The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour dates announced

By Gabe Gurwin Published October 13, 2015

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses - Dungeons of Hyrule - Live

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, a showcase of the best music from Nintendo’s legendary game series, returns tonight with an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, and if you’re looking to hear your favorite

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Wind Waker tunes in person, you just might be in luck: the concert is coming to quite a few cities.

The tour actually begins tonight at the Barclays Center in New York City, with the Late Show appearance airing just a few hours later at 11:35 EST. The television performance will include the interlude arrangement from the upcoming multiplayer-focused Tri Force Heroes, and the full concert includes songs from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and even the Game Boy-exclusive Link’s Awakening. As you can see from the above clip, synchronizing the performance with footage of the Zelda games creates quite an intense with of audio and visuals … and reminds you of how lame Zelda II is.

In 2015, the tour will go to Salt Late City, Houston, Dallas, and Portland before making its way to Europe. Next year, Nashville, Boston, Jacksonville, and Columbus are among the locations. For the full list, be sure to check out the schedule on the Zelda Symphony website.

While Symphony of the Goddesses is certainly the most “official” Zelda concert ever produced — it includes “all-new arrangements directly approved by franchise producer Eija Aonuma and Nintendo composer and sound director Koji Kondo — those looking for more live music should consider checking out Video Games Live. The tour, run by former Judgment Day host Tommy Tallarico, includes songs from Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Chrono Trigger, and several other Nintendo series. It makes its way back to the United States in 2016, with stops in Newark, Toledo, and Richmond. Back in August, Tallarico took the show to Blizzcon for a nearly hour-long performance of Blizzard music.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

After The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, it’s time for Zelda Maker

Key art for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

We almost had a The Legend of Zelda video game where players could create their own dungeons. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which launches later this week, lets players obtain "echoes" of items and enemies, which they can explore, fight, and solve puzzles with. A new Ask the Developer interview from Nintendo revealed that this gameplay idea came from the original concept for Echoes of Wisdom: an "edit dungeon" concept where "players could create their own The Legend of Zelda gameplay," according to Grezzo game director Satoshi Terada.

Ultimately, the team went in a different direction after recognizing the potential of the echoes mechanic created for the "edit dungeon" concept. While I'm still quite excited to play Echoes of Wisdom, part of me is disappointed that we aren't getting a The Legend of Zelda dungeon maker game. It's OK that Echoes of Wisdom went in a different direction, but this is an idea Nintendo should certainly return to in the future.
The Zelda dungeon-maker game we didn't get
It's not uncommon for game developers to experiment with different gameplay concepts or ideas early on in development to find what works. Terada explained that in one of these early concepts, "Link could copy and paste various objects, such as doors and candlesticks, to create original dungeons." Later in the Ask the Developer interview, Nintendo director Tomomi Sano said that this "concept involved copying various things during your adventure out on the game field, then bringing them back to create a dungeon in a dedicated place."

Gaming

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom: release date, trailers, gameplay, and more

Key art for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

Every new Zelda game feels like an event, and yet Nintendo managed to keep a new mainline entry hidden almost all the way up until its release. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is not the same size and scale as the 3D entries like Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom -- it's actually the long-awaited continuation of Zelda's 2D titles. The last game we got in this style was 2019's The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, which was a remake of the 1993 Game Boy title.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom caught the attention of everyone at the June Nintendo Direct where it was announced for many reasons, chief among them being Zelda taking on the starring role instead of Link. The perspective and style might look familiar, but there's a lot to learn about Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom before you jump back into Hyrule.
Release date
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will be released on September 26, 2024.
Platforms

Gaming

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom takes the right cues from Tears of the Kingdom

Zelda holds a rock in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

The only constant in the Legend of Zelda series is change. From its perspective to its art style, Nintendo takes some surprising risks when it comes to one of its most valuable franchises. That often pays off. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for instance, was a bold open-world reinvention of the classic adventure formula that put an emphasis on flexible gameplay and emergent moments born from creative thinking. That design didn’t just influence its direct sequel, the excellent The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It’s very much present in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom too.

I’ve been curious about how the first Zelda game to actually star Zelda would work ever since it was revealed. It looked like a return to top-down form, but its item-copying hook suggested that it might be more creatively open-ended than any traditional Zelda game. After playing 90 minutes of it, I can see exactly how Nintendo is fusing old and new to once again reinvent its tried-and-true formula. Echoes of Wisdom plays like a miniature Tears of the Kingdom, at least in terms of how it lets players tackle problems in multiple ways. That makes for a unique puzzle adventure hybrid that I’m already eager to return to.
Summoning echoes
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom begins with mysterious rifts opening up around Hyrule. Princess Zelda is blamed for their appearance and imprisoned. My demo begins in captivity, where she meets a little sidekick named Tri. The Navi-like partner gives Zelda the Tri Rod, an item capable of copying items and letting her freely summon them. I get to test it out right away, cloning an object in my cell and using it as a platform to reach a high-up exit. A stealth sequence ensues that introduces the basics of that echo play.