#tloz:eow

[deuterosapiens]

Quick thoughts on the new Echoes of Wisdom trailer, because I don't have time to talk more rambly.

Early trailers were a fake-out: Zelda can actually use an actual blade as well. Coolio!

Dampé has gotten into the monster-building game, so he will be our resident Kilton this time around. This game has certainly gotten interesting, since I was half-joking when I mentioned Zelda being a Pokémon Trainer.

The Still World is giving me serious Distortion World vibes. I truly hope gravity gets weird here!

I think my biggest excitement though comes from seeing Volvagia again! Makes me want to read the Ocarina of Time manga again, but then stop suspiciously before the Fire Temple chapter. I love this dragon more than most Zelda dragons, so it brings joy to my demented heart to see him again.

This game cannot get here soon enough for me!!

[deuterosapiens]

So, there's a new Echoes of Wisdom trailer. There's a few points I want to talk about, so give that a glance if you can.

We now know things! A few things, however, stood out to me like a giant neon sign.

There's the obvious hints that screw with any of our initial timeline assumptions, which just shows how annoying it is that Zelda Theorists tend to jump on definitive answers when we have nowhere near the full picture. As a friend of mine pointed out, Gerudo tend to exist in every timeline except the Downfall. The Sea/River Zora split, however, only appears in the Downfall Era. Deku Scrubs, however, give me a headache: their primary presence is antagonistic in Ocarina of Time, their next appearance is Majora's Mask which does not take place in Hyrule; following this is Minish Cap, where they are debateably friendly; and Triforce Heroes which I did not play, but is a Downfall Era game.

The placement of Kakariko Village in relation to Death Mountain is interesting, as this is seen in Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess but to my memory, no other game. Additionally, Death Mountain is known as Eldin Mountain here, which is exclusively seen in Skyward Sword, to my memory.

The Zora having the Sea/River split is Downfall exclusive, but what's interesting is that their villages are not found in a named Lanayru Region, but the Jabul Region (named obviously for Jabu Jabu, Jabun, etc). This could just be an odd naming convention, but we will get to this momentarily. We also see a snowy Region which might be Hebra, though let's not forget that Twilight Princess places its snowy mountains in Lanayru, if I recall correctly. What's interesting about this snowy Region is we see none of it in the trailers, but I'm going to assume there's some residency or settlement there. If so, it could be Rito as established by Breath of the Wild, it could be Yeti, as established by Twilight Princess, it could be Anouki, as seen in Phantom Hourglass. It could be any of the previously seen and confirmed to be present Races, or it could be uninhabited. We don't know, but it does have gears turning to me.

What's honestly jumping out to me the most though is the Gordo. Yeah, a single enemy is causing me a spectacular degree of headache and speculation. If I recall correctly, they appear in exactly one game: Link's Awakening. They are notable though, as they are not traditional Zelda enemies, they are Kirby enemies. They exist as roadblocks in Link's Awakening, but they are another piece of evidence hinting at the true nature of Koholint Island. Now, Echoes of Wisdom clearly borrows a substantial amount from the Switch version of Link's Awakening, so it could just be a bear developmental Easter Egg. Or it could be a hint at a significant development. Or I'm overthinking that, which is a distinct possibility.

Zelda walking into the fissures at the end of this trailer seems to hint at more Dual World gameplay. This is to be expected, as Dual World gameplay is kind of a staple of the series. As this Hyrule does take inspiration from the Hyrule of A Link to the Past (and its sequel), it wouldn't be too farfetched for us to assume there's another bit of Light World/Dark World, Hyrule/Lorule interplay here. Again, an assumption with little evidence.

Yikes, a lot of timey-wimey discussion and I haven't even hit of any of the more pressing details: the Bind Mechanic.

Bind is clearly an answer to Magnesis and Ultrahand, with Reverse Bond being the exact same mechanic... in REVERSE!! I have nothing to say about Bind because we've had two games with this mechanic that have sold me on it as a puzzle-solving tool, but the use of Reverse Bond reminds me a bit of the Hookshot in some situations, and the Dominion Rod in others (is the Tri Rod the Cane of Somaria, or the Dominion Rod??? I can hear some theorists screaming in hyper-editted video format. No, no it likely isn't. There's no evidence of either, at this point).

Horses! Zelda is seen riding two separate horses, which imply that she doesn't just have the one and can likely find and tame others, or that she has the option of purchasing or gaining different horses with different stats through quests or other means. I like the white one! It's preeeeeeetty. (Did that make you uncomfortable, hearing that in my own voice made me uncomfortable, and since you have no idea what my voice sounds like, just assume Sméagol's first encounter with Shadowfax).

Outfits! I have no opinion here. I cared about playing dress-up in Tears of the Kingdom for one reason, and that took 152 Shrines to deal with. But, if Zelda receives an outfit based on the three Dragon Armors, she will be the most Opulent Princess to ever Opulent Princess!

There's definitely an obvious focus on finding your own solutions which is becoming the new normal for Zelda titles, and I absolutely love this approach. Though I see there's a bit of backlash from other fans, who would like a more traditional approach where one puzzle has one solution. I enjoy those games, I adore those games. I love the direction we are taking though, and if we could find a healthy blend between the two, I do feel we will have reached peak Zelda.

I'm excited, my excitement has not wavered but it has been renewed. I'm ready for this game!