Echoes of Wisdom’s Map is Eight Times Larger Than Link’s Awakening’s

This is the first game where Princess Zelda is the main character, there’s the echoes gameplay, and the kingdom of Hyrule looks a bit different from before too… The newness of it all really stands out. Does this mean that the world and the enemies you fight are also different?

Sano: While echoes – in other words, using multiple items to solve puzzles – make up the main gameplay in Princess Zelda’s adventure, we’ve kept the familiar dungeons and boss fights from the series in a way that still gives you that authentic “Legend of Zelda-like” feeling.

Aonuma: Designing dungeons is Grezzo’s speciality. Grezzo has been researching the Legend of Zelda series for a long while now, through their works on the remakes. As such, they suggested a series of ideas that made me think, “Ah, that’s a new angle!” Some of their staff have been playing the series since they were little, and I was just so excited to see what kinds of ideas they had and what they thought a Legend of Zelda dungeon should be like.

Terada: Yeah, we’ve been involved since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, so everyone has great respect for the series. Many of the staff love it and have played the games many times over. So even now, when making a new top-down game in the series, we’re always thinking about how we can bring that “Legend of Zelda-like” feeling to the game. However, we packed in so many things we wanted to do to create this “Legend of Zelda-like” feeling, and the map ended up eight times the size of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. (Laughs)

Eight times the size?! That’s pretty extensive.

Aonuma: At first it was four times the size, but then, before we knew it… (Laughs) However, although the map has become much larger, the feeling of a top-down Legend of Zelda game, where you can easily enjoy gameplay in a compact world, is still there, so it isn’t intimidating to explore. So, you’ll be able to play with a slightly different feeling compared to the vast worlds of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Aonuma: Speaking of that “Legend of Zelda-like” feeling, creation of the sound starts later in development, and for this game, it really helped increase that feeling at the end of development. Earlier in development, we spent a long time making the game without any sound implemented. But then, toward the end, as we started mass production of data and shifted the work to move toward the final product, the sound team came to us saying, “Here’s what the main theme sounds like,” and had us listen. And it was just like, “Wow, this is it!” It’s like you’re pulled right into the world of the Legend of Zelda… It’s amazing how much difference there is between having music and not having any. The sound team has spent many years working on the Legend of Zelda series, so I guess you can say there is a certain “Legend of Zelda-like” feeling ingrained in the audio too.

Indeed, the somewhat familiar melody line and how the instruments are used feels like it helps bring back the experiences of playing past games. And I felt it also matches well with this toy-box-like presentation of the world.

Sano: The scene where you first confront Ganon is really good.

Aonuma: For me, it’s when you enter Suthorn Prairie from Suthorn Beach, and the main theme starts playing. That part really got me.

Sano: The moment you leave the cave and that theme starts playing, that’s the first time you hear it in the game. I feel like that scene was really created to resonate with the player’s feelings. You don’t know where it is that you’ve arrived, but you get the feeling that the real adventure is about to start.

Aonuma: The sound team takes the near-finished game, and while imagining how players would feel in each scene, they compose music to fit those scenes and have it play each part at exactly the right moment. And I didn’t notice this in the beginning because I was too busy with the gameplay, but on my sixth, seventh, or eighth playthrough of this game, I was relaxed enough to make pleasant discoveries like, “Oh, so this music plays in this scene!” (Laughs)

Sano: You’re enjoying the game more than anyone else. (Laughs)

Aonuma: You know, that final scene…

Terada: Oh yeah, I know what you mean. (Laughs)

Sano: You can’t talk about that here! (Laughs)

Aonuma: I know, I know. (Laughs) But I felt the power of music was so strong, it nearly brought me to tears. As the music played, I thought, “Wow, that’s good.” It was really moving. Agh, I’ve got to play it through again now.

Everyone: (Laughs)

Then last but not least, Aonuma-san, please share your thoughts.

Aonuma: Until now, the 2D top-down Legend of Zelda games haven’t seen that many major transformations. When we were developing the remake for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, I was thinking about what I’d like to do in the next one, but I was wondering how far Grezzo would be able to go. But with Terada-san taking the lead for this title, the staff at Grezzo approached it with fresh perspectives and free thinking. They really pulled it all together. And additionally, Sano-san, who has worked with Grezzo for many years on the Legend of Zelda series, led the project, bringing that authentic “Legend of Zelda-like” feeling. As a producer, it felt like watching your child grow up. I’m really grateful for all the hard work. I hope lots of people will enjoy this new top-down Legend of Zelda and will be excited for future top-down Legend of Zelda games too.