What just happened? If you thought Nintendo was going to let the Switch ride off into the sunset without one last hurrah, you were sorely mistaken. During its latest Nintendo Direct presentation, the Japanese gaming giant announced a brand new Zelda game due out later this year for the popular handheld.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom introduces a unique twist, casting Princess Zelda as the protagonist on a quest to rescue Link. Series producer Eiji Aonuma said the team wanted to create a new gameplay style that breaks conventions seen in past Zelda games.
What they came up with revolves around a new weapon called the Tri Rod. With it, Princess Zelda can replicate an array of objects and creatively use the "echoes" to her advantage. Something as unassuming as a table, for example, can be replicated and used as a makeshift bridge. Environmental elements, like water, can also be echoed and repurposed to reach new areas. It's even possible to craft echoes of monsters and have them fight alongside you.
The sheer number of echoes in the game and the freedom to use them however you see fit virtually ensures that no two playthroughs will be identical.
Echoes of Wisdom appears to use the same art style that we saw in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (the 2019 Switch remake of the 1993 Game Boy classic).
Some may be surprised that Nintendo is launching its next big Zelda game on the original Switch instead of saving it for the successor, which is set to be announced by April 2025. Considering the company has already sold more than 141 million Switch consoles (as of March 2024), it makes sense to launch on a platform that already has a massive install base.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is due out on September 26, 2024. Nintendo will also drop a golden Switch Lite, dubbed the Hyrule Edition, on the same day to celebrate the launch. The limited edition handheld also comes with a 12-month individual Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, we're told.