Notice information
Revised platform: Nintendo Switch
Available on: Nintendo Switch
Release date: September 26, 2024
Despite borrowing many elements from both titles, THE Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom definitely close to the recent The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening redo that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm. It's a traditional Zelda enjoy an end-to-end experience, with plenty of puzzles to solve, complex dungeons to master, and a more linear fantasy story to discover.
This might put off some, but it will no doubt be a huge draw for others. I can't deny that there's something incredibly refreshing about returning to the 2D format. As brilliant and innovative as it was, the move to a freer open world definitely sacrificed some of the more careful and thoughtful design of older games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
Almost every aspect of Echoes of Wisdom feels finely crafted, with the introduction of clever new mechanics that successfully differentiate it from what we've seen before. I think he will be remembered as one of best Zelda gamesmaybe even one of best Nintendo Switch gamesbecause of this, but it's not a title without flaws.
Girl power
Echoes of Wisdom This is the first time the series' titular princess has played the lead role. Link has disappeared, swallowed up by one of the countless purple rifts enveloping the kingdom of Hyrule and spewing legions of dark monsters. The king has been replaced by a sinister clone who sentences his daughter, Princess Zelda, to death, confining her to the castle dungeon until her execution. This is where you meet Tri, a mysterious fairy who becomes your companion throughout the game.
Tri grants Zelda a suite of magical abilities in order to facilitate her escape and eventual defeat from the malevolent force behind the rifts. It starts with the power to create echoes, copies of certain objects that can be placed at will. From tables, giant crates and beds that stack to form bridges to floating water blocks and inflatable trampolines, there are countless options to discover and experience. Any you find is added to a growing library and can be pulled out at any time, adding a fantastic collectible.
You quickly learn Leap, which allows you to attach to objects and carry them while you move. You can even activate Reverse Bond, which causes you to follow the movement of your bound object. Although this entire system is not as extensive as the construction of Tears of the Kingdomthese powers are harnessed in many interesting ways once you escape into the world of Hyrule and begin your quest in earnest. Puzzles often require the clever use of Echoes and Bond. A large rock, for example abstract, could be placed on the other side of a grid. You can't reach it normally, but you can use Leap to move it.
If the boulder needs to be placed in a high position, perhaps on top of an out-of-reach pressure plate, you can simply create a stack of echoes to climb like a makeshift ladder in order to slide it up . It's all delightfully intuitive and, importantly, stays that way as the complexity increases. Many puzzles also have multiple solutions and I found that the vast majority of the time, if I expected a certain strategy to work, it would work.
However, this openness can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Many dungeons contain platforming challenges that, while tricky, are very enjoyable to solve. Unfortunately, almost all of these problems can be circumvented by simply stacking long chains of beds to connect them. This in itself is a lot of fun and rewards experimentation in a way, but it feels a bit like a waste of the otherwise superb level design.
Free roaming
Best song
A side quest sees you find a lost horse which you can then race around the map at high speed. It's a delightful diversion and comfortably the best optional encounter I've found in the game so far.
Although it follows a very linear story broken into clear and digestible chunks, Echoes of Wisdom presents something of an open world. You're free to roam any accessible area as you please, although large parts of the map are blocked off until you reach the halfway point of the story. There's not a huge amount to do in this version of Hyrule, but there's just enough to make a little exploration worthwhile.
Hidden chests are scattered across the world, filled with rupees and the occasional smoothie ingredient. These can be consumed raw as a quick health supplement or combined into potent drinks with a variety of special effects such as elemental resistance at a handful of smoothie vendors. There are a decent number of unique combinations to find and the whole system is pleasantly reminiscent of the creative cuisine introduced in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You can even create your own rather ineffective “Dodgy Smoothie” by adding a touch of monster guts, a detail I found quite amusing.
There are also a fair number of side quests, most of which require you to collect and summon a specific echo at the request of an NPC. They're quick to complete and don't offer many useful rewards, but result in some pretty fun and memorable interactions that help the world feel even more alive.
In addition to those found in dungeons, Hyrule is also full of enemy creatures to fight. Combat is one of the most important areas in which Echoes of Wisdom deviates from previous entries, as Zelda initially possesses no conventional combat abilities. She can throw heavy stones to deal damage in the blink of an eye, or create echoes of previously defeated enemies to fight on her behalf. It's great at first but unfortunately its welcome wears out quickly.
Even with a button to direct your minions towards a specific enemy, they are simply too slow and unresponsive. I often found myself skipping entire fights, simply because I didn't want to have to deal with an army of unreliable slimes. Luckily, you unlock more combat abilities as you progress, including a magical sword that lets you transform into a sword fighter.
In this form, Zelda dons Link's attire and effectively gains all of his abilities. You can slash with a sword, shoot with a bow, and optionally throw explosive bombs. Your strength in this form can also be upgraded, with special collectibles hidden at the end of dungeons or in the more difficult to reach corners of the map.
Miniature Chaos
The whole of Echoes of Wisdom is rendered in an adorable, miniaturized visual style that makes everything from the characters to the individual trees and buildings look like they were taken from a cute diorama. It is very similar to the appearance of Link's Awakening and, unfortunately, this means that Echoes of Wisdom suffers from many of the same performance issues.
Frame rates are a bit higher overall, especially in dungeons, but are still subject to significant drops. This is understandable in particularly intense moments, especially when you're dealing with many enemies and summoned creatures on the same screen, but it's rather inexcusable when it happens in random locations around the world.
The particularly awful performance of a late-game snowy area is almost unbearable in both handheld and docked modes, which is a real shame and ruins an otherwise attractive part of the world. Hopefully there will be fixes to address at least some of these issues in the future.
Otherwise, there's a lot to like Echoes of Wisdom. It's cute, charming, and while it relies on an older formula, it's packed with a handful of new ideas that make it worth your time.
Accessibility
There are no dedicated accessibility settings on The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. The game lets you choose between a Normal and Hero difficulty level, the latter of which is designed for more experienced players, but that's it. This is very disappointing, especially considering the need to hold button inputs to use abilities. A few basic options for changing the control scheme to remove longer inputs would go a long way in making the game more accessible.
Should I play The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom?
Play it if…
Don't play it if…
How I reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
I have played over 15 hours of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom on Nintendo Switch OLED. During this time, I completed the main story and played in a combination of handheld and docked mode. In docked mode, I played on a 1080p monitor and used a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. In portable mode I played using the standard Pastel pink Joy-Con controllers and used a pair of Final VR500 headphones.
Throughout my experience with the game, I have been careful to compare my experience with other adventure titles and with many past entries in The Legend of Zelda series including The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of the ages, and a lot of time in the original The Legend of Zelda.
First revision in August 2024.
