Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - Exclusive Interview with First Female Director

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom marks a significant milestone as the first Zelda game to feature a female director at the helm. Dive into the fascinating journey of Tomomi Sano and the early stages of development for Echoes of Wisdom.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Details Revealed During Nintendo’s Ask the Developer Interviews

Meet Tomomi Sano, the Zelda Series’ First Female Director

The Legend of Zelda series has long been celebrated for its epic storytelling, intricate puzzles, and labyrinthine dungeons. With the upcoming release of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo has shared exciting details in their Ask the Developer interview, highlighting the game's unique place in Hyrule’s history. Not only is it the first Zelda game where Princess Zelda steps into the spotlight as the playable protagonist, but it's also the first to be directed by a woman, Tomomi Sano.

"Before this project, my role was to support the director," Sano shared in her interview with Nintendo. Prior to directing Echoes of Wisdom, she played a crucial role in Grezzo’s remakes, including Ocarina of Time 3D, Majora’s Mask 3D, Link’s Awakening, and Twilight Princess HD. Her experience extends to the Mario & Luigi series as well.

"My role involved managing and coordinating the production, suggesting adjustments, and ensuring that Grezzo's gameplay aligned with the Legend of Zelda series," Sano explained.

Eiji Aonuma, the series producer, praised her contributions, stating, "I almost always ask her to be involved in the Legend of Zelda remakes that Grezzo works on."

Image from Nintendo's Ask the Developer Vol. 13

Sano's career in the gaming industry spans over two decades, beginning with her role as a Stage Texture editor for Tekken 3 on the PlayStation 1 in 1998. Her early work at Nintendo includes the Japan-only Kururin Squash! and Mario Party 6, both released in 2004. Since then, she has contributed to numerous Legend of Zelda and Mario & Luigi titles, as well as various Mario sports games like Mario Tennis Open, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, and Mario Golf: World Tour.

Echoes of Wisdom Started as a Zelda Dungeon Maker, Revealed Aonuma

The concept for Echoes of Wisdom took root following the success of the 2019 remake, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. In the interview, Aonuma disclosed that Grezzo, the co-developers of Link’s Awakening, were tasked with leveraging their expertise in top-down Zelda gameplay to chart the franchise’s future. Initially, they considered another remake, but Grezzo proposed a more ambitious idea: a Zelda dungeon maker.

Aonuma posed the question to Grezzo, "If you were to make the next new game, what kind of game would you like it to be?" This led to a variety of proposals. Although the final concept evolved from these early ideas, Echoes of Wisdom wasn't originally envisioned as it stands today. Two early prototypes featured a "copy-and-paste" gameplay mechanic and a mix of top-down and side-view perspectives akin to Link’s Awakening.

"We explored several gameplay approaches simultaneously," said Satoshi Terada from Grezzo. "One concept allowed Link to copy and paste various objects, like doors and candlesticks, to create unique dungeons. We called this the ‘edit dungeon’ phase, where players could craft their own Legend of Zelda experiences."

Grezzo dedicated over a year to developing Echoes of Wisdom, focusing on the dungeon creation mechanic. However, a pivotal shift occurred when Aonuma intervened, using the phrase "upended the tea table" to describe halting development and redirecting the project’s course.

While Aonuma appreciated the initial concepts, he believed the dungeon-maker feature would be more impactful if players used copied-and-pasted items as tools to advance through the adventure, rather than solely creating dungeons.

"For example, in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, there’s an enemy called a Thwomp that falls from above and crushes things below, only appearing in the side-view perspective," Sano explained. "If you copy that and paste it into the top view, you can drop it from above to crush things, or ride it to climb upward."

Aonuma initially struggled with imposing restrictions on Echo usage, concerned about potential exploits. However, the team eventually decided these limitations were unnecessary and removed them from the final version.

This approach encouraged players to "be mischievous," a principle the developers embraced to foster creative and unconventional gameplay. As Aonuma noted, "We wanted to do some things that were really out there." This led to features like spike rollers, which, despite their unpredictable interactions, were deemed essential for the game's fun factor. "If we didn’t allow for this possibility, it wouldn’t be fun," he stated.

Sano added that the team created a document defining "being mischievous" to guide development. Terada and Sano outlined three key rules: "Be able to paste things however, wherever, and whenever you like," "Make it possible to complete puzzles using things that aren’t there," and "Being able to find uses for echoes that are so ingenious it almost feels like cheating should be part of what makes this game fun."

Freedom and creativity have always been at the heart of the Legend of Zelda series. Aonuma likened the game’s allowance for "being mischievous" to the Myahm Agana Shrine in Breath of the Wild, where players guide a ball through a maze. By using the controller’s motion controls, players can bypass obstacles by flipping the board and using the smooth surface on the other side.

"It’s like discovering a secret trick in the game, reminiscent of the old days," Aonuma said. "If this kind of solution isn’t allowed, then it’s not fun."

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is set to launch on September 26 on the Nintendo Switch. In this alternate timeline, Zelda, not Link, takes on the role of rescuing Hyrule from numerous rifts tearing through the land. For more insights into The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s gameplay and story, explore our detailed article below!