Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Is a Nostalgia Buffet for Longtime Fans

Despite featuring a new protagonist for the first time in mainline Zelda history, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom still stays true to its roots. There are plenty of class Zelda features to be found in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, making it an all-you-can-eat nostalgia buffet for longtime fans.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s nostalgia buffet includes elements like combat mechanics, recurring characters, and beloved icons, refusing to shortchange veteran fans of the series despite its willingness to innovate. While Echoes of Wisdom is a perfect entry for newcomers, it’s a clear love letter to the most dedicated fans of the series as well.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Has a Buffet’s Worth of Nostalgia

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Begins With a Fight Longtime Fans Know All Too Well

One of the most nostalgic events in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom takes place during the game’s prologue, in which players control Link through a small portion of a dungeon in search of Princess Zelda. Upon finding Zelda, Link encounters Ganon, whose Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom character model resembles his from A Link to the Past. While the character model itself is a bit of nostalgia, however, the most significant piece of history lies in the fight itself.

Throughout the Legend of Zelda series, encounters with Ganondorf have involved the recurring Dead Man’s Volley battle mechanic, which sees Link playing a game of tennis with Ganondorf after he launches a projectile at Link until one of them is struck by it. The mechanic debuted in Zelda: A Link to the Past, but franchise fans might remember it most from Ocarina of Time. Dead Man’s Volley returns in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s prologue, providing fans with a nostalgic return to one of the series’ most memorable boss mechanics.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Includes Characters Who Have Been Around as Well as Missing for Many Years

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom also includes plenty of the series’ most prominent recurring characters. For example, Lord Jabu-Jabu is a major part of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s Zora story, who first appeared in Ocarina of Time in 1998 and then again in Oracle of Ages in 2001, but has since been missing from each subsequent installment.

Dampe also returns in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, though not as a gravekeeper this time. Instead, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s Dampe is an engineer who crafts Automatons for Zelda. The lovable character has not appeared in the series since A Link Between Worlds in 2013, but he has been an otherwise prominent recurring character. The Business Scrub also makes an appearance in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom after a 20-year absence, although he now sells Smoothies to Zelda at the game’s Smoothie Shops.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Includes Several Other Iconic Franchise Elements

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom also brings back the Triforce that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom left out. However, rather than being called the “Triforce” in Echoes of Wisdom, it is referred to as the “Prime Energy.” This makes it one of only three Zelda games to change the name of the Triforce. Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom features classic dungeon design as well, which is even reminiscent of the dungeons from the original Legend of Zelda game on the NES. This is an especially welcome return after classic dungeons were missing from the previous two installments.

The list of nostalgic callbacks in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom could go on for much longer, but all of this makes up some of its more prominent features. It just goes to show how much impact the Legend of Zelda series has had on its fans for almost four decades now, and it’s likely that impact will continue to ripple into the future.