A sweet and cosy nod to the mainline Zelda games past and present, all while forging a path forward for Zelda to take a bit of the spotlight too. 

Coincidently, the last Nintendo game I played was Princess Peach. I was so happy then that we were starting to see long-standing Nintendo franchise Princesses get some limelight, even if not perfectly, and here I am again a couple of months later, saying the same thing.  

Old Zelda, New Zelda

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom brings us back to the world of Hyrule, but for the first time in over 35 years, the roles are reversed and Zelda is on a quest to find and save Link and others by sealing dangerous rifts around the kingdom. This all plays out in a 2D world which looks very similar to Link’s Awakening and has around 25 hours of gameplay for an adult, and I think, probably much more for kids.

…the new “echo” mechanic, freshens up the formula just enough.

When you think of a 2D game (in 2024), you might think there isn’t too much new that could be accomplished. However, despite somewhat linear gameplay and dungeons native to Zelda games, the new “echo” mechanic, freshens up the formula just enough. There isn’t just one way to solve a puzzle anymore and I really, really liked that. There were so many satisfying lightbulb moments which really made you want to keep playing. Somehow, Nintendo manage to keep The Legend of Zelda games feeling fresh, no matter how they present them.

Zeeeelda, zelllllllda, zeldaaaa 

With the use of an “Echo”, Zelda can learn how to create copies of items she comes across in her adventures. Then, she can summon these objects in any situation, and use them to defeat or distract enemies or solve a puzzle. Every echo has a cost, and this cost is tied directly to your companion for this adventure, Tri. Tri is a creature that looks like a smiling lemon (at least to me) and they help you all along your adventure, in more than one way. The amount of energy Tri has starts at 3, and is upgradeable from there, making it possible to have more than one echo out at a time as you advance in the game.

…the combat was just too passive for me. 

While Echoes are really cool and translate well through the entire experience, sometimes using them left me feeling a little disconnected from the game. Much as if you were playing a healer or ranged DPS in any other game, Zelda mostly relies on these echoes to do her work for her, very seldom stepping into combat herself. I was happily surprised when I got access to Link’s sword, but when I realised the use of it was tied to an energy bar, and that the energy for that skill was hard to find, I hardly used it, always thinking “What if I need it just now?”. No matter how I approached the game, using echos or automations, or both, the combat was just too passive for me. 

Try, Tri again

Also to note, I found that there were layers upon layers of mechanics. Echoes, Smoothies, Automations, Using Tri abilities and even the swordbearer mode. While these are introduced slowly, sometimes I totally forgot I could use Tri to pick up a rock and honestly, I didn’t even realise what an automation was until a point I am too embarrassed to admit. In true Nintendo style, a game that does well at the start in all its simplicity, gets very complicated, very quickly. The same can be said of the UI, because eventually, when you have over 100 echoes, things get clumsy and difficult to navigate, which can get really annoying mid-encounter. 

A really great game that you can quickly pick up and put down.

Technically, this game dumps frames like only Link’s Awakening did before it. To be honest, this shouldn’t happen this far into the Switch’s lifecycle, on a console-exclusive title, and to such an extent that it is noticeable every time it happens. Frames should get locked to 30 so that playing in the overworld doesn’t almost break Hyrule.  I did find though, if I ignored all the noise, I got along fine with my echoes and a little bit of sword fighting. This is what made me think that this would be a perfect introduction to gaming, or even Zelda specifically, for a lot of kids. It isn’t as vast and complex as Tears of the Kingdom, while at the same time introducing the same core mechanic of “build your own way”. A stepping stone, perhaps, into a lifelong enchantment with Zelda and Link?

The Legend of Link

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a really great game that you can quickly pick up and put down. From my time with it, I never found something too challenging, nor too easy, and I think it could be a great game to play as a family, or for kids alone. While I have raised a few complaints here and there, overall the game is a sweet and cosy nod to the mainline Zelda games past and present, all while forging a path forward for Zelda to take a bit of the spotlight too. 

REVIEW CODE PROVIDED BY: NINTENDO

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