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

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom represents a landmark achievement in the franchise, being the first game led by a female director. Dive into the details about Tomomi Sano and the early development of 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 is renowned for its captivating storytelling, intricate puzzles, and immersive dungeons. With the upcoming release of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo's recent Ask the Developer interview shed light on what makes this game a historic entry in Hyrule's saga. Not only does it feature Princess Zelda as the main playable character for the first time, but it also marks the debut of a female director in the series.

"Prior to this project, my main role was to support the director," said Tomomi Sano, the director of Echoes of Wisdom, in her interview with Nintendo. Before taking on this pivotal role, Sano contributed significantly to Grezzo’s remake projects, including Ocarina of Time 3D, Majora’s Mask 3D, Link’s Awakening, and Twilight Princess HD. She also lent her expertise to the Mario & Luigi series.

"My role was to manage and coordinate the production for this project, suggest adjustments, and then check the outcome to ensure the gameplay created by Grezzo is aligned with the Legend of Zelda series," Sano explained.

Series producer Eiji Aonuma praised her contributions, noting, "I almost always ask her to be engaged 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 work as a Stage Texture editor for Tekken 3 on the PlayStation 1 in 1998. Her early contributions to Nintendo include the Japan-only Kururin Squash! and Mario Party 6, both released in 2004. Since then, she has worked on numerous titles within the Legend of Zelda and Mario & Luigi series, including several Mario sports games such as Mario Tennis Open, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, and Mario Golf: World Tour.

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

The journey of Echoes of Wisdom began following the success of the 2019 remake, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. During the interview, Aonuma disclosed that Grezzo, the co-developers of Link’s Awakening, were commissioned to leverage their expertise in top-down Zelda gameplay to shape the franchise's future. Initially, the project was envisioned as another remake, but Grezzo proposed something more daring: 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 open-ended query sparked various proposals. While the final concept evolved from these early ideas, Echoes of Wisdom was not initially conceived in its current form. Early prototypes featured a "copy-and-paste" gameplay mechanic and a mix of top-down and side-view perspectives similar to Link’s Awakening.

"We were exploring a few different ways to play the game in parallel," said Satoshi Terada from Grezzo. "In one approach, Link could copy and paste various objects, such as doors and candlesticks, to create original dungeons. During this exploration phase, this was called an ‘edit dungeon’ because players could create their own Legend of Zelda gameplay."

Grezzo devoted over a year to developing Echoes of Wisdom, focusing on the dungeon creation mechanic. However, a significant shift occurred when Aonuma intervened, using the phrase "upending the tea table" to describe the radical change in direction. While Aonuma appreciated their earlier ideas, he felt the dungeon-maker feature would reach its full potential if players used copied-and-pasted items as tools to progress through the adventure, rather than solely creating their own dungeons.

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

Aonuma initially struggled with imposing restrictions on Echo usage, concerned about potential exploitation. However, the team eventually realized that such limitations were unnecessary and removed them in the final version.

This approach encouraged players to "be mischievous," a guiding principle that emphasized creative and unconventional gameplay. As Aonuma stated, "We wanted to do some things that were really out there." This led to the inclusion of features like spike rollers, which, despite their unpredictable interactions, were deemed essential for a fun experience. "If we didn’t allow for this possibility, it wouldn’t be fun," he added.

Sano noted that the team created a document defining "being mischievous" to guide development efforts. 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 central to the Legend of Zelda series. Aonuma likened the game’s encouragement of "being mischievous" to the Myahm Agana Shrine in Breath of the Wild, where players could bypass obstacles by flipping the entire board and using the smooth surface underneath.

"It’s like finding a secret trick in the game, just like the old days," Aonuma remarked. "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 for the Nintendo Switch. In this alternate timeline, Zelda takes the lead in rescuing Hyrule as rifts threaten the land. For more insights into The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s gameplay and story, explore our detailed article below!