if we set aside the multitude of rereleases for a moment, the best selling "2D"/top down Zelda to date is the NES original at 6.51 million.

Do you think Echoes of Wisdom will surpass this and become the new best selling Zelda in this branch of the series, and why/why not?

hard to say… there is definitely a fair amount of excitement around the game, though it won’t have any legs to stand on. Maybe if it does really well during the holiday season? But otherwise, no.

For the purpose of being bold, however, I will say that it’ll become the best selling 2D Zelda. This is b/c Mario Wonder pulled 13mil last holiday (big holiday push!), and TotK pulled 19mil in its first seven months (big Zelda hype!).

I see it doing really well through the end of this year, but I don't think the legs will be that great. That being said, I don't see it being the best selling 2D Zelda. Maybe like 5m max.

I hope it does more than 5m and at least outsell astrobot lifetime

Yes, considering the huge installbase for Switch.

The best selling 2D Zelda is currently the Switch version of Links Awakening. Just realized, that game released five years ago.

An original new game should be able to pull better numbers than a remake when released on the same hardware but my gut tells me that it will not catch up.

The last original 2D Zelda was Tri Force Heroes and that game was a bit of a letdown and did not even break 1.5 million units sold, roughly one third of the sales of a Link Between worlds. Being an original game in the Zelda series does not guarantee sales. Echoes of wisdom needs good reviews to hold up.

A Link Between Worlds only sold 4M? That's strange, I would have thought that would have done way better.

Anyway, no. It would be nice to be wrong but I don't think this is the game to do it. I don't speak for any Zelda fans but myself but, this game doesn't appeal to me. If Zelda was a bit more like her Smash variant - more active in combat and could turn into Sheik - I'd be there day one. As it is, looks like the first "cozy" Zelda game, I don't think solving puzzles with beds and passive combat is for Zelda fans like me.

From my POV, it's a toss of a coin - I don't think EoW appeal to old 2D Zelda fans, but might appeal to BotW/TotK fans. So anything goes.

Depends how quickly it sells. It won't have the chance to sell long on the Switch. Sure Switch 2 will probably be BC but BC titles don't sell as well on new consoles as native titles so it'll probably hurt its legs so it needs a strong launch.

Link's Awakening remake sold 6.46m by December 2022, so is probably above 6.51m now and the best selling 2D Zelda. We don't know how much higher than that it is right now, could be over 7m.

I think it has a chance, but I'm not really sure. Maybe it surprises me.

No idea, I don't know much about sales. I just hope it sells great. Zelda, IMO, is the greatest franchise in gaming. I am very happy with Nintendo's support with Zelda at the moment. We have Breath, Tears, Link's Awakening, Skyward HD and now Echoes. Hopefully the keep coming.

Echoes stars Zelda and has interesting gameplay, hopefully it sells and we get more Zelda love as a playable character.