The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

About

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is an upcoming videogame for the Nintendo Switch that releases on September 26th, 2024. The game is in a similar artstyle to the 2019 remake of Link's Awakening, and is unique compared to previous Legend of Zelda titles in that the main protagonist is Zelda herself. Previously the only Zelda titles that actually starred Princess Zelda as the main character were Zelda: Wand of Gamelon, and Zelda's Adventure for the Philips CD-i system.

History

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was first announced during the June 18th, 2024 Nintendo Direct (shown below).^[1] The announcement trailer shows Link fighting Ganon in an attempt to rescue Princess Zelda, who is trapped inside a crystal. He succeeds in defeating Ganon and freeing Zelda, but in the process sinks into a rift that appeared beneath him. Zelda later receives an item, called the Tri Rod, that enables her to make and store copies of various items, such as tables and boxes.

The Direct featured a brief explanation of some key mechanics. Thanks to her Tri Rod, Zelda will be able to summon Echoes, which are copies of items and enemy monsters, in order to fight enemies and to overcome traversal puzzles.

Online Presence

The trailer immediately sparked humorous fan art and memes centered around Echoes of Wisdom, many of them enthusiastically talking about Zelda taking the protagonist role, a long-awaited setting that had not occured since the infamous CD-I games, three decades ago. On June 18th, 2024, Twitter user @cheppoly^[2] posted artwork of Zelda building a table and saying "I'm coming baby girl" while Link's being kidnapped, gaining over 41,000 retweets and 214,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). The same day, user @rariatoo^[3] posted a fanart of the Zeldas from both the Echoes Of Wisdom and Wand Of Gamelon universes, gaining over 5,400 retweets and 29,000 likes in the same time frame (shown below, right).

Many others made memes inspired by the showcased gameplay, especially the use of Echoes in battle. For example, on June 18th, user @furancho^[4] created a redraw of the meme I'm a Healer, But, gaining over 18,000 retweets and 109,000 likes, also in two days (shown below, left). The same day, user @_yapsharlene^[5] posted artwork of Zelda throwing a rock at an enemy, gaining over 13,000 retweets and 82,000 likes in the same time frame (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References