Earlier this week, Nintendo released a new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which is set to release next month.
The game stars the titular princess in the lead role for the first time and includes a new Echo mechanic, where Zelda can essentially copy and paste elements of the world to explore and solve puzzles.
The new trailer focused on a tour of Hyrule, showing off its different regions and the new Bind power that allows Zelda to attach to (and move around with) objects and enemies.
But there are a few more details in the trailer that you might have missed. Check out the new trailer below first.
Horse riding
Okay, it’s not exactly a big deal that Echoes of Wisdom will include horseback riding. But it’s important, partly because it’s usually associated with the more expansive 3D Zelda games (though it was included in Four Swords Adventures ). Zelda will be able to summon a horse once she (rightfully) learns the Echo for a carrot, but in the trailer we see both a brown horse and a white horse, suggesting that there’s no fixed equivalent of Epona but several horses available. The horses can run and jump across the world, and she appears to arrive at what could be the Lon Lon Ranch. The inclusion of horses, ultimately, hints at the size of this world, which feels bigger than any top-down Zelda before it.
Names of regions
When Echoes of Wisdom was first revealed earlier this year, fans assumed the map would resemble the one from A Link to the Past. But now we have confirmed region names, which are taken from more recent Zelda games. There’s the Gerudo Desert, for example, which makes the princess sweat, and the Gerudo tribeswomen look like chibi versions of their Breath of the Wild counterparts. The Faron Swamps (Twilight Princess, Breath of the Wild) are where we meet the Deku, while the game’s mountainous region is called Eldin Volcano – which echoes Skyward Sword as Death Mountain is usually the iconic volcano. Finally, the Zoras reside in the waters of Jabul, which is perhaps a reference to the giant fish Jabu Jabu from Ocarina of Time.
Aquatic regions
Speaking of water, we’ve already seen that the game will feature both the Sea and River Zoras, who seem to be at odds with each other. Jabul Waters features pillars with the design of Ocarina of Time’s water medallion, while the River Zora village curiously includes musical instruments like a lute, maracas, and a horn. Could this be a reference to Majora’s Mask’s band, The Indigo-Go?
Links to Breath of the Wild
Echoes of Wisdom looks to combine the adorable top-down visuals of the Link’s Awakening remake with the creativity and experimental vibe of more recent Zelda games. Bind, in particular, looks analogous to Tears of the Kingdom’s Ultrahand. Specifically, the UI and text font are the same, and this new trailer gives a glimpse of Zelda’s adventure journal. This is where players will prioritize quests, split between side quests and main quests. Interestingly, Zelda features multiple main quests, suggesting a more open-ended, player-driven structure more akin to the Zelda games on Switch.
Japanese artwork
Aside from the trailer, Nintendo has released some official artwork for Echoes of Wisdom. However, the Japanese version (as seen on the game’s Japanese website) is slightly more of a departure and includes a few more details. The top left corner features a small man on a paraglider – could he be a new mailman perhaps? There’s also a snake enemy in the bottom right, as well as what looks like a wanted poster for Zelda. The previous trailer showed Zelda meeting her new companion Tri in a prison cell before setting off on her adventure in a mask, so it seems like she might spend part of her adventure on the run.
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Other items
Some other small details from the trailer include a small cat and a parrot with a hat in Gerudo Town; a Goron leader named Darston, following the series’ usual naming convention (Darunia and Daruk, for example); and a map screen divided into sections, though it’s unclear whether map pieces will be acquired or simply revealed through exploration.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is set to release on September 26th, and is shaping up to be a particularly unique entry in Nintendo’s long-running series.
