic than battle, but the way the princess and her lore lines up with the game’s themes wasn’t exactly planned, Aonuma said.

“I guess you could say it does take a little bit more of the wisdom side of things to solve puzzles in that way than maybe the straightforward approach that Link would use with a sword and shield,” Aonuma said. It may seem as if “it was always meant to be this way, but it really wasn’t something that we were striving for. It’s how it came together.”

Humanity a key theme in Echoes of Wisdom

Echoes are the main game mechanic, but humanity and relationships are the heart of Echoes of Wisdom.

Zelda and Tri, Zelda’s fairylike sidekick in the game, meet a variety people in the game, “and you can kind of experience an aspect of humanity through them and through Tri experiencing different emotions,” Aonuma said. “Through that journey, they end up understanding and being able to share emotions with Zelda. I think it’s all of those different individual episodes that happen in the game that demonstrate a connection with people.”

As a theme, Sano said, “we weren’t really focusing so much on kindness between characters, but we really wanted to focus on Tri visiting these different regions and experiencing these different stories and learning what it means to be human through these different experiences.”

Developers’ favorites from the game

There are more than 100 objects or monsters players can create echoes of in the game, but the bed echo, which can be obtained early in the game and is helpful in building bridges over gaps, navigating difficult areas and even restore health, is a standout.

“(The bed) has been in there since the start of the development period,” said Grezzo director Satoshi Terada through a translator. ” It’s really popular amongst the development team as well because you can use it as a platform and then you can also use it to sleep in it and recover hearts. It impressed me how people will use the bed to sleep in all these interesting places.”

Terada’s favorite echo is the Moa, a floating monster that fires beams, he said, because “it will stay close to you and float by you and protect you. When I have that by me and kind of watching over me, I can feel a sense of ease that yes, I can go into this place and I’ll be protected.”

Sano’s preferred echo is the Ignizol, she said. “They’re just super cute with the little fire on their heads. I also ended up lighting too many things on a fire and burning myself, but I also thought that was really fun.”

Echoes also offers a lot to do outside of the main storyline.

“After you clear the main quest for each region, the chiefs or the leaders of each region will give you a special side quest, and they’re different episodes where you can learn more about those characters,” Sano said. “I think they’re so charming and I really enjoy them.”

Terada’s favorite character is the Stamp Guy, a stamp enthusiast who set up stations across Hyrule, where you can get stamps to earn prizes from him. “We wanted to put in a character who’s overflowing with unique personality,” he said. “Stamp Guy is this very positive but a little bit weird sort of character, but you really get that energy when you talk to him, he energizes you. So, he’s a character I really enjoy.”

And there’s Lueberry, who players meet early in the game.

“Lueburry knows Link very well, and Link can’t speak,” Aonuma said. “In a way, Lueburry speaks on behalf of Link or shares information on behalf of Link. There’s something that hits me about that, in a way. Recently, people have been saying I’m like Lueburry, so maybe I’ll just live as Lueburry now.”

More: The best Legend of Zelda games, including Echoes of Wisdom, ranked

Answers on chronology and Link

The developers confirmed Link does lose his voice when he fell into the rift in Echoes.

“Yes, that’s true,” Aonuma said when asked about the connection.

But there’s no firm answer on where Echoes of Wisdom falls in the Legend of Zelda series chronologically. The developers also remained tight-lipped on what comes next for the series.

“The question about timeline has popped up a lot recently,” Aonuma said. “Rather than giving a very distinct answer on where this is supposed to fall in the timeline, I think it’s much more interesting for fans to look at the game and debate amongst themselves and try to come up with their own answer just like it’s a puzzle you’d see in the game.”

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