Now that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is available, more and more players are fully exploring its top-down, toy-like open world. Gradually they discovered a pretty cold secret about this map: it “connects” almost perfectly with the map from A Link to the Past.
More and more players have been sharing posts on social media comparing the maps from Echoes of Wisdom and A Link to the Past, and have discovered that Echoes of Wisdom essentially uses the same map from A Link to the Past… just expanded. Many of the main landmarks can still be found in the same locations as in Link to the Past, although they have seemingly changed or aged over time.
Furthermore, most of the brand recent locations in Echoes of Wisdom are located outside of the borders where the Link to the Past map stopped, suggesting that civilizations like the Goron and Gerudo may have always existed in Link to the Past, they just weren’t accessible in this particular case, the game.
It’s truly amazing how Grezzo created the Echoes of Wisdom map with such care. This fits with A Link to the Past’s Hyrule in that perhaps the Gorons, Gerudos, Zora, and Dekus actually lived there, right next to where we could explore. And that explains why they don’t know Zelda/Hyrule. https://t.co/MANVHl5S97
— Rebecca Stone (Taylor’s version) (@forestminish) October 4, 2024
We talked about this phenomenon with our reviewer, Tom Marks, who agreed with the similarities. He pointed out to us that the landmarks, especially around Hyrule Castle, would be familiar to Zelda veterans. The graveyard and church are in the right places, and the hill on which Link’s house stood in Link to the Past is still there, even though Echoes of Wisdom Link lives in Suthorn Village.
Fans find other points of comparison. For example, the Eastern Palace is still present in the same location and even includes a side quest. There are ruins of the Echo of Wisdom where the village of Kakariko once stood, suggesting that it was moved at some point. There are also the ruins of the Desert Palace, the Marsh Ruins are in the right place and much more.
Echoes of Wisdom has Link to the Past DNA scattered throughout the world and it makes me feel toasty inside. Let’s take a compact trip, starting from the ruined ruins of the Desert Palace. pic.twitter.com/CCP1eifuRF
— Metroid Mike 64 (@MetroidMike64) October 4, 2024
Echoes of Wisdom is far from the first Zelda game to feature clever, if subtle, map tricks. A Link to the Past itself featured both a lightweight and dim variation of the same world. And when Tears of the Kingdom came out, we wrote about how the Depths were basically an underground mirror of the surface.
What will be of most interest to Zelda history buffs is whether this answers significant questions about Echoes of Wisdom’s place in the Zelda timeline. Could this actually put Echoes of Wisdom in the timeline after “Link to the Past” and “Link Between Worlds”? Or is this an alternate universe situation? We will need Zelda researchers to solve this problem.
When looking for similarities in your gameplay, check out our wiki guides and our own interactive map, whether you’re discovering similarities on your own or just looking for more heart containers.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
