Echoes of Wisdom

[rynling]

During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, Eiji Aonuma introduced an upcoming Legend of Zelda title, Echoes of Wisdom. In this game, you play as Princess Zelda, and your job is to rescue Link using a magic staff called the Tri Rod, which can summon various objects onto the game map. This ability allows Zelda to solve navigation puzzles by means of Animal Crossing style furniture placement. Zelda can also fight enemies by tossing these objects at them, and then she can summon defeated enemies to fight alongside her.

For reference, this is a normal reaction: Echoes of Wisdom looks like a sweet little game that might be fun to play.

This is my personal reaction: I’m a big fan of 2D Zelda games, and I loved the Link’s Awakening remake for Nintendo Switch. The dungeon-building minigame in Link’s Awakening was flawed, but it had potential. I’m very excited to see this potential realized in its own dedicated game, and I think it’s marvelous that Zelda gets to be the hero of this game. Given that the Switch is nearing the end of its lifecycle, Echoes of Wisdom seems like an interesting experiment with the series formula that might lead to even more intriguing experiments in the next mainline 3D game.

This is my after-dark reaction: So Zelda fights Ganon herself, you say. So Zelda can apparate an infinite number of beds, you say. I wonder how many beds Zelda has to go through before Ganon is defeated, if you catch my meaning.

Meanwhile, I have seen some absolutely unhinged reactions on Twitter and Tumblr. The tamest of these reactions is that it’s somehow anti-feminist for Zelda not to have a sword, and some of the more troubling reactions are along the lines that this (Japanese) game (undoubtedly made with Chinese and Korean third-party assistance) is a direct manifestation of the white supremacy of American cultural imperialism.

I have been an absolute bodhisattva about not responding to these reactions. And I will continue to do so.

I’m not above criticizing Zelda games, of course, but I’m going to wait until Echoes of Wisdom actually comes out before I start thinking about it seriously. Until then, I’m just going to enjoy the memes and art.

Still, this is frustrating to me as someone who shares, reviews, and promotes work made by BIPOC and non-Western creators. I’m not frustrated with the people who have posted hot takes about Zelda so much as I am with the way social media functions. For example, someone posting about how “Tears of the Kingdom is a white supremacist representation of negative stereotypes about Evils Arabs” will generate tons of attention, while me posting something like “here’s a link to an article I wrote about five fun and interesting games made by Middle Eastern dev teams” is going to get ten reactions, maybe, if I’m lucky.

Again, I’m not throwing shade at people critiquing problematic representations. Rather, I think the way social media has shaped and framed these critiques is a reflection of a mainstream culture in which “minorities” are only allowed to exist as victims. Which is frustrating, obviously.

But what can you do, except to take the advice of Shigeru Miyamoto himself and cut the bullshit so you can focus on the things that matter. No need to get upset about a video game. Suffering is caused by attachment, etc.

TLDR: I would also like monster friends and a wizard staff that magically assembles Ikea furniture.

Comments

[corpsebrigadier]

Congrats on bodhisattvaing your way through The Takes(tm). I encountered them before I actually heard about the game itself, and its so refreshing to see somebody hype for this installment with a firm sense as to how much Very Important Discourse the present footage of it warrants relative to--say--considerations of the the number of beds necessary to handle Ganon. :]

[rynling]

What can I say, Nintendo keeps making games about fighting monster men with magical vibrating rods, and I keep being the target audience. I try not to think about it too hard.

ETA: This is probably not the place to say this, but still. I love your stories and meta, which collectively serve as a gorgeous example of how careful thought and analysis can enrich creativity when applied with good sense and good taste. I am very shy about commenting, but thank you for everything you share!

[corpsebrigadier]

I too am glad for a world full of monsters and rods, and I'm deeply flattered that you like my analytical and creative writing. Thank you so much for letting me know. :]

[lagertha_the_warrior]

Oh the new zelda game sounds good? Hubby loves Zelda, I'll let him know they're making this!

[rynling]

Discourse aside, it actually looks really cool!!

Maybe he already knows about it already, but your husband might also like Ocean's Heart, which is the truest homage to the classic 2D Zelda games I've yet to encounter.

• https://store.steampowered.com/app/1393750/Oceans_Heart/
• https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/oceans-heart-switch/

[lassarina]

....those certainly are some Takes. lord save me.

I'm very excited for this idea and I may actually buy a Zelda game at full price, which I haven't done in....uh.....uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Wind Waker??

[rynling]

I'm excited too! I just wish they were selling the game for slightly less than $60. I understand that the prices for everything have been rising since the pandemic, but that's a bit much for a game for kids.

Around this time last year, someone tried to start a fight with me on Twitter because I said that Final Fantasy XVI looks fun. Their complaint was that the game's protagonist isn't female. And I completely understand where they're coming from, but also, it's been a long time since I cared about representation in AAA games. Aside from Elden Ring (which I always play with the default male character model because I'm lazy about customization), I don't think any of the games in my Steam Deck library have male protagonists...

[lassarina]

I'm honestly astonished that games still cost $60, given that they have cost that since about the PS3 launch, but yeah, it is pretty stiff.

Representation in AAA is such a double edged sword. FFXVI definitely had some issues and gender representation was on that list, but not in a way that ruined it for me. I don't even know. Sometimes the fights over who should be somewhere are so exhausting I have to give up, because I'm using all my energy on day to day nonsense.

[rynling]

> I'm honestly astonished that games still cost $60, given that they have cost that since about the PS3 launch.

I hadn't even thought about this, but you're right. Now that I think about it, Nintendo games used to cost $40-$50 even back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 😅

[lassarina]

Yeah, I remember that PSX games were $40 new, then PS2 was $50, and PS3 was $60, and there are a few games that break the $60 line (usually when there are perks/extras involved) but not many (yet.)