After Breath of the Wild gave us an incredible Zelda that seemed like a badass who could be the lead in her own action game.
Then Tears of the Kingdom gave us another glimpse at a Zelda who deserved to be the character we played as. Well finally The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom lets us take the role of the legendary princess, and it’s not quite what I was expecting.
The game kicks off with us playing as Link who is in the midst of saving Zelda, as per usual.
Link falls into a mysterious rift. Well it turns out those rifts are popping up everywhere.
Zelda returns to Hyrule Castle where the King is initially stoked to see her. The King then finds himself in the rift, and comes out looking all evil. He has our princess jailed where she meets her new little pal Tri.
Tri gives her a rod which allows her to create fake versions of things out in the world. After a short stealth scene where she creates stuff to get around some guards, she starts making cooler stuff like creatures to fight other creatures. Her adventure then takes her to save Link from the mysterious Still World which is where everyone goes when they fall into the rifts.
This is where I was a little bit gutted.
I wanted Zelda to go around hacking and slashing enemies to save the day, but to be fair, that could have wound up just feeling like Link with a Zelda skin. Instead we don’t really get a lot of combat, as alternatively Zelda makes stuff to throw at enemies, or to hide from, or even versions of enemies to fight on her behalf. In so many ways it is much more of a puzzle game than an action one.
The one thing that becomes a bit of a pain, is the massive number of objects Zelda can make. This sounds like a weird thing, I mean heaps of variety is a good thing yeah?
I regularly forgot about some of the stuff I could make, as I would switch back and forth from a handful of the commonly used ones. At times I was definitely making the game harder for myself, as later I would use an item and realise it could have saved my time and energy earlier if only I remembered I had it in my arsenal.
From an aesthetic perspective, the game has gone for a more Chibi style.
You may recognise this from the Link’s Awakening remake. I won’t lie, I absolutely loved it then, and I love it now. The simple top down style makes the game a treat to look at. It also switches perspectives at times with some 2D sequences that really just help the game keep from getting too tedious. The sound and soundtrack are also great, making this a must play for Zelda fans wanting to feel the vibes from the older games, after the excellence that was Tears of the Kingdom.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a really solid game that is well worth checking out. It is trying to feel more like a classic Zelda game, but with its own take and it succeeds there. They could have cut a massive chunk of the items you can make and it would have been much more streamlined. It isn’t the next great Zelda game, but it’s a sure entertaining way to spend some game time.
Released: September 2024
Rating: G
Platforms reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Grezzo, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development
Publisher: Nintendo