Seeing any footage from The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, be it via trailers or regular gameplay, might feel a little weird after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. And I don’t blame you. I mean, we just got a sequel to one of the best adventure games of all time in the form of once again, one of the best adventure games of all time.
And to top it all off, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom doesn’t even put you in the shoes of Link. For the first time in the franchise’s history, you get to play as Zelda herself. No, we’re not counting those weird, unofficial CD-i games. Yes, we know they exist.
But The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is anything but a weird spin-off. It’s one of the most unique and engaging experiences the franchise has seen thus far, making it a worthy entry in its own right. Through a mix of traditional and unconventional gameplay mechanics, this latest entry shines in almost every department.
Your Link is in Another Castle
The introduction of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom sees you playing as Link, storming through what appears to be the last dungeon on the way to finding Princess Zelda. Upon finding her, Link is soon sucked into a series of expanding purple rifts as Zelda narrowly escapes. As she is rescued soon after, it seems as though these mysterious purple rifts are spreading through Hyrule and corrupting not only the kingdom, but its inhabitants as well.
Zelda must then trek outwards once again to save her kingdom and rescue Link for a change in the process. The story itself is relatively easy to follow, but rather unobtrusive for most of its 20-25 hour runtime. There are some larger stakes that I would rather not spoil, but it’s a shame that they’re addressed quite intermittently. It’s in no way a bad attempt at storytelling, it’s just on the lighter side.
While it relies on certain tropes within the franchise, however, I can appreciate the choice to expand upon certain aspects of Zelda’s life and backstory, which admittedly do get more of a mention here than they arguably ever have anywhere else.
That being said, so much of the game relies upon its core gameplay mechanics for both combat and traversal, that it pretty much makes up for everything else. Accompanied by comparison Tri, a little floating orb that would remind any fan of Navi (HEY! LISTEN!), Zelda can harness and manipulate her surroundings in several interesting ways.
Echoes for Days
Early on in the game, Zelda acquires a special magic wand that can create Echoes, or copies of objects in the environment that can be used in various contexts. Items that carry with them a certain sparkle can be added to your collection of Echoes, from standard objects like tables and vases to more unique objects like various enemy types. Most objects will carry with them a certain purpose or function, generally for either traversal or combat.
While the game is smaller in terms of scope and size, it’s great to see just how well it maintains its sense of creative freedom when compared to something like Tears of the Kingdom. Most environments and areas feel like smaller puzzles to be solved, and it’s up to you to essentially mess around with the game’s mechanics and Zelda’s ever-expanding collection of Echoes to figure things out.
I also love how Echoes can be discovered almost at every turn, with additional Echoes tucked away in hidden areas and across paths less travelled. I would rather not spoil the various Echoes you can find out in Hyrule, but I won’t deny that the game builds a decent sense of momentum later on, once you come to grips with a larger arsenal of Echoes for different situations. There’s also a bunch of side-quests to take on either during or after the story, which can lead to another layer of new and useful Echoes.
Zelda can even call upon Tri to manipulate and move objects of interest in the area, which generally helps when it comes to traversal and puzzle-solving. It all comes together to feel a little more satisfying as certain Echoes feel like they have multiple uses, but I would be lying if combat was equally as exciting.
It’s not terrible, but most combat encounters rely on Zelda casting Echoes of enemies at other enemies, which isn’t always satisfying. For example, Zelda can cast out these little green blobs that track down and bounce towards enemies into the area. But they’re super slow and usually miss faster targets. While the true challenge relies on placing these Echoes in the right place at the right time, it can feel a little frustrating.
This is also because Zelda does gain the ability later on to fight with Link’s sword in “Swordfighter Mode”, which brings with it more traditional combat at the cost of Zelda’s energy bar. It’s not meant to be relied on as it can drain Zelda rather quickly, and while it can be upgraded, never feels like you could use it perpetually.
If combat feels a little too difficult or frustrating, however, players can take advantage of the automaton system, in which little robots can be manually wound up and released into a sticky environment to help with tougher scenarios. Certain automatons like the Deku Baba can eat enemies, while an iron-clad- Moblin can take out an entire area with the swing of its sword. It’s once again something you can’t use often., but certain something that helps.
It all comes together to create a balanced web of clever puzzle-solving and combat sequences that constantly call upon players to assess their arsenal of Echoes, experiment and ultimately make the correct call. While combat could be a little more engaging, particularly earlier on, I simply had so much fun messing around with the Echoes that it didn’t detract from the experience all that much.
Look the Part
While The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom looks gorgeous in certain sections thanks to a vibrant colour palette and charming character models, it’s hard not to notice the agreeing hardware flaws of the Nintendo Switch. I can excuse the 1080p resolution when docked, even if it feels just a little too hazy by today’s standards, but the frame rate drops are a little too hard to ignore.
It’s not dropping to single digits here, but it’s consistent enough that I feel the Nintendo Switch simply has nothing left to give in terms of grunt. I feel bad pointing this out once again as it seems to be the running theme through most of our Nintendo Switch game reviews at this point, and it’s more of a shame than anything else that it applies here.
I will say though, that beyond its charming and vibrant visuals, lies an equally delightful soundtrack that revels in some of the more iconic tracks and soundbites while aiming for something fresh.
Final Thoughts
Beyond the performance issues and occasionally lacklustre combat The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom still manages to provide an experience that is as clever and engaging as any of the mainline Zelda games.
With the crazy amount of Echoes to discover and experience, comes a feeling of creative freedom that is not lost within its smaller scope. When compared to something like Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom holds its own with a sense of unique confidence and wonder that this franchise has been delivering on for decades.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights: Fantastic gameplay through Echoes system; Charming and vibrant visuals; Plenty of places to explore and side-quests to complete beyond the main story
Lowlights: Shaky performance highlights ageing hardware; Combat takes a backseat to environmental puzzle-solving at times
Developer: Grezzo, Nintendo Entertaining Planning & Development
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Available: Now
Review conducted on Nintendo Switch with a pre-release code provided by the publisher.
