Daily Debate: What Do You Think of Echoes of Wisdom’s Automatons?
Posted on October 11 2024 by John Lortie
Spoiler Warning: The comments on this article may contain spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.
Automatons were among the last gameplay mechanics announced before Echoes of Wisdom’s release. Zelda gets these robotic creations from Dampé, who’s moved from grave keeping to inventing. Simply give Dampé inspiration for a new Automaton and he’ll make a new addition to Zelda’s arsenal. The more Zelda explores Hyrule, the more inspiration she’s able to give the inventor.
Automatons can work in tandem with Echoes. They don’t deplete Tri’s triangle tail, meaning that players can use Automatons and Echoes concurrently to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, or a combination of the two. While there are far fewer Automatons than there are Echoes, the game gives a variety of reasons to make use of Dampé’s clockwork creations. Some can take more hits than Echoes, a few have high damage output, and Dampé can repair them if they break.
Given the limited number of Automatons, it’s understandable that some players might use them less than Echoes. I’ve seen reports of players rolling the credits on the game without using Automatons at all! Some even forget that Dampé and his designs are in the game.
I only used an Automaton against the game’s final boss. I had some dungeons under my belt by the time I ran into Dampé in Hyrule Field. By then, I’d grown used to a standard selection of Echoes. I didn’t visit Dampé to unlock the Automatons until the end of my playthrough, and I used an Automaton in the game’s finale just to see how it worked.
I think Automations are a fun addition to the game. They give players more reasons to explore and interact with this version of Hyrule. Plus, it’s nice seeing Dampé put up his shovel on occasion.
What do you think about Echoes of Wisdom’s Automatons? How often do you summon them? What clever Automaton uses have you found? Head on down to the comments and let us know!
John’s been a Zelda fan since he was seven years old (which was a good few decades ago). He loves the last three months of the year, analog media, his family, and Tolkien. His favorite Zelda game is Breath of the Wild and his favorite game is Night in the Woods.
