Link apparently won’t be warming the bench in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

A new ESRB rating for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom revealed players will get to play as both Zelda and Link.

During June 2024’s Nintendo Direct, fans were pleasantly surprised to learn a new The Legend of Zelda game is coming soon. Even more surprising was that players would play as Zelda, not Link. While many of us are slowly preparing to conjure furniture and capture monsters, an ESRB rating indicated Link would also be a playable character (thanks Eurogamer).

The ESRB rating says players will play as Zelda, who goes on a journey to dispel the rifts that appeared around Hyrule while also trying to save Link. About halfway through the description, it reads as follows:

“As Link, players can use a sword and arrows to defeat enemies; Zelda can use a magic wand to summon creatures (e.g. wind-up knights, pig soldiers, slime) for battles.”

The trailer for the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom clearly shows Link falling into a dark rift, indicating that it’s Princess Zelda’s time to shine. The rest of the gameplay footage didn’t show any sections where Link was playable, so many assumed this was a Zelda game where the only playable character would be the princess of Hyrule. 

While it’s unclear how relevant Link’s role will be in Echoes of Wisdom, it’s nice to see we’ll get some traditional The Legend of Zelda along with all the new features.