The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Overworld Sure Looks Familiar, But Is It?

Definitely has some similarities with the exception of the NW area. That's normally reserved for the lost woods and the master sword.

Now Zelda must rescue Link who will go on to rescue Zelda afterwards. Only for Link needing to be rescued again by Zelda, who then needs to be rescued by Link once more. Leading Link needing to be rescued a third time by Zelda, in which Link then proceeds to rescue Zelda.

This is slightly disappointing, given it means Minish Cap is still the last traditional 2D game with a wholly new overworld, but...I mean, it's not 1:1, and there seem to be a lot of new areas. If it's a bit more akin to how Zelda II had a section of the map dedicated to remaking the original's overworld in miniature, I definitely won't have any gripes with it.

The icy mountain looks like the original Death Mountain from Link to the Past and Link Between Worlds, while the Death Mountain looks more like the one from Ocarina of Time. Kakariko looks similar to the Ocarina of Time version of the area, whilst Castle Town has some similarities to Breath of the Wild. The Deku Tree is more like it is in Ocarina as well- but there's both types of Zoras which feel like they're referencing the Oracle games. Then there's things like Deku sprouts- which come from Majora's Mask.

It seems like if this is the same Hyrule as A Link to the Past/Link Between Worlds- it's an entirely different era. Sometime probably around 200 years or so after.

@onlyonemello It's okay to let people enjoy things, but it's also okay to let people not enjoy things. Different strokes for different folks.

The 2D Zelda maps, with their terrain quadrants and central castle area are pretty easy to overlap. Not a big combination for very a unique map.

The game looks to take from BotW with the crafting and manipulation mechanics the Rod bestows. Hopefully Zelda gets access to a bow and arrows later on, and then the sword to get action flowing. Makes me wonder if the Zelda team played a lot of Trine before BotW

For the most part one could say it's a coincidence, but cmon, the rock field and the EASTERN PALACE are pretty damning pieces of evidence

There will be enough variant. A Link Between Worlds was fantastic because of its gameplay. Not because it was a mostly reused map. This will be no different in that regard — fantastic for the gameplay.
I'm looking forward to being able to explore in a whole new way, using the "infinite possibilities" Tri mechanic. Can't wait.

@DripDropCop146 Dude, spoilers.

Isn't the most likely thing that the rifts are opening to me areas, dimensions, or even time? Then you could include pieces of many different maps or part games.

Day one buy, which is very rare for me. I can imagine the wealth of puzzle and battle solutions that I will never be smart enough to come up with.

At a glance I just assumed this was ALttP/ALBW map.

The other side of the rift is BoTW lol

Hylia’s Grace. I’m just going to wait for the reveal from Nintendo.

Sometimes people take Game Geography way too seriously. Feels like Elder Scrolls games all over again.

@Not_Soos Ok fair enough. Sometimes I just can’t deal with the complaints of people who want more, more, more, when clearly Nintendo is giving us nearly everything (besides ALBW haha) on the Switch. The implication in the OP’s comment is that Nintendo doesn’t listen to “the people” when I just don’t think that’s true. For example: Super Mario RPG, Thousand Year Door, Metroid Prime Remaster, Pokémon Let’s Go games, Advance Wars Reboot Camp, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Link’s Awakening, Pikmin 1+2, AND 3, Skyward Sword, LiveALive, Kirby Return to Dreamland, Xenoblade Chronicles, DKCR, Luigi’s Mansion 2, etc etc etc. The original comment just made me annoyed — Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, and especially when they’ve been cooking up excellent HD ports and remasters during the Switch’s tenure.

So there are similarities between maps of different Zelda games ... really! XD
And how about the story, is it a brand new story each time or ... are there also maybe similarities there 😉

@Bobb I think the Lost Woods are still there, just in front of the volcano.

But there appears to be a big treehouse where the sanctuary/graveyard are meant to be, and Link’s (Uncle’s) house is missing (though there may be a steam trail coming from a chimney near there?)

Zelda's Awakening

I don’t think Aonuma cares to keep consistent maps across all games. That said, this map looks like a variation of BtoW before the Calamity, which would make sense as Zelda players are already familiarized with this layout of the land.

@Papasears1982
Same here. It looks like the developers got too excited for TotK's building aspect and decided to redesign it for a new game. Even the submenu is back.

Then again, this game is obviously a side chapter and not a new big Zelda game. I just hope they ditch the building aspect after this game.

@RonF
If it was the same map again it would be incredibly boring. This game already looks like it isn't too interesting in terms of exploration. I can already imagine how every village and area will look like, which is not fun. The whole point of exploration should be "surprise."

@Bobb @NintendoByNature No, you can see the woods east of the volcano, above the castle in the image. The woods are still there, the map has been expanded to include a volcano to the west of the woods.

Not a huge fan of this art style. I wanted a game with playable Zelda, but definitely not in this art style

This is already looking incredible - the art style really deserves an original adventure. A dark art style didn’t really help Twilight Princess and it would be even more out of place in a top down Zelda.

I’m almost looking forward to hearing the soundtrack more than anything.

Even though it borrow a few similar locales from A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds, my guess is that was probably the opening world that Princess Zelda would start in, once she journey further into the game the rest of the world will open up just like how the Dark World and Lorule opened up.

@dojmin Well you always got the two other options as well that is if you don't prefer Hyrule Warriors and Cadence of Hyrule.

@Papasears1982

I don't want a Unreal 5 Dark Zelda and so shouldn't you.
Waiting 10 years for a Twilight Princess-esque game where I can count every single strain of hair on Epona is the most boring outcome we could ever become.

Honestly, it's Hyrule. So you are going to reconize parts of it.

Looking forward to decorating Hyrule with tables and beds

@Bobb yeah, Nintendo have never really given realistic geography much thought…

The extra foliage does lend itself to LttP prequel placement, but Ganon should be stuck in the Sacred/Dark Realm at that point, so I’m thinking this in the “Era of Decline” between Link Between Worlds and original LoZ.

@DripDropCop146 Ah, both Link and Zelda recuse themselves. They both take the Hyrulean legal system very seriously.

Who thought it was a good idea to show all of those repetitive trees at the same time?

So-called Zelda ''historians'' need to get a grip. ... And newsflash: THERE IS NO TIMELINE !!!

@Scarmucci There absolutely is a timeline. What a silly thing to say.

this is epic: I actually said that it was going to be a Link to the Past, and I love it when I say the most random things, and I'm apparently correct (at least that we know of for now, and at least in one sense), haha!

@Octane ah gotcha! I see it there now.

If true, this is just even more disappointing. Would love a Link To The Past remake with this engine. Can't believe this is the new Zelda content.

@Tasuki dude if only. That game is the best. I'm just holding out now at this point that they'll release like a Zelda collection or something on the next console like they did on game cube. Maybe the collection will be called like "remasters and spiritual successors" and have all the hits over the WiiU and 3DS eras and the 3DS titles are upgraded to HD.

@Tasuki There's something so Nintendo Fan about getting a brand new Zelda game, where we FINALLY get to play as Zelda which fans have been wanting for as long as I can remember, and the reaction being "I WANT A PORT OF THIS OTHER ONE"

@mikejs78 No. There isn't. The Zelda creators came up with the one for Hyrule Historia just to stop the speculation that was running rampant on the internet. Unfortunately it did not work and has only made timeline speculation even worse. The Zelda creators do not care about any supposed timeline - fan-created or otherwise.

This is the problem when they created a timeline that had to be adhered to, every version of Hyrule has to contain certain basic landmarks/areas in roughly the same parts of the map to have continuity. They've tied their own hands in this regard. This is why I'm begging for a Zelda game set outside of Hyrule again like Link's Awakening, the Oracle games, Majora's Mask. It'll allow them to be creative with the map again instead of being stifled by timeline continuity.

@ZombAid82 Yeah we’ve already experienced that with Zelda too — fans thought they wanted a realistic Zelda, but got Wind Waker instead. Then I guess Nintendo listened and went darker and more realistic with Twilight Princess. Arguably, time has been kinder to WW and Nintendo realized we don’t need photorealistic Zelda. I don’t need HD browns and grays and tans and forest greens.

As much as I love maps and The Legend of Zelda you would think that I'd be an expert on Zelda maps. I may have to make that a side thing to have knowledge of all the Hyrule maps. The map from what I can tell has a strong resemblance to A Link to the Past, but if it is the same world, then an enormous volcano has just sprouted where the Lost Woods would be, so that's a problem. Then again if it's a few generations after that era, it can easily be allowed in. I still got to figure out where BOTW and TOTK fit into the timeline.

@Serpenterror wouldn't it be neat if these games got remade with the nintendo touch.

I hope it doesn't turn out too similar. ALBW was an amazing game but it could have been so much better if it had its own map.