Early in the morning of August 5th, Nintendo dropped a brand new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom that was packed with new information on the top-down title.
Right off the bat, the trailer gets moving, detailing multiple locations in the game. The Central Plateau with Hyrule Castle and Town, Gerudo Desert and Village, Jabul Waters with Sea and River Zora settlements, Eldin Volcano with Kakariko Villiage and Goron City, and the Faron Wetlands. In case you are keeping a tally, that means Echoes of Wisdom will have at least seven inhabited towns scattered across its world. Through these locations, it is officially confirmed that Gorons, both races of Zora, Deku Scrubs, and Gerudo will all be making their return in this game. Most were seen briefly in the original trailer, but here they are on full display. Additionally, the main part of Hyrule being called “The Central Plateau” and the Faron region being a jungle both show how the DNA of Breath of the Wild has continued going forward in the series.
In fact, this trailer was packed to the brim with the DNA of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. From the Adventure Log and UI taking inspiration from it, the interchangeable outfits, the ability to gather ingredients to make edible healing items, and even the ability to ride multiple horses. There is so much to unpack here, but it is clear this continues to refine the current trajectory of the Zelda series. It should also be noted that this marks the first time horses are rideable in an official 2D Zelda game!
The other major new announcements were Zelda’s Bind and Reverse Bond powers. Bind allows Zelda to attach herself to objects, enemies, and Echoes. Once attached the object will follow Zelda’s movements. Reverse Bind is the opposite, Zelda attaches to an object or enemy and then she will follow it. With the introduction of these abilities, it is even clearer that Zelda’s move-set is following in the footsteps of Breath of the Wild’s Runes and Tears of the Kingdom’s Ultrahand.
In addition to these major reveals, there were a couple of smaller ones sprinkled in like the yellow stones seen throughout the world being used for fast travel and Deku Scrub merchants being smoothie vendors this time around.
Lastly, the trailer ends with a story tease about the giant rifts taking over Hyrule, and shadowy versions of enemies creeping out of them that closely resemble the look and feel of Gloom.
Needless to say, there was a ton of new information dropped in this trailer, and all of it frankly looked incredible. Be sure to check out the trailer yourself to catch all the new details!
