Arriving in what may be the Nintendo Switch’s final year,The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdommanaged to feel like one more mainline title while looking like a spin-off. Rendered in the same chibi art style as theLink’s Awakeningremake,Echoes of Wisdomhas already sold over 2.58 million copies in its launch week alone, owing largely to the many novel things it does to the traditionalLegend of Zeldaformat. The game implements open-ended mechanics and world design that would feel right at home inBreath of the WildorTears of the Kingdom, and that’s just the start.
Not only doesEchoes of Wisdommatch the ambition and ingenuity of a majorLegend of Zeldatitle, it also goes where even they have yet to tread. For thefirst time since the infamous CD-iZeldatitles, Princess Zelda is the sole protagonist, while the usual hero, Link, is indisposed. This has been a fan request since beforeBreath of the Wildwas released near the Switch’s launch, so it was vital for Nintendo to do her justice. With the free-form Echo system encouraging the Triforce of Wisdom bearer to use her virtue, it did a great job, butEchoes of Wisdomnearly got sidetracked by another series first.
Echoes of Wisdom Couldn’t Make One Big Change From The Norm
Ever since the original FamicomLegend of Zeldatitle in 1986, no dialogue boxes have been attributed to Link. In the interest of allowing players to fully immerse themselves as the savior of Hyrule, it became a tradition for Link to be a silent blank slate that players could fully project themselves onto. Link could still communicate with other characters through gestures and voice grunts, and adaptations like theoldLegend of Zeldacartoonor the various manga iterations saw Link talking, but game players never heard any more than the implication of speech.
At Some Point, Echoes of Wisdom Let Link Speak
Now that Princess Zelda is in the driving seat, this tradition has passed on to her, but it turns out that it was nearly a full role reversal early inEchoes of Wisdom’s development. In arecent interview with Famitsu, Director Satoshi Terada and Producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that there were early considerations for giving Link a voice, and even lines written for Link to say. This unheard dialogue may go down as some of thewildest cut content inThe Legend of Zelda’s history, and rolling it back was ultimately forEchoes of Wisdom’s benefit.
Echoes of Wisdom Keeping Link Quiet Is A Good Thing
If imagining Link speaking in aZeldagame feels hard, one can rest assured that the developers felt the same while looking at him do it. Aonuma and Terada both noted that Link’s speaking was off-putting no matter what he said, and Aonuma emphasized that Link’s silence was a consistent part ofZelda’s history.Echoes of Wisdominstead justified Link’s mutenessby wrapping it up in the non-traditional story elements of its Still World, and it dodged a bullet in the process. IfThe Legend of Zelda’s developers thought Link speaking was weird, fan reception would have been even worse — and at the worst time, to boot.
A Talkative Link Would Have Undercut Zelda’s Novel Heroine Status
Princess Zelda becoming the star of a Nintendo-developedLegend of Zeldagame was supposed to beEchoes of Wisdom’s main hook, and it would have stumbled at the finish line if Link’s voice became a talking point. Even while setting out tobreakLegend of Zeldatraditions likeBotWandTotKdid,Echoes of Wisdomneeded to ensure that players didn’t get distracted by new happenings completely unrelated to its main objective.Echoes of Wisdomsucceeded in giving Princess Zelda the game she deserved, even if it meant confining Link to the background in the process.
