ESRB Leak Reveals Major Gameplay Details for Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom!

[@BewbsOP]

I don't necessarily think this reveals that you play as link for normal gameplay. It's entirely possible that you only play as link for a short portion of the intro before rescuing zelda before the actual gameplay begins.

[@TyrantWesker]

Yeah, while it COULD mean we play as Link later in the game, this news is too vague to really confirm anything one way or the other. They could be talking purely about the intro sequence, maybe we'll jump between Zelda in Hyrule and Link inside the rift world from time to time throughout the story, or maybe Link will be saved partway through the game and then we'll be able to swap between him and Zelda. It's too early to really say anything just yet.

[@davebob4973]

Maybe link is a postgame reward

[@BewbsOP]

@@davebob4973 Thats actually a pretty fun idea. Another idea is it could be a game in two parts. Maybe after finishing the zelda part, you flashback to the adventure link went on before the beginning of the game in order to save zelda. Though, I do personally like the swapping idea. It would be a pretty cool idea to swap between them at will and ones adventuring effects the other.

[@Umbrella002]

I completely agree. Highlighting Zelda as playable and then limit or reduce her importance in this title would be bad marketing and probably make a less interesting game.

[@josiahrios6716]

I called it! The trailer showed clear gameplay as Link at the start, and his face is plastered huge on the cover, so I suspected Link would be playable in some way…

[@Joeynator3000]

It did look like you control Link there at the very beginning of the game that was shown in the trailer, so I figured you'd be able to control him again at some point.

[@josiahrios6716]

Now it’s up to speculation how they will incorporate Link’s gameplay into the story. If they’re reusing the same Hyrule from A Link to the Past, it’s possible that those rifts lead to the Dark World where you’d play as Link.

[@techneko1610]

The trailer has gameplay of those rifts as Zelda though. (That's where they get the water block echo.) Now, that doesn't mean there couldn't be Link sections there, but Zelda is 100% playable within the rifts.

[@Poever]

ESRB: “The words ‘f*ck’ and ‘sh*t’ are used throughout”

[@ethanwinters184]

My cat died recently and I miss him

[@Holy_Light65]

What if you play as Link in the dark world or whatever it called

[@masteroflight7296]

Idk, I feel like Link will only be playable in the prologue like we’ve seen in the trailer.

[@IsaacDavis-p3c]

I think you will be able to go back through the game after you rescue him.

[@SteveNorwalt]

I'm a "believe it when I see it" sort of person. Otherwise, you might get your hopes up for something that doesn't actually exist.

[@Cyclingismywholelife]

My guy has to get views to pay the bills. I agree though, speculation can be fun, but nothing is confirmed until it is confirmed.

[@mandatorial]

If there was co-op I'd be in day one.

[@papafhill9126]

3:22 - You nailed it.

[@flurstastic]

Some of the recent videos feel a lot less energetic :< Where is the editor?

[@Bugside]

You can just play as link on the first five minutes and the ESRB would say the same, play as link, has sword and arrows

[@_sparrowhawk]

"Showing Link but.. not in a story cutscene" Why? You just pulled it out of your ass. They show him beating Ganon and then shooting an arrow. Yes it is kind of a spoiler for the next trailer, but whatever. Sounds great to me, and this 'whinge' is lame as always. Props for having great taste in Earthbound and CT man.

[@dg-vc8fz]

Awesome video shesez i like these videos more then boundary break keep doing them! p.s the zelda videos are my favorite!

[@seanbroderick2224]

Like everyone else I think it’s just for a short time before he goes missing. However it would be so freaking cool if you could also play as link wherever he has gone missing to try and help Zelda in Hyrule and escape (similar to Peach in Paper Mario)

[@SCREENDOORONSUBMARIN]

i'm sad that i won't be able to use the sword and shield as zelda

[@BasVoet]

I am playing the Minish Cap for the first time at the moment and I once again think nothing can beat the top-down Zelda games. Really excited for this one!

[@WolfSky12634]

I figured Link would be playable, but to be honest, I think I quite like they didn’t tell us it yet, show it to us in new trailers definitely, but I like they are leaving some big information about the game to make the next trailers just as important, but don’t wait for the release to let people know about a big mechanic, like the depths with TotK, where there was little, if anything revealed towards it

[@polydipsiac]

I would say it’s only a problem if pre orders are available. I think drumming up hype with subsequent trailers as the game continues to develop towards release date is kinda fun.

[@thecoldmage_]

If I had to guess, Zelda will still be the main protagonist, but Link might be temporarily playable before that cut scene against Ganon at the beginning, and then possibly playable again unlocked upon beating the main story. And to the extend either of those things are true, that wouldn't necessarily be something they'd want to just give away from an initial game reveal.

[@bebopblue]

Maybe for the first part of the game you only play as Link, unless there are moments in the rift where you must also play as Link.

[@Axecon1]

I hope it's a second campaign, something you unlock when you beat the main campaign with Zelda

[@SatireGod]

“You can now play as link”

[@FreakAxident]

I think Link is just playable at the beginning. Like, he hears Zelda is in trouble, so you travel to the castle fighting enemies and defeat Ganon, before you stolen away and start controlling Zelda escaping the castle. And then maybe link is playable after beating the game or some special thing.

[@Sgt_Viper000]

There's also a good chance where Link himself isn't playable, but maybe a copy of Link from the Staff? Heck, maybe he's usable via the Toy Link's Awakening Amiibo.

[@2late2go2n8]

Maybe it only means. "As Link you would normally play with bow and arrow but this time you play as Zelda...." So that ppeople understand this time it is different

[@Gator159]

They should know their audience by now and the importance of "just lead with that!" Mentality that they should have made it more clear that Link is still an Integral part of the gameplay.

[@jackomon1129]

Only watched the first 30 seconds, once you mentioned "Nintendo doesn't want you to know", I decied to pause. Why do rating organisations like the ESRB have to spoil stuff thou? Its rathre annoying

[@matthuntsboston]

This whole thing is giving me wand of gamelon and faces of evil cdi zelda vibes lol

[@matthewcurcio2923]

Oh God is this about to be some MGS2 Raiden/Snake fakeout stuff😭

[@BeatleJWOL]

I dunno, would people be equally pressed if a trailer showed one game mechanic and then revealed that hey, there's a different game mechanic you can also use? Or is it just that "they hid the boy character I actually care about from us" etc etc. Besides, it's not like most gamers don't know how a Link-like character would play, right?

[@JLGamr421]

Could it be that you control Link just in that prologue section? Would be cool if he was playable in a NG+ situation.

[@megaman37456]

The ESRB wouldn't have mentioned it if it was just restricted to the prologue, why don't people understand that this is a massive reveal and something like that wouldn't be mentioned if it was just the "pre-tutorial" section.

[@yodizzle]

Oh, interesting!

[@Gator159]

Will this new gameplay reveals make Mike Matei happy?

[@Fosceldaddy]

THE BLUD MOAN ROAISES ONCE AGAINE, LANKE

[@pulsewitch6484]

My theory is that link is ng+

[@techneko1610]

You play as Link in the intro, so the ESRB statement could be solely referring to that. (Shadows give it away. NPCs / enemies / cinematics have actual shadows whereas your player character has a circular shadow. You see Link with the circular shadow during the intro Gannon fight.) He could always be playable later as well, but only time will tell on that front! Honestly, it's Zelda's game so I hope they just double down on her.

[@Alex_dlc]

I think this is misleading, I’m willing to be that you only play as Link for the intro where you fight Ganon before falling in the rift. I don’t think it makes sense to finally make a game where Zelda is the protagonist but in reality she’s just one of two playable characters.

[@joshcaladia]

honestly i hope people are right about it being just a little bit of time as link. i like zelda more lol

[@Tazer_Silverscar]

This isn't much of a revelation, this reads more like a comparison between the typical style and how Zelda will play, I'm not sure it confirms Link will be playable.

[@agentotter]

After Age of Calamity and ToTK trailers I have a hard time trusting most of what they show in Zelda trailers.

[@DanielSanGMR]

Pretty sure it's just making a comparative from previous games when they say as Link you play like that.

[@Yoshizuyuner]

they going to complain regardless if they showed anything or not, it really dose not matter

[@Shift_Salt]

My opinion is the fact people were actually willing to swear off this zelda game based on the assumption you'd *only* play zelda is pretty silly. There's many other games where you just play as link, with traditional zelda gameplay. And even if Link WILL be playable in this game with that style of gameplay, I still think the initial reaction of the fanbase says a lot about how even to this day people will freak out over nothing. I'm not really that excited to hear you will be able to play as link with the traditional gameplay, because I've had a lot of entries that do exactly that already. I'm more interested to see what people will be able to do with the zelda gameplay.

[@reinatycoon3644]

I think that this Zelda looks horrible aesthetically but it is silly that people were freaking out about playing as Zelda. I'd love to play as Zelda in a beautiful artistically lovely Zelda game.. just not this funky looking chibi fantasy ugh.

[@reinatycoon3644]

Instead of complaining that you can only use Zelda(when that is what was only known) they should have complained about how the game looks. This game looks ugly and entirely unappealing. I'll say it again they should have tried out the Twilight Princess aesthetic again.. that was beautiful. If they were to use top view again it should have been beautiful like ALttP.

[@ravenebony2267]

A lot of people love the Link's Awakening remake style. People complained about how Wind Waker looked originally. Saying it's ugly is your own personal opinion based on your tastes and not objective fact.

[@reinatycoon3644]

@@ravenebony2267 This game is objectively ugly though. You know what else is objectively ugly Jabba The Hut compared to Heather Graham whom is objectively gorgeous. Do you think Heather Graham is uglier than Jabba The Hut or vide versa? This game looks objectively inferior to Twilight Princess and A Link To The Past... PERIOD!

[@ravenebony2267]

@@reinatycoon3644 subjective