Forget A Horse, One Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Ability Will Let You Fly

Summary Echoes of Wisdom introduces a new ability called Bind, allowing Zelda to fly by attaching herself to objects for momentum.

Previous Zelda games like Skyward Sword also featured flight mechanics, showing a history of innovative travel options in the series.

The game also showcases Reverse Bind, allowing Zelda to move objects and enemies to manipulate the environment creatively.

Horses are all well and good, but a newly revealed ability in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will let players take to the sky. Following the game's announcement at the June Direct, Nintendo put out a more extensive gameplay trailer demonstrating several of the game's core mechanics. Among them was the ability to ride a horse - admittedly pretty cool, but this was dwarfed by some of the more esoteric abilities debuted in the trailer, which boast even greater creative potential.

The new Echoes of Wisdom trailer, seen below, is subtitled “Traversing Hyrule.” And indeed, that's what it's all about. In it, Zelda can be seen using a variety of travel modes to get from point A to point B: jumping, swimming, fast traveling, and yes, even riding a horse. Horse riding has long since been a staple mechanic in the Zelda series, but this is only the second time a 2D Zelda game has allowed players to ride a horse. (The first was in Four Swords Adventures.) That's pretty cool, but alongside a new feature that literally lets Zelda fly, it pales in comparison.

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Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Lets Players Fly With The Bind Ability

How Bind/Reverse Bind Works In Echoes Of Wisdom

Zelda's new Bind/Reverse Bind ability just might be the most exciting thing about Echoes of Wisdom, in no small part because it gives her the option to fly. Bind works by effectively attaching Zelda to any object in her vicinity - when it moves, she moves. In the trailer, she's mainly seen using it to attach herself to animals, and using their momentum to propel herself through difficult terrain. But the potential for this is infinite, and does allow Zelda to, at least briefly, fly.

Related Every Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Tribe Revealed (So Far) Nintendo recently released a new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which showed Hyrule's different regions and their inhabitants.

Bind is paired with a similar ability - Reverse Bind - that allows Zelda to move objects along with her. In the trailer, Zelda is specifically seen using Bind to drag enemies off cliffs, removing them from combat instantly. She can also use this to shift large obstacles out of her way. While it seems a little more limited than Reverse Bind, it still has many creative uses, especially when paired with the ability to spawn Echoes of objects.

Zelda Games Are No Stranger To Flight

Other Zelda Games Have Featured Flight & Controllable Objects

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As exciting as this ability is in Echoes of Wisdom, it's not the first time a Zelda game has allowed players to take flight. Most notable is Skyward Sword, which features mountable birds known as Loftwings, used to travel between the sky islands and the ground below. Even Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom feature limited forms of flight, mostly in the form of the Paraglider (although it's possible to build proper flying machines in TOTK too).

And veteran Zelda fans are no strangers to moving in concert with animals and inanimate objects, either. Think of the Temple of Time from Twilight Princess, which required Link to control an army of tiny statues in order to press buttons and open doors. And honestly, when Zelda uses Bind to pull a treasure chest out of the ground, it looks a lot like Link using Ultrahand in TOTK.

Related New Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Trailer Confirms The Return Of The Best Ocarina Of Time Feature A new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has confirmed the return of one feature that will make exploring Hyrule even easier.

So, as exciting as the prospect of flight in Echoes of Wisdom is, it's really nothing new for the series. However, when combined with Zelda's other powers, it has a ton of creative potential. Whether it can really be used to fly across Hyrule remains to be seen, but players will surely find countless uses for it in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.