The Future of Zelda Is Echoes of Wisdom, Not Breath of the Wild

Okay, stay with me. I promise I’m not trying to get a rise out of anyone. Like many people, I loved The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I pretty much lived in that game for weeks, and kept coming back to it whenever I just want to mess around. When Tears of the Kingdom released, the same thing happened. Yet when I think of the future for the series, I feel like those games probably shouldn’t be the guiding light. No, I think the future of The Legend of Zelda is the latest Switch release Echoes of Wisdom.

In a lot of ways, Echoes of Wisdom comes off like a top-down Legend of Zelda game that has been fully informed by the success of Breath of the Wild. Hyrule has always been an open world, but only occasionally a properly non-linear one. Echoes of Wisdom doesn’t give you full freedom, but with the power of the Tri Rod and your imagination you have a lot of choice in how to tackle the game’s challenges. That is a big part of what has made modern Zelda games feel so fresh and exciting, and it’s one element that needs to stay.

Echoes of Wisdom shows how well that system can be applied to a top-down format, even more than the excellent Link Between Worlds did. One thing struck me as I was playing through Echoes of Wisdom, however. First, I’ve missed the traditional dungeons that have been largely absent from the 3D games of late. While Breath of the Wild reclaimed the feeling of exploration and discovery of the original Legend of Zelda, it lost the other important part of the equation by cutting the usual dungeon designs. Echoes of Wisdom shows that the dungeons can be incorporated in a freeform design.

One of the big features of Breath of the Wild was the size of the world. That feeling of leaving the Great Plateau and realizing it was just a fraction of the full world was unforgettable. Tears of the Kingdom provided an even larger map, but the impact was smaller. Upping the ante further in the next game likely wouldn’t even make players blink. I know I certainly don’t want a bigger world than what we saw in Tears of the Kingdom.

I think that Nintendo and the Zelda team did a great job of making sure the worlds in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom didn’t feel too empty or devoid of purpose. With that said, Echoes of Wisdom has me wondering if a more compact world might be best. We don’t have to go all the way back to the way things were. Echoes of Wisdom manages to make a world that feels big and enjoyable to explore, but also more guided. Without a need to seed a gigantic sprawling map with secrets, each one also feels more meaningful.

The Switch era of The Legend of Zelda has been incredible, but the new formula is as prone to stagnation as the old one. The series should always be moving forward, and there are lessons to be learned from Echoes of Wisdom. Rein in the size of the open world without sacrificing its organic, non-linear feel. Bring back those wonderful puzzle-packed dungeons, and let us continue to break them. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom threads that needle, and its ideas can do the same for future games.