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.

In The Legend of Zelda, Hyrule is a land constantly imperiled by maleficent lords of shadow, cataclysmic volcanic eruptions, and an intangible sense of paranormal gloom that sucks the will to live out of every man, Zora, and Goron. Its nations are stratified across the land, and all of them live under the muzzling bounds of an autocratic royal bloodline. In other words, the people of Zelda need a free press, and in the newest game of the franchise--called Tears of the Kingdom--Hylians have discovered that occasionally, the pen is mightier than the sword. Those who embark on the adventure will discover ancient vistas, glorious ruins, and, most surprisingly, a proud celebration of the power of journalism. At last, Link is asking the tough questions.

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.