The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom brings back the old-school style of Zelda, a clear difference compared to the recent open-worlds of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. However, many of the design philosohpies of those modern games have been applied here.
That includes the map. While all previous 2D Zelda games (like A Link to the Past o A Link Between Worlds) had relatively small maps, Echoes of Wisom’s map is eight times larger than the one the Link’s Awakening had.
Satoshi Tereda, director of the game at Grezzo, the studio comisioned by Nintendo to work on this Zelda, has revealed it in an official interview on Nintendo’s website: “we packed in so many things we wanted to do to create this “Legend of Zelda-like” feeling, and the map ended up eight times the size of Link’s Awakening. (Laughs)”
Eijo Aonuma, producer, reveals that they originally intended for the map to be four times bigger, “but then, before we knew it… (Laughs)”
“However, although the map has become much larger, the feeling of a top-down The Legend of Zelda game, where you can easily enjoy gameplay in a compact world, is still there”, he continues, “so it isn’t intimidating to explore.”
This will make it the biggest 2D Zelda game ever in terms of scope, but it seems that the feel of the old-school Zelda games is still there, mixing the best of both worlds to create another must-have game on Nintendo Switch… perhaps the final one before the release of Switch 2?