Key recommendations
- Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom breaks with tradition by putting Zelda at the forefront, but still offers fans nostalgic appeals.
- Cutting the grass has been a long-standing tradition in Zelda, but it's somehow been improved upon in Echoes of Wisdom.
- Zelda's spinning ability in Echoes of Wisdom improves on the tradition of mowing the grass, providing a useful upgrade.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom certainly broke with a major tradition with its choice of protagonist, putting Zelda in the lead rather than Link, who has held the role in every main series since the show's origins in 1987. However, that doesn't Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom abandoned any franchise tradition.
Actually, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom does a thorough job of including plenty of nostalgic callbacks to the show's past for the benefit of longtime fans. A specific one The Legend of Zelda the tradition made its way in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdombut with a satisfying spin that somehow improves it. The Zelda the tradition in question is cutting the grass.
Zelda's thorn easily cuts through the grass in Echoes of Wisdom
Cutting the grass has long been a tradition in The Legend of Zelda
There can be a lot of methods in The Legend of Zelda universe for obtaining useful items such as rupees and hearts, such as breaking pots and boxes, but none of these methods are as satisfying as cutting grass. Throughout The Legend of Zelda In the series, players could use Link's sword to cut through the grass scattered around Hyrule, often revealing hearts, rupees, and crafting materials. It is one of the easiest methods in The Legend of Zelda for farming these items, especially since Link essentially carries his own personal lawnmower in his iconic blade.
In ZeldaIn his early days, the feeling of being able to use Link's spin attack in the middle of a clump of grass was unmatched. There was something rather cathartic about it, especially when the spiral of Link's sword would create a perfect circle on the ground. It has become even more rewarding in recent games such as Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its continuation, Tears of the Kingdomdue to the multitude of items that could be collected by simply cutting the grass.
Players would then regularly take their discoveries to online forums, pointing out the grassiest regions of Hyrule and what could be grown from them.
Cutting the grass The Legend of Zeldaas mundane as it may seem, it didn't necessarily need to be improved. That being said, once something is improved, the shortcomings of its previous form are exposed for all to see, thus accentuating the improvements even more and discouraging any sort of backward steps. Such is the case with Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhis approach to cutting the grass, which highlights an essential flaw that has always been present in the show's lore, despite the fact that it has probably flown under the radar until now.
Zelda's Spin is an improvement on the franchise's grass-cutting tradition
somehow, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom IMPROVES The Legend of Zeldatradition of cutting grass, giving its titular protagonist an ability that Link never had because he has his sword. As Nintendo said during Ask the Developer Vol. 13, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom — Part 3, “Originally we thought Link would be the protagonist. But when we focused on the game using echoes and had Link copy and paste things into the playfield, the sword and shield got in the way.” The same way Link's sword stopped them from creating echoes Echoes of wisdomalso his sword “gets in the way” of any grass cutting improvements.
With her Spin ability, Zelda can instantly spin through the grass, mowing it down as she goes. Instead of needing to pause for a moment to swing a blade or charge for a spin attack, Zelda can use her Spin ability an unlimited number of times, with a very imperceptible cooldown between each. It's a very subtle way to improve one of the oldest traditions in The Legend of Zelda franchise, but it's still a very useful addition to the latest game, and one that will hopefully set off a chain reaction in future installments.