The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhas an unusual approach to loot. Seeking out and opening chests has almost always been a major part of theZeldaexperience - it’s basically what guides exploration. Chests grant not only necessary expendables, like bombs, arrows, and rupees, but also new tools. Some of them even contain maps and compasses that help players find even more chests in turn. The ultimate goal of every single classicZeldadungeon is to find and open a special, more colorful chest, which opens the way to the dungeon’s boss and eventual completion.
Even in modernZelda, chests are absolutely everywhere.Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomlikely each have thousands of chests, dotted all around their respective maps of Hyrule. Players may spot them in the distance while exploring shrines, find them buried in the dirt, or even just come upon them randomly using the Sheikah Sensor while out and about. Some of them even respawn infinitely witheach and every Blood Moon reset.Echoes of Wisdomhas plenty of chests, too, but when compared to the rest of the series, the loot inside them just isn’t up to snuff.
Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom’s Chests Are Repetitive
Too Many Rupees & Consumables
As pointed out in a Reddit post bygiveitsomedeath,Echoes of Wisdom’s loot is incredibly boring when compared to the rest of theZeldaseries. The grand majority of chests, it seems, contain only rupees, compared to the occasionally game-changing loot found in other games' chests. The problem isn’t limited to rupees, either; when it’s not money,manyEchoes of Wisdomchests contain simple consumables, like bubble kelp or golden eggs. These are, of course, central toEchoes of Wisdom’s smoothie crafting system, but they’re not terribly fun to find.
Compare that to classicZeldagames rangingfromA Link to the PasttoTwilight Princess, in which almost every major dungeon features a chest containing a new piece of equipment, things like a lamp or a hookshot. These new tools are not only necessary to complete the dungeons in which they’re found, but also unlock new areas in each game’s overworld.So many classicZeldachests contain more than one treasure each: they actually provide Link with keys to unlock even more loot throughout the world.
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And even in more recentZeldagames,chests continue to be ubiquitous and worthwhile.BOTWandTOTK’s chests rarely contain new tools for Link - all his abilities are relegated to the apps installed on his Sheikah Slate, or the powers inherent in his prosthetic right arm. However, they do often provide powerful weapons and shields. Although temporary, these items can make or break battles, and it’s always exciting to find a piece of equipment the player has never seen before.
Of course,not all chests are created equal. There have always been and will likely always be chests with things like five rupees or single bombs inside which, while useful, doesn’t quite earn the fanfare that opening a chest comes along with. Even so, there are at least a handful of game-changing chests in mostZeldagames, even if they’re few and far between. That’s not the case inEchoes of Wisdom, though.
Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom’s Chests Are Lackluster By Necessity
The Tri Rod’s Power & Expensive Items
But game design doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and there are a couple of factors to justifyEchoes of Wisdom’s disappointing chests. The first is thatZelda basically relies on a single item throughout the entire game: the Tri Rod and the titular Echoes it creates. She doesn’t need to find new tools in every dungeon, since the Tri Rod can do it all. What she does find frequently, however, is new Echoes. These cloned objects take the place of the traditional item system; differentEchoes have different abilities for traversal, exploration, and combat.
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So in truth,Echoes of Wisdomdoesn’t really need chests, since Echoes are basically always found out in the open. ButZeldagames have always had chests - the now-iconic chest-opening musical sting has become one of the most easily recognizable elements of the series.Echoes of Wisdomneeded to find a way to incorporate this classicZeldastaple, making players feel that the rupees they find are actually worthwhile.
And it did that bysetting item prices at shops significantly higher than in otherZeldagames, so that players have to actively seek out chests throughout the game in order to afford them. It succeeds in making the chests feel worthwhile, if still repetitive. And it makes sense with the lore: Hyrule is in crisis, with rifts opening up all over the world, so the surviving merchants are liable to price gouge.
So, while the chests inEchoes of Wisdomaren’t always exciting to open, they are necessary.
Source:giveitsomedeath/Reddit
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Strange rifts are tearing Hyrule apart, and with Link missing, it’s up to Princess Zelda to save the kingdom. Armed with the Tri Rod and aided by a mysterious fairy, she must solve puzzles, create environmental “echoes,” and battle enemies while navigating new regions and uncovering hidden secrets.
