Summary
Over these past few years, many of Nintendo’s biggest franchises have seen some massive changes and evolution to their formulas.Animal Crossing: New Horizonswas unlike anything the franchise had seen before,Pokemon Scarlet and Violetfully embraced the open-world concept,Super Smash Bros. Ultimatewas truly the ultimate fighter, and evenPikmin 4took the series to new heights. While that has all been amazing to see, perhaps the biggest evolution has come with theLegend of Zeldafranchise, and thanks toZelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the series may never look back.
With the launch of the Nintendo Switch,Zelda: Breath of the Wildcompletely reinvented what it meant to be aLegend of Zeldagame. Then,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomfurther expanded upon that, giving fans virtually free rein over the kingdom of Hyrule. And with the release ofZelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the freedom Nintendo seems to be embracing has gone even further. So far in fact, the studio may actually have the perfect template for a full-onZeldasandbox now.
Zelda Seems to Be Fully Embracing The Concept of a Sandbox
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the Final Piece of the Puzzle
For years,The Legend of Zeldaseries was mostly a top-down action-adventure, with a few notable exceptions. However,Zelda: Breath of the Wildaimed to change thatby giving players a massive fantasy world to explore. While that would have been fantastic in itself, the studio chose to take it even further by giving players the powerful Sheikah Slate and placing them into its world with little guidance. With the amazing powers it offered, players were able to explore Hyrule to their heart’s content, with many calling it one of the best open-world titles to this day.
Instead of going back to the basics,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomfurther expanded upon thatframework by actually letting players manipulate countless objects to run wild across Hyrule. Even though it seemed like that could not be beaten,Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhas now given players the power to copy-and-paste over 100 different objects that litter the world. This has given them so much opportunity to solve puzzles how they want, pit iconic enemies against each other, and just cause mayhem across Hyrule. And now that fans have been given all of these different powers, it will behard to convince them to go back.
Now that fans have been given all of these different powers, it will be hard to convince them to go back.
Nintendo Has Seemingly Built Out the Perfect Zelda Sandbox
SinceZelda: Echoes of Wisdomjust launched, there is obviously no news onwhen the nextZeldagame will release. Fans will likely spend months exploring every corner of this experience, with little reason for them to move on. But, when that next mainline chapter does eventually roll around, Nintendo may have built itself the perfect route forward; delivering a trueLegend of Zeldasandbox experience.
Zelda: Breath of the Wildgave players control over objects and momentum,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomgave them the power to create countless contraptions, and now,Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhas given them the ability to place down objects on a whim. Combine all of that, and Nintendo could have one of the greatestZeldagames yet. Of course, it would only be as strong asthe version of Hyrule it is set in, but the studio has already laid the groundwork, and now it just needs to fully embrace it.
Although not as advanced as the likes ofZelda: Breath of the Wild,Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhas captivated players with its unique abilities, fun story, and return to the top-down games of the past. It will be interesting to see just what the studio has planned after three games tapped into a more free-form sandbox side of things. Whatever form it takes, it will surely be a treat for fans of the franchise.
