Why This Genius Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Tactic Is Perfect For Speedrunners

Despite only releasing a few weeks ago, players of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom are already finding ways to speedrun the game. The title's Echo ability has allowed players to approach this entry in a completely different way compared to previous titles. Whether it be in combat or during puzzle-solving sections, Echoes of Wisdom consistently asks the player to engage with their environment in a completely new way. This is no more apparent than when Zelda is traversing through Hyrule.

During the game, Zelda is often reliant on the Echoes she has collected to move across her kingdom with ease. Players will often encounter large gaps and high platforms or cliff sides that are too much for the princess's admittedly lackluster jump. These gaps usually have a simple solution, requiring an Echo to help Zelda reach new areas. However, one player has taken it a step further, allowing the princess to skip huge parts of the overall map. Best of all, they achieved this simply by doing what the Echo ability has encouraged, and thinking outside the box.

Zelda Fans Have Already Found A Speedrunning Tactic For Echoes Of Wisdom

And All It Takes Is Two Echoes

X user marumottii has found a method to skip huge portions of Echoes of Wisdom by using two Echoes in tandem with each other. By placing Zelda on an Old Bed Echo and repeatedly spawning a Tornando Echo, the floating creature will fling the bed high into the air. In the clip above, the player demonstrates the power of this tactic by propelling Zelda from the bottom of Eldin Volcano all the way up to Goron City in just a few seconds. This time is nothing compared to the several minutes it takes to traverse the volcano normally.

Related Genius Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Player Finds A Way To Play As Link After All While Zelda may finally have her chance to step into the spotlight in Echoes of Wisdom, a talented fan has figured out how to play the game as Link.

This tactic is primed for use in official speedruns, made better by its approachability. Both Echoes required to pull off this trick can be found in the game early on: the Old Bed is found in the game's opening moments, while the Tornados reside in Gerudo Desert, one of the first destinations that Zelda visits. It's exciting to see just how quickly players are able to break the game wide open, giving nearly limitless potential in how they choose to progress. And this is just one of many Echo combinations the player can experiment with.

How Echoes Encourage Experimentation

There's No Right Or Wrong Answer When Using Echoes

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What's most fascinating about this particular speedrunning tactic is how naturally it fits into the game's design as a whole. The tactic isn't some exploitable glitch unintended by developers. Instead, it falls directly in line with how Nintendo expects you to use Zelda's Echo ability. The entire game is built around this experimentation. The dungeons in Echoes of Wisdom no longer build puzzles surrounding a singular item obtained in a chest. Instead, puzzles are open-ended, with multiple solutions. Players are required to think about the Echoes at their disposal, and how they can be used together to progress.

Some dungeons provide Zelda with some of Link's weapons required to progress, though puzzles can often be solved with Echoes as an alternative.

It's an approach that directly falls in line with speedrunning itself, where players work to find solutions so they can complete a game in the shortest possible time. This experimentation is only bolstered by the sheer number of echoes available to collect. Zelda can attain a total of 127 Echoes, providing a near-endless number of possibilities for players to pull off some seriously powerful moves. With this many Echoes to choose from and experiment with, it's only the beginning for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom speedruns, and that couldn't be more exciting.

Source: marumottii/X