The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has already made history before even being released. It is the first game in the main line that will feature Princess Zelda and not Link as the protagonist. This change has been a long time coming, as the titular princess has been reduced to a secondary role for the last 38 years. And this adjustment is a welcome breath of fresh air for the franchise, especially in the modern age. But as it turns out, this move wasn’t made to bring the Zelda franchise up to modern standards. Instead, it was mostly a gameplay-centric switch.
Echoes of Wisdom Producers Detail Making Zelda the Protagonist
Initially, Echoes of Wisdom was not going to make this gameplay switch. It was going to follow the traditional formula and star Link as the main character and protagonist. But Eiji Aonuma explained that they needed to make the move for how the game needed to be played. He said that there would’ve largely been no use for the echoes aspect of the game if Link could fight and slash his way through anything. Satoshi Terada, president of Grezzo, added, “Echoes plus a sword and shield… They just didn’t work well together. There is a wide variety of echoes, so to get the most out of the gameplay, we decided to stick with echoes only.”
Aonuma went on to say that, since they made that choice to implement echoes and make them the central cog in this machine, they had to find a different vehicle. Link just wouldn’t do. “If that’s the case, it must be someone who doesn’t fight with a sword and shield, right?” he said. “Who in the series would be a good fit for these powers and bring their insight to them? Well, that would have to be Princess Zelda.” Of course, it helps that this change also gives longtime fans who have been asking to see a Zelda game about the princess herself what they want.
Eiji Aonuma Acknowledges Calls for Zelda Protagonist
Eiji Aonuma said that as they have worked on The Legend of Zelda series, people have often asked them whether or not Princess Zelda might ever be the protagonist. They also expressed a desire to play as her in some way in a mainline game. “When asked this question, I’ve always thought, ‘Of course, as long as it makes sense for the game and does justice to her as a character to be the protagonist,'” Aonuma revealed. “I had been trying in vain to figure out what would really do justice to her. But when I saw the team struggling to identify the ideal protagonist for this game, I thought, this is exactly the game for her!”
This then created a question about how to center the story around the princess. It couldn’t be a story like any other Zelda game since those have always involved a chosen hero going on a mythic journey to save the world. It couldn’t be a one-for-one swap between protagonists. “Just having monsters roaming around Hyrule wouldn’t be enough to motivate Princess Zelda to directly fight them,” said the producer. “We tried brainstorming all sorts of ideas for what kind of situation would necessitate that the princess take matters into her own hands.” Ultimately, Echoes of Wisdom, out on Thursday, is what they came up with.
In Conclusion
Echoes of Wisdom centering on the princess is a massive shift in the franchise, but one that is long overdue. She has shown herself, especially in Tears of the Kingdom, to be a highly capable character. It’s high time she was the main character, and in just a couple of days, she finally will be.
