Key Takeaways
- Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s map size is 8x bigger than Link’s Awakening.
- The game allows players to control Zelda for the first time in a mainline game, using echoes to solve puzzles and fight enemies.
- Aonuma originally planned for the map to be 4x bigger, assuring a unique experience compared to open-world titles.
Just before the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, some of the game’s development staff at Nintendo and Grezzo stated that the game’s map size is about eight times as large as the 2019 remake of Link’s Awakening. While Echoes of Wisdom will have plenty of secrets for players to discover, Nintendo said the game’s compact world design should make exploration less intimidating.
As the first mainline Zelda game to give players full control of the series’ titular princess, Echoes of Wisdom was developed by Grezzo in cooperation with Nintendo. Grezzo previously co-developed 2019’s Link’s Awakening and ported the N64 classics Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask to the 3DS during the 2010s. In addition, the art style Grezzo used to create the world and characters of Link’s Awakening was brought back in Echoes of Wisdom, a detail that did not go unnoticed by keen-eyed Zelda fans.
With a new entry in the Legend of Zelda series on the horizon, Nintendo pulled back the curtain on one aspect of its development. In the latest entry of Nintendo’s Ask The Developer blog series, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma joined game directors Satoshi Terada and Tomomi Sano to share details about Echoes of Wisdom. When asked about how Hyrule looks different in Echoes of Wisdom compared to Link’s Awakening, Terada stated that the goal was to pack in a lot of content to capture a “Zelda-like feeling” for players to experience, and this resulted in Echoes of Wisdom‘s world map being eight times the size of the Link’s Awakening map. Aonuma added that the original goal was for Echoes of Wisdom‘s map to be four times bigger than Link’s Awakening instead.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Will Be Larger Than Link’s Awakening
- Echoes of Wisdom’s developers reveal that the game’s map will be eight times bigger than Link’s Awakening.
- Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma said the game’s compact size should make for less intimidating experiences despite the world size.
- Aonuma said Echoes of Wisdom was originally planned to be four times bigger than Link’s Awakening, rather than eight.
- Echoes of Wisdom launches worldwide on September 26.
But, Aonuma reassured hesitant players that Echoes of Wisdom‘s compact size would make its world less intimidating and different from open-world titles like Tears of the Kingdom. The developers also brought up the boss battles players will go through in Echoes of Wisdom‘s different dungeons, and the abilities Zelda and Tri can use during their journey. Sano stated that while abilities such as Bind can drop small enemies over a bottomless pit, some feats may not be as easy to pull off.
As reviews start to come in for Echoes of Wisdom, momentum around the Zelda franchise remains high. How creative players will get with using Zelda’s echoes and abilities remains to be seen.
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