Echoes of Wisdom Adventure Log, Entry 13 ~ Finale

Honestly, I was expecting the Eternal Forest to be another step in the adventure, before you venture into the grand finale... somewhere else. And it can be seen that way, but also not, so most of the post will go into one big spoiler box out of precaution. Final dungeon and boss spoilers ahead, so you've been warned!

You meet up with General Wright and two soldiers in the Eternal Forest, who have been knocked out by the imposter Zelda for some silly dialogue. I thought that he went in there with an army, because it would have been nice to see Zelda get escorted at least one more time. She is the princess of Hyrule after all, but they just let her roam free and head into dangers all by herself. And once Tri tells them that they can't follow to where they are going, the general calls it a day and leaves it to Zelda. "Okay then, we're going to leave Hyrule's fate to you and go grab a coffee, see ya!"

Now that you've collected the three goddess sanctums, you can magically read the slate in the forest, which spawns an orb, which you're supposed to place on the pedestals all around the forest by using echoes. I already had them mapped all out, so this was trivial enough...

But I liked how this limited Tri, because with each placed orb you have one less triangle to work with. So, at the end you could only spawn the most basic enemies to fight for you. That's a very interesting idea, one that they could have explored in a dungeon afterwards, where you have to prioritize the pedestals accordingly. But they never do that...

Clearing this task opens the way deeper into the woods, which is where you finally get to meet the Great Deku Tree. And I'm not adding this to the spoiler section, because Nintendo had shown this scene in the announcement trailer. In the ANNOUNCEMENT trailer.

This is A Link Between Worlds all over again, where they didn't even bother to hold back for the sake of spoilers... If it's not the final boss, then show it. Volvagia was technically even the second-to-last boss for me and they've put that one in a trailer, too. And okay, the game tells you about a big tree in the forest, so it's not like them showing the Great Deku Tree in advance ruins a massive plot twist here. But still...

This late in the game I want to see stuff for the first time. Luckily, this was the case for almost everything that followed, so we're truly going into the spoiler territories now:

~ The Ancient Ruins ~

The pedestal in front of the tree doesn't serve as a socket for the Master Sword this time, where there is no mention of it in the entire game, instead it serves as an entrance to the "Ancient Ruins", which is where the Triforce resides. And Zelda nerds like myself should get immediately excited when they see the place...

The layout is the same as in the intro of Oracle of Ages & Seasons, where Link approaches the Triforce. It was always assumed that this takes place at Hyrule Castle, because it is shown quite prominently in the intro as well, with a giant doorway that draws you in. But the game never actually confirms this. It could be anywhere in Hyrule, maybe even somewhere deep in the Lost Woods...

But I don't think that this is coincidence, which means that they have designed this room as a direct reference to that scene from the Oracle games. You have a row of three torches at each side and you go up some stairs at the end, the shape of the room is identical as well. The main difference is that here the Triforce floats above one large pedestal, instead of each piece sitting on their own individual podium. The original also had a fence at the elevation, while this new version has water at the sides. But it's still very similar overall.

The best explanation probably is that this the Ancient Ruins here are a recreation of the room where the Triforce used to be in Hyrule Castle, before it turned into three birds and flew away... Maybe the Goddesses have left a blueprint somewhere for how to properly store the "prime energy".

Now, we finally get another Zelda game where the Triforce splits into its three parts after someone unworthy / unbalanced has touched it. This idea was part of Ocarina of Time's story, but it never played a role in any of the other Zelda games, except for Twilight Princess, but there it wasn't central to the story and they don't even mention the Triforce by name (they don't call it that here either).

In Echoes of Wisdom we can see it happening live, but the Triforce is nice enough to leave a portal, which leads to one of its bearers, Link. Ganondorf certainly would have liked to have this back in the day... But this might be a special case, because it had to enter the Still World.

The Stilled Ancient Ruins make use of all the different environments from the game, which is neat. They even offer split paths, where you can go through either a desert or a river section in the beginning, like how you could decide between the Gerudo Desert and Jabul Waters in the early game. But overall this isn't all too spectacular – like with all the other Still Worlds it's just a bunch of floating platforms with little gameplay.

The highlight awaits at the end with the battle against the imposter Zelda, who is also able to summon monsters like you do, only that hers are the shadow versions. The swordfighter mode is very effective here.

Afterwards you can finally free Link, making up for when he has saved you in the beginning of the game. And probably for all the other Links in the past that have freed a Princess Zelda from such a crystal – it was time to return the favor.

Link will then just stand there, menacingly, where you're given the choice to return his equipment to him. This creates a point of no return, so it was clear that this will lead into the final battle, but I went with it right away, since beating the game might give you a better overview of what you might be missing. Otherwise Link will just keep standing there... Waiting. And waiting. And waiting. While you go have fun with smoothies.

~ Null's Body ~

Together you will enter Null's gigantic body, which serves as the game's final dungeon. It may not be as unsettling as the Gloom's Lair from Tears of the Kingdom, but visually this is by far the most unique final dungeon in the series so far. You're inside this dark, organic mass, which looks like the Nightmares and Bellum cooperated on the interior design.

There is no map, treasure chests or boss key to find, so you may not even count it as a full dungeon, but it does have its own map screen. And I won't complain about how entirely linear it is, because it serves the main idea of the dungeon...

In here you're cooperating with Link, who politely bows to you on every step of the way, which was very cute. Link gets controlled by the game and therefore acts automatically, but other than that, this is how I imagined the next multiplayer Zelda game to be. One plays as Zelda, one plays as Link.

And I wouldn't mind to get a follow-up to Echoes of Wisdom where this is the case. Bring back the echoes for Zelda, but focus on cooperative multiplayer. The Legend of Zelda: It Takes Two! Three players in Tri Force Heroes were already one too many and it doesn't need another Four Swords either, but I think a multiplayer Zelda game for two people hits a sweet spot. It's also the ideal coop game for couples, where both like Zelda or at least video games. Think of all the Zelda fans who have married another Zelda fan, this would be for them.

It would also be more interesting due to the different roles, instead of having multiple Links. And in a singleplayer mode you could switch between Link and Zelda at any time... This dungeon here gives you a small taste of how such a game could be like and I wouldn't mind more of this.

However, fighting felt a lot more passive in this scenario, because Links plows through everything. I'm guessing that your equipment may alter how strong he gets, so the Lv3 Sword and Bow of Might make him simply overpowered. I barely was able to get a look at the only Lynel I have met so far...

That's another thing Nintendo's promotional material has spoiled of the game, where such a Shadow Lynel was featured on the Still World artwork... And that made me expect that they would be a little more common, but instead this was the only encounter during the main quests. How lame. Since the shadow enemies are all based on what you can turn into echoes, I'm assuming that there must be a normal Lynel somewhere in the game, though. I just haven't found it yet...

The end of the dungeon is very reminiscent of the end of the Wind Fish's Egg maze, where you have to jump down into a dark hole. It even looks a lot more nightmarish here. Like with the Ancient Ruins, I'm sure that this is intentional to give Zelda fans like myself something to talk about. And I can appreciate that, but I wouldn't go as far as to connect the Nightmares to Null, though there are certainly some similarities.

~ Null ~

Well, when I heard the game's backstory, I already made my peace with the thought that this game's villain – despite its important role for the lore of the series – will probably become a one-off. And staring at its face confirmed this:

It looks like a giant and grotesque version of Tri, which explains why Null also has the ability to create echoes. This never gets addressed by the game as to why they look the same, but my headcanon is that the Goddesses have created the Tris in Null's image in order to counter it. But Null is much more powerful than Tri, because it can create echoes of large monsters... like Ganon or other bosses. 

During the battle I felt the most passive I ever was in the game, since Link was doing most of the work. Well, you have to pull out Null's limbs with Bind, so that Link can cut them off. You can still summon echoes, of course, so you're having the same agency as always. And it's not like I relied on the swordfighter mode all that much... So, this feeling mainly stemmed from Link being so active.

Without this feeling this would have the potential to become one of my favorite final boss fights in the series, mainly because the design looks so cool. It's like the Nightmares from Link's Awakening and the Metroid Prime had a love child.

There was also a side-scrolling section where you follow Null through a portal and you have to swim after it, while Link was held off. If you spawn some Moas, then this will look like Gradius, R-Type, or similar classic space shooter. I liked this part, because it broke up the pace from the rest of the fight and also gave me agency again. Though, I first missed how you refill your air, because the screen was too busy and I didn't pay attention to that...

Once the boss is defeated, you pull the Triforce of Power out of Null (which was hilarious) and wish it away in a very beautiful scene with all the Tris. So, this will certainly be the first and last time we see this villain, despite the fact that the entire world was created in order to contain it. I'm getting Lorule vibes here.

~ Good Bye, Tri ~

With Null gone, there is no reason to keep the Tris around, so they will go away into stand-by. Then, before Tri leaves, it gives you the same "thank you" moment as Fi. And it's also similar to Navi leaving, except that Tri at least has the courtesy to say good-bye to you and notice your sadness.

However, unlike most sidekicks in the series so far, this was a heartfelt moment for me. I could totally relate to Zelda here, because Tri really was an awesome companion throughout the game, and a cute one at that. Everyone loves Midna, but I personally would rank Tri as my favorite.

And that's coming from someone who never wanted to have such a sidekick character in a Zelda game ever again, because they usually lead to hand-holding or annoying interruptions. They did a great job with Tri, though, and I'm certain we will see some reference in a future Zelda game, even if it's just the Tri Rod hanging on a wall somewhere.

There was also this funny scene where Link suddenly talks in front of the King of Hyrule and everyone is shocked. The credits show all of the characters in their daily lives, where Condé's brother finally returns. So, it was a beautiful ending to a beautiful Zelda game.

But even though the credits have rolled, I'm not done yet... I went into the final battle already, because I expected them to follow the new trend from Breath of the Wild, where beating the game marks your save file with a star and gives you some information about your completion status. And that's exactly what happens.

Sadly, it's not overly thorough. It doesn't tell you how many accessories and side quests there are in total, so that's information I will have to get from the internet... But it does tell you the total of the collectibles on the map, as well as the total of echoes and automatons, and here is where I'm currently at:

• Pieces of Heart: 36/40
• Might Crystals: 134/150
• Stamps: 24/25
• Echoes: 123/127
• Automatons: 6/6
  

The most curious thing are the echoes, where it also shows you the open slots. It looks like I'm missing a Lv3 Boarblin, a Lv3 Darknut, and maybe a Lv2 Ghini judging by the gaps. There is also an object right after the cloud missing, where this might be the container that the one Zora wants, which is the only side quest that I wasn't able to solve yet.

You can ask the Great Deku Tree about where you have to look for any remaining echoes, but I will first search everything for the missing Pieces of Heart and Might Crystals, where eventually I may also run into one of the enemies that I have yet to encounter. It surprises me quite a bit to have missed as much, however, because I've been exploring everything thoroughly.

Also, there has to be a real Lynel somewhere or else I will be disappointed. But I wouldn't want it to replace any of the other potential monsters, so I'm hoping that it will be like an "extra echo" adding one to the total. 127 is such an odd number anyway, every good programmer would make to want this a nice 128... Right? And this could be a challenge that only unlocks after getting all 127 other echoes.

In addition, there are still three open slots among the trade items, which is curious as well. In any case, this means that there will be one last entry in this series, where I'm aiming for the 100%. Don't hold your breath for this one, though, it might take a bit...