Warner Bros. Discovery reported today that its game revenue suffered a major drop this quarter from the same period last year, largely due to weak performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Games revenue, under the WB Games division, dropped 41% year-over-year. Though Suicide Squad’s struggles were the main culprit, it was admittedly up against stiff competition: last year’s comparable included strong sales of Hogwarts Legacy, which launched in February of 2023 and continued to do exceedingly well throughout the year that followed. It sold 22 million copies in 2023 alone, and has since reached 24 million.
Suicide Squad, meanwhile, was panned by critics and called “disappointing” by WB Discovery boss David Zaslav last quarter, and resulted in a $200 million impairment charge in that report. An impairment charge is a practice businesses use when they need to write off or report a reduction in the value of some of their assets that they previously thought would have a higher value.
Speaking of impairment charges, Warner Bros. Discovery undertook a massive one this quarter outside of games. The company reported revenue of $9.7 billion, but an overall net loss of $10 billion, $9.1 billion of which was due to impairment charges. Officially, WB cited the charge as due to “the difference between market capitalization and book value, continued softness in the U.S. linear advertising market, and uncertainty related to affiliate and sports rights renewals, including the NBA.”
The first part, about book value, is WB reevaluating the value of its TV networks segment in light of customers and advertiser interest in streaming and digital content over traditional TV. But the NBA bit was likely responsible for a hefty sum of the impairment charge too. WB’s contract for NBA media rights expires after the 2024-2025 season, and the NBA appears to have opted to take its business to Amazon instead. Though WB has since attempted to exercise what it says are its rights to match Amazon’s offer and is suing the NBA over them, it doesn’t seem likely to win.
While all that sounds fairly dismal, WB’s subscription services were up 3.6 million from last quarter, bringing its total to 103.3 million. This is the first time the company has passed 100 million subscribers.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
The Switch dock isn’t very portable. It’s a little bulky and you’ll still need to bring along a wall charger. Fortunately, there’s a pretty awesome alternative. Right now Amazon is offering the Mirabox Portable 30W Nintendo Switch Dock Charger for only $17.99 after instant savings and 50% off coupon code “N9XORL7H“. This compact gadget charges your Nintendo Switch (at its maximum charging rate) and has an HDMI port for you to connect your Switch to a TV. It has all the functionality of your dock but in a much smaller size.
Mirabox Portable Nintendo Switch Dock Charger for $19.99
The Mirabox dock charger is clad in your choice of black, white, or the iconic Switch red and blue color scheme. It has three ports: a USB Type-C port, a USB Type-A port, and an HDMI port. The USB Type-C port supports Power Delivery up to 25W, which is enough juice to charge the Switch at its maximum rate of 18W. That basically means that the Switch will charge up even while you are playing games on it. The HDMI port connects your Switch to your TV. The Mirabox supports up to 1080p resolutions at 60Hz, which is good enough for the Nintendo Switch, since it doesn’t natively support 4K resolution or 120Hz refresh rate.
The biggest advantage of the Mirabox is that it is 1/10th the size of the Switch dock. That makes it much easier to stow this away in your bag without having to buy yet another larger Switch case. A USB Type-C cable is already included as well, so all you need to supply is your Nintendo Switch and an HDMI cable.
Get the 65W model for Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally
Note that there’s a 65W model that is $25.99 after you apply the same code “N9XORL7H“. This is overkill for the Nintendo Switch, however it’s the preferred model if you plan to use the charger dock with the ASUS ROG Ally, which accepts up to 65W, or the Steam Deck, which accepts up to 38W.
It’s been one year since Baldur’s Gate 3 launched, and now, developer Larian Studios has revealed how players chose to navigate their journey through its Dungeons & Dragons video game.
The studio unveiled a smorgasbord of stats in a lengthy X/Twitter thread. While it includes interesting data related to Baldur’s Gate 3’s soul-crushing permadeath Honour Mode and which characters fans favored over others, it also reveals that 1.9 million players were, at one point or another, turned into a wheel of cheese.
Another crucial stat update reveals that while everyone’s favorite dog, Scratch, was pet 120 million times, The Owlbear Cub and His Majesty the cat received only 41 million and 141,660 pet attempts, respectively. What matters most, though, is that we now know just how everyone chose to approach the game’s romance options.
Over the last 12 months, you’ve smooched your companions a total of 75 Million times.
Larian’s posts include a nice selection of romance-related figures. Baldur’s Gate 3 companions have been kissed more than 75 million times in total, with Shadowheart leading the pack at a whopping 27 million kisses. Astarion is, unsurprisingly, in second at 15 million smooches, with poor Minthara in last with 169,937. We also have a look at some stats about Halsin, Larian’s infamous Druid character. Of the 658,000 players who had sex with Halsin, 70% chose to sleep with him in his human form, while the other 30% chose his grizzly bear form.
In all of Baldur’s Gate 3, Astarion proved to be the most-played as Origin being at 1.21 million characters created with him to start. That’s a lot of High Elf Rogues running around, but Larian does clarify that 93% of players did choose to create their own custom character when beginning an adventure. Meanwhile, while 141,660 players managed to complete Honour Mode, a staggering 1,223,305 playthroughs ended in a loss.
As for some of the more important story moments achievable in Baldur’s Gate 3, 3.3 million users managed to kill the Netherbrain, while another 1.8 million chose to betray the mind-flayer emperor. Interestingly, only 34 players who chose Lae’zel as their Origin character also chose to kill themselves at the end of the game.
Astarion has been your favourite Origin character avatar, shortly followed by the wizard of Waterdeep and, of course, God’s favourite princess.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game of near-infinite possibilities, and that’s one of the biggest reasons players fell in love with it last summer. Despite so much to offer at launch, Larian has continued to deliver more content in post-launch updates, with many speculating that Alfira may be added as a new companion when Patch 7 arrives soon.
While we wait for Larian to expand on the already massive world of Baldur’s Gate 3, be sure to read our 10/10 review. At the time of its launch in July 2023, we said, “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
Holy smokes! Bethesda and Fallout have partnered with MEGA to announce the T-60 Power Armor Action Figure Collection. This new buildable set includes five different posable T-60 Power Armor figures to display, each with a unique paint job: Vault-Tec, Hot Rod Flames, Brotherhood of Steel Paladin, Military, and Rusted.
There are also accessories, including a Nuka Cola Dark and a Hot Rodder magazine. Finally, to finish it off, the whole set comes packaged in a crate-inspired box from Fallout 4, truly a collector’s dream. The MEGA Fallout T-60 Power Armor Action Figure Collection will cost $29.99, and release on November 20, 2024, but is available to preorder now at Amazon.
The set was first announced on X (formally Twitter), with the official Fallout account proclaiming: “You collected them in-game, and now they’re yours to build. Introducing the T-60 Power Armor Collection, featuring 5 buildable figures with unique paint jobs and matching accessories.”
You collected them in-game, and now they’re yours to build.🧱
Considering this costs just $30, we’re also expecting this set to be incredibly popular and will likely sell out immensely fast. If you want to ensure you don’t miss out, we’d recommended placing your preorder with Amazon ASAP.
You’re safe to do so, as Amazon doesn’t until the item ships, and protects your order against any price drops or increases with it’s preorder price guarantee. No matter what, you’ll pay the lowest price possible that’s listed at Amazon between now and the set shipping in November.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
Warhammer 40K has spread so far and wide from its humble tabletop origins that I would almost consider the fantasy of being one of the Adeptus Astartes – a Space Marine – as being on-par with being Batman or a Jedi Knight at this point. And Space Marine 2 brings me closer to that fantasy than any previous game has. At its best, it’s practically 40K nirvana, mowing down disorienting numbers of Tyranids with a heavy bolter or cutting a path through them with a chainsword. At times, the controls can get a little clunky – especially on a controller. But I suppose some of that comes with being an eight-foot-tall juggernaut coated in ceramite.
I had access to the first little bit of the campaign, which has Clive Standen (aka Rollo from Vikings) giving an inspired, gravely performance as Captain Titus from the first game, who is immediately embroiled in some interesting drama with his new squadmates due to his checkered service record. They ultimately set that aside, though, to do battle with the Tyranid hive fleet threatening the soaring gothic spires of the imperial world of Avarax.
What’s immediately striking is how detailed and well-animated everything on the ground is, from the humble Cadians who will often kneel and talk in a whisper as the Emperor’s Angels approach, to the smallest gilded details on the architecture. I don’t think I’ve ever had the feeling of standing on the ground in the Warhammer 40K universe to this level of satisfaction before. The graphics are gorgeous, the chaotic soundscape is spot-on, and no expense has been spared filling every square inch with the kinds of small touches that delighted me as a long-time fan.
Suit Up
As far as nailing the experience of playing as one of the Emperor’s Finest, Space Marine 2 generally does a respectable job there as well. Titus and his buddies’ Primaris armor is rendered in gleaming fidelity, with lots of moving parts, managing to feel imposing and maneuverable at the same time. Any time I got to remove an obstacle through pure super strength was a highlight. And most of the guns feel great to use, from the classic bolter to a plasma gun that makes enemy armor seem like a joke.
I wasn’t totally sold on the melee stuff, unfortunately. Carving through gaunts with a chainsword is just as exhilarating as it should be, but Space Marine 2 has also tried to implement a Sekiro-esque system of telegraphed dodges and parries to counter enemy special attacks, and I’m not sure it works here. Maybe six hours just wasn’t long enough to get the hang of it yet, but I got the sense that it really slowed close combat down with canned animations, breaking up the flow a bit too much.
You really can’t argue with how awe-inspiring it is to see Titus rip a traitor marine’s head off and discard it like trash
Likewise with the Doom 2016-style finishing animations, though they are gloriously brutal in their spectacle. You really can’t argue with how awe-inspiring it is to see Titus rip a traitor marine’s head off and discard it like trash. Maybe they’re just a bit too long, or they lock the camera in place too much. But they feel like breaks in the action, rather than part of it.
Pest Control
The main enemies in the missions I played were primarily Tyranids, though the forces of Chaos are definitely up to something behind the scenes, as they often are. And the variety of chitinous baddies is pretty impressive, from hordes of regular gaunts who mainly serve to show off your godlike power, to slippery lictors who require a bit more finesse to take down. These guys, likewise, have never looked better in a video game, with some of the more complex model updates from the tabletop shown off in all their creepy splendor.
The mode I spent the most time with, though, is the new three-player co-op, which seems to be where the meat of Space Marine 2 lies. There are tons of perks and weapon upgrades to unlock and – much to my delight, as someone who rolls their eyes at playing boring Ultramarines – character customization includes the ability to unlock armor colors and liveries from dozens of chapters, including both my beloved Space Wolves, and some fairly obscure ones. On top of this, you have six different classes to choose from, each of which has at least three primary weapons to level up, allowing for a huge amount of build diversity.
Battle Brothers
I probably had the most fun with the standard Tactical marine. I know, I know, right after I said Ultramarines are boring. The Assault Marine can be exciting, too, but as I never fully got comfortable with the melee combat, and I found the jump pack to also be a little bit fiddly to work with, it ended up being the build I wish I was good at but never quite got there. The heavy is also great fun when you can fire hose away with a heavy bolter and watch an entire swarm evaporate, but they don’t have much to do when they’re out of ammo, which isn’t as big a problem for the other classes. I feel like some levels could use a bit of re-balancing in terms of ammo drops, at least if you have a Heavy on the squad. It can be a long time between resupplies.
The bot teammates just aren’t very good.
Since I was playing on a pre-release build, I was often paired with bots. And they’re… really not very good, even on the lowest difficulty. The aforementioned Heavy marine just isn’t that viable because you can’t count on your AI teammates to keep strong melee enemies off of you. But when I did match with other humans, I was having a great time, so I imagine this issue will be resolved when the servers are open to everyone. The more linear levels and somewhat clunkier movement is definitely an adjustment when I’ve played hundreds of hours of Helldivers 2 already this year, but there’s no mistaking that I could definitely see myself spending an obsessive amount of time unlocking all the cool visual and mechanical kit for my favorite classes.
And They Shall Know No Fear
Space Marine 2 has a real shot at being the quintessential third-person action game set in the 40K universe. It’s exactly what it says on the cargo canister. You get to be an enormous, super strong, nearly invincible battering ram of post-human destruction, slinging retribution at uncountable hordes of xenos across beautiful and detailed battle spaces that bring this universe to life in a way it never has been before. Ideally, with a couple friends. You’ll be able to check it out yourself on September 9.
WolfEye Studios president and co-founder of Arkane Studios Raphaël Colantonio has said Dishonored and Prey fans “will be happy” with his new studio’s next game.
Colantonio, who left Arkane in 2017 after co-creating Dishonored and directing Prey, teased WolfEye Studios’ next game on X/Twitter by saying “fans of the previous first person games I was involved with (Dishonored and Prey) will be happy” with it. “We’ll reveal a bit more about our next game in a few days,” he added.
Colantonio’s WolfEye Studios was formed in 2019 following his departure from Arkane Austin. The studio’s first game, a third person dark fantasy adventure called Weird West, got a positive reception following its 2022 release on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
We’ll reveal a bit more about our next game in a few days… Fans of the previous 1st person games I was involved with (Dishonored and Prey) will be happy.
In IGN’s 8/10 review we said Weird West “more than lives up to its name in all the right ways,” while boasting some of the immersive sim elements that Arkane Studios was known for.
The studio appears set to lean even more heavily on its Arkane heritage for the next game, which seems to be shaping up as a retro, first person, sci-fi role-playing game. “We’re showing to the industry partners (publishers, etc), but not to the press or the public yet. Can’t wait though,” wrote Colantonio in a subsequent post.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
PlayStation 5 sales are down compared to this time last year but the console has still reached 61.7 million units sold overall since its launch in 2020.
Sony’s latest financial results revealed a decline year over year from 3.3 million units sold in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year to 2.4 million units sold in the first quarter of the 2025 financial year, meaning from April to June 2024.
The decline was somewhat expected, however, as Sony lowered its overall PS5 sales target for this financial year to 18 million units from the 21 million units it targeted last year. This itself was down from an initial target of 25 million units sold, but Sony ultimately failed to accomplish either as it ended the year on 20.8 million. This was still a PS5 sales record though.
Despite the hardware dip, Sony did reveal its monthly active users, a key performance indicator for assessing how engaged its audience is (and therefore how likely to spend more money on subscriptions, software, and so on it is), was up compared to last year.
Sony registered 116 million monthly active users in this period, down from the fourth quarter of last financial year (118 million) but up compared to a year ago, when it sat at 108 million.
Many will point to the lack of PS5 exclusives as a potential reason for hardware sales declining, and Sony has already indicated no new games from its major franchises will be released this financial year. That means no Spider-Man, God of War, The Last of Us, Ratchet and Clank, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima, or whatever else.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is being ported onto last-gen consoles. Developer Respawn Entertainment announced today that PS4 and Xbox One owners will get to play Cal Kestis’ latest journey next month.
The critically acclaimed #StarWarsJediSurvivor is coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on September 17, 2024!
In a press release, Respawn confirmed that the PS4 and Xbox One port of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be available starting September 17. EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced last August during an earnings call that a PS4 and Xbox One port of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was in development. Both versions will retail for $49.99, and Respawn touts that these ports will “feature a variety of optimizations aimed at maximizing the hardware capabilities of the consoles.”
In addition, the developer confirmed that a new update for the PC version of Jedi: Survivor will be available “in the coming weeks,” teasing that the update will improve the game’s technical performance and controls while also introducing a slew of quality-of-life improvements. Respawn continues to support the PC version of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, panned by players at launch due to performance issues.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was released in April 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Set five years after the events of 2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order, the sequel focuses on Cal Kestis and his friends as they fend off the Empire.
Despite its shortcomings for the PC version at release, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was met with critical acclaim. At the 2023 Game Awards, it was nominated for Best Action/Adventure Game, and Cameron Monaghan was nominated for Best performance for his portrayal of Cal Kestis. Additionally, IGN awarded Jedi Survivor as its Best Action Game of 2023.
In our review of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which we gave a 9/10, my colleague Dan Stapleton wrote: “If Respawn makes a third game like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Fallen Order, it’ll complete the best Star Wars trilogy in 30 years, hands down.”
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Lollipop Chainsaw RePop hasn’t suffered another delay but is instead being bumped up nearly two weeks to September 12, 2024.
As reported by Gematsu, developer Dragami Games confirmed the change would affect all versions of the game — PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch, and PC — in North America, Central and South America, and Europe.
The previous release date of September 25 came after another delay out of summer 2024 and before that 2023, but as its latest September 12 date is just a month away, it’s likely Dragami Games will stick to this one.
Lollipop Chainsaw RePop is a remake of the original Lollipop Chainsaw which follows high school cheerleader and zombie hunter descendant Juliet Starling as she fights through the apocalypse with her boyfriend’s severed head at her side.
“RePop is a definitive version of the game which leaves the story unchanged, with the focus on quality-of-life improvements and additional gameplay content,” Dragami Games CEO Yoshimi Yasuda said in June.
The game picked up a cult following but in our 5/10 review, IGN said: “Lollipop Chainsaw doesn’t even attempt to differentiate itself from the genre, and most of what it does try new in the realm of its characters and writing ultimately ends up taking away from an incredible-on-paper action game.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
We’re less than two months away from the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo’s first Zelda game that stars the titular princess herself and Nintendo just dropped a new six-minute Echoes of Wisdom trailer detailing settlements around Hyrule and Zelda’s wild new Bind ability that looks like her version of Link’s Ultrahand power from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Much like the world of Hyrule, the footage was stuffed with secrets and question-raising mysteries, so we’ve compiled 10 things you need to know from the new Echoes of Wisdom trailer.
Bind Is Zelda’s Version of Ultrahand, and it Looks Crazy
Nintendo revealed a major expansion of Zelda’s abilities in Echoes of Wisdom with the new Bind power. With Bind, Zelda can latch onto any object in the world and make it follow her movements. We see Zelda use this on a giant boulder, a treasure chest, and even her own Echoes. She even uses Bind on enemies to toss them off giant cliffs.
Using the Bind and Echo powers together will surely open some crazy possibilities, much like the wild combos players unleashed with Ultrahand, Recall, Fuse, and Ascend in Tears of the Kingdom. Just one example from the trailer shows Zelda summoning a mole Echo to create a hole in the ground. She then uses Bind on a moblin and drag-and-drops it into the hole the mole left behind. I can’t even imagine the dozens of possibilities that players will uncover by combining these abilities.
Similarly, Zelda can use Reverse Bond (which appears to be part of the Bind ability, I couldn’t tell you why it’s not called Reverse Bind) to follow an object’s movement herself. We saw Zelda fly by using Reverse Bond on a bird Echo, scale a wall with a spider Echo, and travel across a pit by using it on a moving platform above her.
Does Echoes of Wisdom Have Dungeons?
Nintendo hasn’t explicitly told us that Echoes of Wisdom’s Hyrule has dungeons for us to explore and conquer, but the new trailer offers a few hints that the franchise’s classic labyrinths are present, at least in some capacity. When Zelda is speaking to a Sea Zora, you can spot an underwater entrance to what could be a dungeon, complete with an insignia that resembles the goddess Nayru’s symbol. Nayru is the Goddess of Wisdom, and given that wisdom is this game’s core theme, maybe the dungeons or shrines are called Trials of Wisdom, or something to that effect.
Later in the trailer when Nintendo is detailing the Bind ability, Zelda is in a room that really gives off strong dungeon vibes, as she needs to move a giant boulder to step on a switch that will open a closed door. This definitely indicates that some sort of dungeon-like structure exists in Echoes of Wisdom, but if that’s full-fledged dungeons seen in top-down games like A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds or the more bite-sized Shrine approach from BotW and TotK remains to be seen.
Zelda Can Equip Different Outfits and Accessories
The new trailer confirmed that outfits and accessories are part of Echoes of Wisdom, and Zelda can change clothes for both practical and stylish reasons. It’s unclear how many accessories you can equip at a time, but these are the accessories Zelda had in her inventory during the trailer:
Zora’s Flippers: Swim Speed Up
Zora Scale: Dive Time Up
Frog Ring: Jump Height Up
Heart Pin: Heart Appearance Up
There was also a flower pin in her inventory, but we didn’t get to see the description for that one. As for outfits, we see Zelda wearing Link’s hood from the reveal trailer, her classic dress without the hood with her hair in a ponytail, and a Gerudo Guard outfit.
The Smoothie Craze Hits Hyrule
Zelda can use materials she gathers around Hyrule to craft smoothies, each with their own healing properties and status effects. The one smoothie we see is the Mixed Milky Smoothie, which costs an Electro Apple, Fresh Milk, and 10 Rupees to craft. In return, it restores 13 hearts when consumed. This is Echoes of Wisdom’s take on BotW/TotK’s cooking mechanic, but I’m hopeful that it will fix one of my main complaints with how it’s worked to this point.
In the open world Zelda games, you can hold dozens of cooked meals at time, meaning if you prepare well enough, you can basically heal your way through any encounter. In Echoes of Wisdom, it looks like the Business Scrub who Zelda is speaking to puts the smoothie in one of Zelda’s empty bottles, which could mean there is a strict limit on how many smoothies you can hold at once depending on how many bottles you have. It’s possible Echoes of Wisdom has ditched the empty bottle mechanic and we’ll be able to carry unlimited smoothies, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
A Horse Is a Horse, Of Course, Of Course
Dashing around like a maniac with the Pegasus Boots is no longer the fastest way to get around Hyrule, as Echoes of Wisdom is adding horses into the mix. Once Zelda learns the carrot Echo, she can summon her horse from anywhere in the overworld. We see Zelda riding a brown horse and a white horse, so it seems there are multiple types of horses to choose from. Horses also serve a combat purpose, as we see Zelda mowing through weaker enemies while on horseback. Echoes of Wisdom’s combat is excitingly unconventional, so it’s nice to see multiple options like this for taking out baddies.
It Takes a Village… And Another Village
There are so many villages in Echoes of Wisdom! In this trailer alone, we caught glimpses of two separate Zora villages (for each the Sea and River Zora), the staple Kakariko Village at the base of Death Mountain, Goron City, Gerudo Town, Castle Town within the walls of Hyrule Castle, and the brand new Suthorn Village. If that wasn’t enough for one trailer, Echoes of Wisdom’s Japanese website has a new screenshot for a coastal village filled with houseboats. This is a significant number of settlements compared to what top down Zelda games usually contain, and several shots of the world appear to show off a much larger map than games like A Link to the Past – or at least a more densely populated one.
Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom’s UI Returns
Not only does Echoes of Wisdom take inspiration from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom’s open air approach, it also shares UI elements with the pair of open world masterpieces. The Main Quest / Side Quest menu, choices when speaking to a shopkeeper, smoothie crafting, and world map waypoints all look virtually identical to the last two mainline Zeldas, further showcasing how Echoes of Wisdom truly integrates the series’ modern ideology into a classic, top down package.
Preparing for Extreme Heat
During the spotlight on Gerudo Desert, a close-up shot of Zelda reveals that she is feeling the effects of the region’s brutally hot temperatures. Her face is red and she’s fanning herself to keep cool, which is reminiscent of how Link responds to scorching temperatures in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. We’ve already covered that Zelda can equip different accessories and outfits and drink smoothies with different status effects, which begs the question: Will we have to manage Zelda’s temperature in Echoes of Wisdom like in the two recent open world Zeldas, or is this just visual flair? Echoes of Wisdom already borrows so much from the franchise’s convention-breaking direction, so it wouldn’t be all that surprising if this mechanic was included.
Teasing the Dark World
The Echoes of Wisdom reveal trailer showed Zelda running through what was most likely this game’s version of the Dark World, and Zelda hopping into a portal at the very end of the trailer confirms it. We also see shadow enemies entering Hyrule through these rifts, which will likely prove to be some of the game’s tougher combat scenarios. The Zelda series has a history of Dark Worlds, and it will be fun to see what unique spin Echoes of Wisdom puts on the concept. Our glimpse of the Dark World in the announcement trailer showed Zelda quickly maneuvering through obstacles as the rift chased her, so maybe these sections will require quick thinking like Skyward Sword’s Silent Realms.
Characters React to Zelda’s Echoes
Have you ever aimed your bow and arrow at a Hylian in Tears of the Kingdom? Well, they don’t really like it, as they cower in fear at Link’s unpredictable behavior. Those NPC reactions appear to be intact in Echoes of Wisdom too, as a Gerudo guard reacts in shock when Zelda summons a bed out of thin air right next to her. To be fair, I’d be pretty surprised if that happened right next to me, too.
