Future of Top Down Zelda to use Echoes of Wisdom 'Base'

Future games in the Legend of Zelda franchise will be 'based' on Echoes of Wisdom. 

Legendary producer Eiji Aonuma dropped that hint at the very end of a one-hour, round-table discussion with the game's developers, which 9news.com.au was invited to attend. 

"Having a classic style and being able to add new elements is challenging," admitted Aonuma, who was speaking via a translator. 

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"All of the staff did their very best to create a Zelda for the modern day and we're hoping to use this as a base for future top-down games going forward as well."

What that means is up for interpretation. 

Will echoes return? Or will future open-air games do a better job at balancing linear storytelling and the freedom to explore on a long-rumoured (and highly anticipated) Switch 2?

When asked about the ways players have been using (and abusing) the game's echoes, it sounds more like the latter. 

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"I've played this game eight times through during development," laughed Aonuma. 

"I found a new surprise each time I played… and every time (I watch people on the internet) there were solutions I hadn't thought of."

"If you watch someone, it's a game you also want to play."

In a series of previous interviews, Nintendo revealed that Link, rather than Zelda, was originally planned to be the star of Echoes of Wisdom. 

But having access to a sword and echoes at all times wasn't gelling, which inspired the game's creators to feature Zelda as the hero of the adventure for the first time. 

Add that to the fact that Grezzo, the game's developer, had never made an original Zelda title before and first-time director Tomomi Sano says she was feeling the pressure to deliver. 

"Before I joined Nintendo I was just a fan with the same high expectations," explained Sano, who also made history as the first woman to direct a Legend of Zelda title. 

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"I was very worried about this in the beginning but I wasn't alone in developing this game and there was a whole team."

"Thanks to COVID (and working remotely), we understood the importance of communication. From there I just ran through the project as best I could."

In the end, the team created what I consider to be one of the greatest 2D Zelda titles of all time.

I loved the feeling I'd get when I'd find and learn a new echo tucked away in a cave or in some far-flung corner of the map. When I asked the developers whether they ever considered allowing players to echo the bosses, they said they wanted the climaxes of each temple to feel unique.

"As far as I can remember there was no echo too strong that we didn't include."

"We did make adjustments to the echoes we came up with to make sure they were not too strong (but for the boss battles)... we wanted it to be you vs. the boss."

Aonuma, who designed the famously difficult water temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, said his favourite part of Echoes of Wisdom was the new water temple, Jabul Ruins, because it's exactly the opposite. 

"The way the temple is set up allows you to go through in one 'flow'... which makes it a memorable one," said Aonuma-san. 

Who fell in "love" with the game's main theme the first time he heard it. 

"I love the main theme," he said. 

"There's an instrument called an oboe in it which really reminds me of Zelda."

"When I first listened to the main theme, I thought this is the one."

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is out now for Nintendo Switch.