Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhas been out for less than a week, but talented speedrunners have already figured out how to beat the game in under one hour. On September 26, Nintendo released the latest entry of the seminalLegend of Zeldaseries on the Switch, and it has been gaining rave reviews from critics so far.The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis a follow-up to the 2019Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningremake, combining modern 3D graphics with classic top-downZeldagameplay and a cute, toy-like art style.
However,Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdombreaks from the mold ofLink’s Awakeningin many ways, not the least of which is Princess Zelda being the main playable protagonist for the first time in the mainline series.Echoes of Wisdomdeveloper Grezzo also introduced somenew gameplay mechanics through Zelda’s Tri Rod, which allows her to create echoes and bind objects together to help solve puzzles and overcome enemies. This in turn gives players more options for clearingEchoes of Wisdom’s classic-styleZeldadungeons.
While most of these players are likely still making their way throughLegend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s earlier sections, speedrunners are already reporting completion times as short as one hour. YouTube usergymnast86recently posted anEchoes of Wisdomspeedrun video clocking in at about 59 minutes - though this was quickly outdone by fellow streamerOnakuTVand their 52-minute-and-51-second run. Even wilder, the latter claims that it might be possible to clearEchoes of Wisdom’s story in less than 50 minutes in a future speedrun.
Zelda Speedrunners Are Already Clearing Echoes of Wisdom in Less Than an Hour
Aside from the usual speedrunning tricks like skipping cutscenes, a great deal of theseLegend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomplaythroughs utilize a newly-discovered glitch that was shared onReddit’s r/speedrun foruma few days ago. If a player summons a Sign Echo in a certain location after completingEchoes of Wisdom’s first dungeon, they can manipulate the fast-travel warp mechanic to skip straight toEchoes of Wisdom’s final dungeon - though it must be done in a certain way to avoid being softlocked.
Speedruns are nothing new toThe Legend of Zelda, with skilled gamers showing off impressively short playthroughs ofclassic entries likeBreath of the WildandOcarina of Time.The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhasn’t been out as long as these previousZeldagames, so fans should expect to see even more awe-inspiring speedruns in the future that could dwarf the ones already cropping up online.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
WHERE TO PLAY
Save Hyrule—this time with the wisdom of Princess Zelda!The people of Hyrule are being stolen away by strange rifts—and with a certain swordsman among the missing, it’s up to Princess Zelda to save her kingdom in the latest adventure in The Legend of Zelda™ series!Team up with the ethereal creature Tri and use the Tri Rod to create “echoes,” which are imitations of things you find in the environment—then recreate those echoes whenever you like to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Use echoes like water blocks to reach new heights, make bridges out of old beds, throw rocks at foes, or find your own combination of echoes to do things your way. you may even make echoes of monsters to fight at your side in combat!
