Wise Opinions on Zelda
My Echoes of Wisdom review, the PS5 Pro's value proposition, Black Myth: Wukong makes a billion bucks
Zelda’s been the water-cooler topic of the week, but even I was surprised by the volume of NPR treatments on Echoes of Wisdom. Morning Edition had academic Amanda Cote on the historical significance of Zelda finally taking the helm, Juana Summers considered the game’s merits and frustrations with The Verge’s Ash Parrish, and then there’s my review, which I published Wednesday:
Link’s got 20 hearts and a full arsenal — I steer him through the dungeon and tear into Ganon. Minutes into the latest Legend of Zelda game, I’m already slashing through to the classic conclusion I’ve played more times than I could count.
But this time, after beating the familiar archenemy, a purple rift starts to swallow Link whole. He fires his bow as he sinks, the arrow cracking the crystal trapping Zelda. Within seconds, he’s subsumed entirely, but the camera doesn’t go with him — it lingers. Experimentally, I tap a button. Zelda bashes her crystal prison, breaking it further. I tap again and again until she’s freed herself. Link — the hero of the series for nearly 40 years — has left the picture. Zelda’s fate is in her hands and mine. […]
Tears of the Kingdom scored emotional heights by focusing on Zelda and Link’s shared history. In contrast, these new versions of the characters don’t know each other at all. At first this works to the game’s benefit. Zelda’s unburdened from expectation and free to explore — from the brackish waters contested by the Sea and River Zora to the deserts the exclusively-female Gerudo call home (which Zelda, blessedly, doesn’t need to sneak into, as Link usually must!).
Yet the game gradually reveals its commitment to precedent. You’ll acquire Link’s sword, bow, and bombs, which you must spend a limited energy meter to use. I’d always summon my favorite allies to help in fights — but this “Swordfighter” mode increasingly became my preferred combat tactic.
That’s in part because I could easily supply energy-boosting drinks. Rather than let you pluck apples from trees or wheat from fields, Echoes of Wisdom stocks cooking ingredients in shops and chests you’ll find scattered throughout the world, which you can whip into nutritious smoothies for a small fee.
These mechanics echo past titles, but Link haunts the game most of all. Zelda has to save him to fulfill their mutually destined roles, which fall along predictably gendered lines. I could accept Link as an equal partner in Hyrule’s salvation if the game gave me more reasons to care about him. Instead, he remains a lore-mandated presence and a stranger to Zelda, who spent the entire game proving that she really can have it all. Where the opening minutes felt like Link passing the baton, the last felt like him refusing to let go.
Still, Echoes of Wisdom stands as a quietly revisionist work despite this dissonance. While the game’s experiments aren’t quite as successful as Tears of Kingdom’s, Zelda has proven to be capable of shouldering the series that bears her name. As Nintendo plans a new gaming console, I can only hope it has the wisdom to build on this promising new Legend.
“Vertical stand sold separately” just about sums up the discourse around the recently-announced PS5 Pro. While you couldn’t snatch (or build) a PC as powerful for $700, add in the $30 stand and the $80 disc drive and the Steam Deck OLED or even ASUS ROG Ally X start to look way more affordable. I joined Weekend Edition’s Ayesha Rascoe to explain why she really shouldn’t buy a PS5 Pro for the son of hers who asked for one.
Finally, The Indicator from Planet Money invited me on to talk about Black Myth: Wukong grossing ONE BILLION dollars this week! Co-hosts Wailin Wong and Kenny Malone made me feel right at home — even after I rambled about Persona 4, Persona 5, UFO 50, and whether the Monkey King looks like George Clooney (elliptical conversations that were all, thankfully, cut for time!).
Last but not least, I also produced a Here & Now segment with Catt Small, co-founder of the Game Devs of Color Expo, a hybrid industry conference that just wrapped up its 9th annual event:
“Over time we've expanded from a one-day experience to a four-day series of networking discussions, panels and more,” says Small. “We also are able to pull in larger studios and teams from companies like the New York Times Games and also Riot Games.”
The Expo, which represents a broad spectrum of races and genders, also took place during a torturous year for the industry. Microsoft just slashed another 650 game workers, boosting the 2024 gaming layoff total to well over 12,000. Generative AI threatens jobs and sparked a video game performer strike. To cap it all off, a small but loud contingent of gamers have targeted DEI efforts and companies they perceive as “woke.”
That kind of harassment hits close to home for Small.
“I remember one particular case where we had to shut down comments on a YouTube video,” she says. “We try not to give energy to those who don't understand what our event is about and really center the conversation on the members of our community who need the support.”
Other Here & Now Mastromarino Productions
Successful debut of 'Matlock' indicates network TV is down but not out in the streaming era
U.S. pushes for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire as Israel contemplates ground invasion
Hat’s off to Micaela Rodriguez for cutting this interview I booked: Ukrainians left without power as largest private energy network hit by Russian attacks
I also worked with WBUR’s Will Walkey and Micaela Rodriguez to put this together: Birmingham mayor on weekend shooting
Finally, do check out Bob Mondello’s glittering piece on Maggie Smith, who died today at 89. It’s a masterclass radio obituary: Remembering actress Maggie Smith