The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is bringing something new to the Zelda series, while still remaining true to tradition. It's the perfect middle ground between the old and the new, giving fans everything they love about the classic top-down Zelda not forgetting how far the series has come with 3D titles. While fans were unsure how Nintendo would ever return to the classic style after the dramatic changes in BOTWThis is not the first time the series has found itself in this situation.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons AND Age were the first new 2D Zelda games to come out after the genre redefined the classic Ocarina of Time made the transition to 3D. Those games handled the change gracefully: offering everything fans loved about the classic formula, while also implementing concepts and characters from Out of service AND Majora's MaskIt's clear Echoes of wisdom has a lot in common with the Oracle games, and this may not be an accident. It may finally be time for End of the World to finish what the Oracle The games began as the first entry in the Triforce trilogy Age AND Seasons were meant to be.
Oracle Games had originally planned a third title
Oracle of Ages & Seasons was originally intended to be part of the “Mystical Seed” trilogy
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages AND Oracle of the Seasons were released simultaneously for the Game Boy Color on February 27, 2001. Developed by Capcom, Oracle of the Seasons famously began development as a 1st part remake. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto originally wanted Capcom to create a Game Boy series Zelda titles based on old games. However, the development team led by director Hidemaro Fujibayashi (the same Hidemaro Fujibayashi who is currently the director of the main line) Zelda series) had other plans. Instead of a remake, Fujibayashi and the team wanted to create a completely new game.
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One reason for this was simply that the Game Boy's smaller screen made it more difficult to translate the original. Zeldathe world and dungeons of in the new format. After seeing how the game was coming along, Miyamoto agreed and suggested that the team instead create a trilogy of Zelda titles. These games would have their own storylines and gameplay elements each based on a piece of the Triforce: Wisdom, Courage, and Power.
The first game in the trilogy was originally titled Fushigi no Kinomi – Chikara no Shōwhich roughly translates to The Fruit of the Mysterious Tree – Chapter of Power. It was a game based on using a magic wand to change the environment, and would later become Oracle of the SeasonsThe other two games, Mystical Seed of Couragewhich was supposed to focus on solving time-based puzzles (such as Oracle of the Ages); AND Mystical Seed of Wisdomwhich was supposed to focus on color-based puzzles; they were never created individually. Instead, These two concepts have been combined to become Oracle of the Ages.
- Many of Oracle of the Seasons'the activities show strong similarities with those of 1st part due to its early start as 1st part remake.
The reason why Capcom never finished the “Courage” and “Wisdom” titles and instead chose to turn them into Oracle of the Ages was twofold. First, the idea of connecting all three games (as players could do with the final version of Seasons AND Age) was something that had been decided early on, but doing it with three games was far too complicated. Plus, development was already taking too long: the Game Boy Color was nearing the end of its life cycle, as the Game Boy Advance was due out in March 2001, just a month after the release of Seasons AND Age in February.
In particular, each of the original trilogies of Mystical Seed It is not for nothing that the games were given the names “Power”, “Courage” and “Wisdom”. The gameplay of each title has been designed to naturally follow the portion of the Triforce that represents. Here's why Oracle of the Seasons It is heavily focused on combat: it was created with the Triforce of Power in mind. Oracle of the AgesThe increased emphasis on dungeon exploration and puzzles is in turn a result of the combination of the titles “Courage” and “Wisdom”.
Although the development process was complicated, the end result was worth it. Oracle of the Ages AND Seasons they went to be considered by the Zelda fandom as some of the best 2D titles in the entire franchise. Condensing the ideas Miyamoto had for three games into two ultimately worked, as the puzzles and dungeons in both games are incredibly dense despite the Game Boy Color's hardware limitations. However, fans can't help but wonder what might have happened if Capcom had continued with that original Triforce of Zelda games.
Echoes of Wisdom could be the first of a Triforce of games
EOW's emphasis on “wisdom” leaves room for exploration of the other two aspects of the Triforce: courage and power.
While the original Mystical Seed of Courage AND Mystical Seed of Power the games eventually became Oracle of the Seasons AND Oracle of the Agesplayers never actually got the third, Mystical Seed of Wisdom game — so far. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom It's a game that places the same kind of emphasis on puzzles that the original did. Mystical Seed of Wisdom was intended to.
End of the World's focus on “wisdom” makes it an expansion of the original's Triforce theme Oracle series seem like extremely easy fruits to pick. The idea of continuing after End of the World with a Echoes of Power OR Echoes of courage features a lot of exciting gameplay possibilities. Just like the original Mystical Seed of Power he placed emphasis on combat, a Echoes of Power could do the same but with a unique touch for the Echoes trilogy. This is because, just like Echoes of wisdom offers players the opportunity to play as Zelda for the first time, Echoes of Power could allow players to take control of Ganon.
Like Princess Zelda, the wizard Ganondorf is known for his magical abilities. However, unlike the princess in Echoes who uses his powers primarily for puzzle-solving and platforming, Ganon's abilities could be much more oriented towards intense combat sequences. This could give Echoes of Power an almost rogue-like-style gameplay that pitted players against hordes of difficult enemies.
If Energy would choose Ganon as the main character, it's natural that Echoes of courage would put Link at the helm. This could potentially make it a little less exciting than Energy OR WisdomHowever, that doesn't mean the third of Link's trinity can't maintain the sense of openness and creativity that sets it apart. End of the World from previous 2D titles. In fact, leaning more towards the “Courage” aspect could inspire developers to make Echoes of courage a game so dark that it puts Majora's Mask to shame. The Zelda series has always had hints of horror in its previous titles, so Echoes of Courage may literally require real courage from the player to see it through to the end.
A Echoes trilogy has a lot of potential to bring out the best in all three rightful heirs to the Triforce. In a way, this makes Echoes an even better candidate for a trilogy than the Oracle series. Just using Link as always, the third Oracle game would not have strayed too far from the status quo. The precedent set by Echoes of wisdom in making the Princess the MC means that a Echoes could potentially offer players three completely unique ways to enjoy the Kingdom of Hyrule.
Oracle of Ages and Seasons remakes were expected after Link's Awakening
Remaking Oracle Games would have been a logical move after the success of LA on Switch
Even though Nintendo didn't cash in on an epic Echoes trilogy, this does not mean that they should completely discard the concept of the Triforce. After all, with Wisdom finally represented in Echoesthe other two parts of the Triforce of games, Courage AND Energywere already somehow represented in the classic Oracle games. In fact, after the release of the Link's Awakening redo in 2019, Fans strongly suspected that the next 2D games released would actually be Oracle Remake for Switch.
It made sense that future 2D Zelda remakes would be Oracle titles since the original games were made using many of the same assets as the original Game Boy version of Link's AwakeningThe new Oracle remakes that do the same would just be a way of following tradition. Remaking the Oracle titles that use the Link's Awakening Assets as a base would likely have sped up development significantly, so it seemed logical that these games would be the next to be modernized.
Echoes is the spiritual successor to the Game Boy Color classics
EOW is a nod to Zelda lore in the best possible way.
Most fans would never have imagined that Nintendo would do better and create a completely new 2D Zelda using the Link's Awakening engine, but that's exactly what happened with End of the WorldJust like the original Oracle games, the development team probably wasn't satisfied with simply remaking the old games, they wanted to do something different. While Echoes it's definitely something new, contains some notable references to the Oracle games.
Echoes of wisdom It is the only other game in the series besides Oracle of the Seasons which contains both the Zora River and Lake tribes in the same game. Not only that, but Echoes It also has its own accessory system, which bears an interesting resemblance to OracleRing system. I also like SeasonsPrincess Zelda wields a magic wand that allows her to alter her surroundings. Finally, Echoes It is the only 2D game featuring the Great Deku Tree, but the closest thing to it was the Oracle The Mako Tree of Games.
Echoes of wisdom carries on the torch of the classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color Link's Awakening AND Oracle of the Ages and SeasonsFeaturing massive dungeons, challenging puzzles and epic boss fights, End of the World draws on an aspect of Zelda tradition that players thought was gone forever after-BOTWWhile the fans didn't understand Oracle remake they expected to see after Link's Awakening, Echoes of wisdom is the closest thing. It might be even closer than it seems, especially if it can set the series up to deliver the Lost Triforce Trilogy that the Oracle games were always meant to be.