A genius Legend of Zelda fan has compiled various clips from A Link to the Past and Echoes of Wisdom to show off the similarities between the two Nintendo games - and boy, are there a good few.
In a YouTube video showcasing the clips side-by-side, Rebecca Stone highlights portions of both games' maps to portray just how similar regions in Echoes of Wisdom are to the 1991 classic. Despite some changes to the terrain, the newer game's Hyrule is evidently the very same one fans grew to love decades ago. It seems there's just one major difference - Kakariko Village is no longer where it used to be.
As longtime Zelda players point out in the comments, "there are what appears to be ruins" in the spot that housed Kakariko Village in A Link to the Past. There are lots of other cool details of note, too - for instance, as one fan explains, "the Gorons, Sea Zora, Deku Scrubs, and Gerudo all live outside the A Link to the Past portion of the map, which retroactively would explain why they weren't present in A Link to the Past."
It's true - clouds also surrounded the outskirts of the older game's map, with land nonetheless visible beyond them. This likely left room for Echoes of Wisdom's own more expanded map. Another interesting reference to the recent game's predecessor brought up by a commenter reveals that "digging in the place where you find the Ocarina in A Link to the Past gets you a Might Crystal in Echoes of Wisdom."
Stone's full video is worth a watch - as a dedicated fan of all things Zelda myself, I genuinely found the comparisons eye-opening. They spark a sense of nostalgia and a whole lot of "oh!" moments. I'm just personally sad that some sort of reference to Link's house didn't make it into Echoes of Wisdom myself, but I love the community's reasoning - it "was unfortunately demolished because they forgot to dedicate it as a world heritage site."
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