Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom devs worried about the game's reveal, and yes, they watch your videos

Anytime a new Zelda game gets revealed, Nintendo fans are incredibly excited. That excitement is even more palpable when Nintendo manages to surprise fans with something they never see coming, and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was very much that.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was surprise-revealed during a Nintendo Direct and shocked everyone. No one was expecting a brand-new Zelda title a year after Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched, but even more staggering was the fact that Zelda would be taking on the role of the protagonist this time around.

In an interview with the BBC, Nintendo’s devs said they knew that Zelda’s playable role would get a lot of attention, but that didn’t worry them. It was actually the game’s main mechanic of echoes that had them a bit apprehensive. While the dev team believed in the idea, they weren’t sure players would take to it.

“(A bigger concern was) whether or not the unique gameplay of the echoes was going to be conveyed properly and understood properly by the viewers.” - Eiji Aonuma, producer

“Whether or not the Zelda fans would accept these new elements was something I was watching over nervously.” - Satoshi Terada, head of Grezzo

“(I was) relieved to see that it was being accepted positively, and was really watching closely over my smartphone to see people’s reactions the following day as well.” - Tomomi Sano, director

Fast-forward to the game’s release, and millions of people have not only been loving the adventure, but also coming up with some seriously inventive ways to use echoes to solve puzzles and explore. While the dev team put a ton of thought and experimentation into echo usage, their team is still surprised to see some of the things people have come up with.

“Seeing how players are using it, I was really amazed at people’s imaginations. “(The bed and tornado echo combo) was one that we hadn’t thought of.” - Satoshi Terada, head of Grezzo

“Players were using the tornado and the bed to actually climb and go over mountains. And this was something that I was amazed by, something that I probably wouldn’t be able to do.” - Tomomi Sano, director