Nintendo, after nearly four decades, is taking The Legend of Zelda somewhere new. With Echoes of Wisdom, the video game company not only builds on the experimentation of its last Switch release, Tears of the Kingdom--it also does something no other Zelda title has done before: Give the princess power that was previously afforded to only Link. "They gave Zelda a sword" has been the refrain for Echoes of Wisdom since it was announced back in June. But that isn't the entirety of what makes the game unique. Rather, it's part of a top-down 2D series for the franchise, one with a different look and feel than Tears of the Kingdom that still utilizes the freedoms that players got with previous games--like the ability to create everything from Korok prisons to giant mechs.

Nintendo surprised fans yesterday by announcing a new chapter in its 40-year-old Zelda saga, one of the Japanese video game titan's biggest franchises. During an event broadcast on the web, the firm said The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is scheduled for release on the Switch console on 26 September. Eiji Aonuma, producer of the Zelda series, said on a webcast that fans would be able to play as Princess Zelda herself rather than the elf-like warrior Link – a first for an official entry into the game's canon. "This time around Link has vanished and it's up to Princess Zelda to step into the protagonist's role," Aonuma said. Each new chapter of Zelda is eagerly awaited by fans – the franchise has racked up well over 140 million sales since it began in 1986.

After decades of serving as the named inspiration for the beloved franchise The Legend of Zelda, the series' titular princess is finally getting her own game. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, releasing September 26 for Nintendo Switch, gives Zelda her very own hero's journey after Link goes missing. But it does not, sadly, give her her own sword. Players have been clamoring for Hyrule's favorite princess to take the lead in a Zelda game for years now, or at least to be playable in games like Tears of the Kingdom. Excitement around Zelda's triumph was immediately evident on X after Nintendo announced the game Tuesday during one of its Direct presentations.

The release of a new Zelda game is always a major event worldwide. Ever since 1986, when famed Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto first attempted to capture in code some of the wonder he experienced exploring the Kyoto countryside as a child, Zelda games have been pushing the boundaries of what's possible in virtual worlds. Look at any best-games-of-all-time list and you'll see Zelda in the Top 10, often more than once. But 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was particularly special. Launching alongside the Nintendo Switch console, which has since sold more than 125m units, it was perhaps the best realisation yet of the promise of boundless freedom and adventure that video games have been dangling in front of players' noses for decades.

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild is described as an open-air game, and Nintendo director Eiji Aonuma recently told Nikkei exactly what that means. Translation from Japanese Nintendo also reveals Aonuma's thoughts on sequels to the popular title. Speaking first to Breath Of The Wild's open-air quality, Aonuma reflected on how 1998's Ocarina Of Time was very much a first implementation of the concept. The game allowed players to explore a version of Hyrule that was expansive and freely accessible, but that vision also had a few roadblocks. In his words, its dungeon progression system pushed players down "routes" to take them to new areas without fear of getting lost.

This year's E3 may be over, but we'll feel the ripples for months. Here's a rundown of some of the heavily scrutinized industry trade show's biggest events and takeaways. It'll need more in the years to come, but for E3 2016 at least, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild seems like the knockout punch so many have been hoping for. The action-adventure game, which stars longtime series hero Link, transpires for the first time in an open world festooned with objectives, unique biomes and completely new-to-the-series activities. You can cook, (manually) jump, climb nearly anything and go anywhere you like in a painterly multifaceted playground as vast as any yet seen. It's a full rethink of the Zelda formula, reformulated from the footings up, and crafted so that players of the Wii U version won't feel left behind by the "NX" version when the game ships for both Wii U and Nintendo's forthcoming platform reboot next March.