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The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom review: a charming throwback adventure

Nice console games September 25, 2024 Gaming

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Despite
borrowing
plenty
of
elements
from
both
titles,

The

Legend
of
Zelda:
Echoes
of
Wisdom
definitely
falls
closer
to
the
recent


The
Legend
of
Zelda:
Link’s
Awakening
remake
than


The
Legend
of
Zelda:
Tears
of
the
Kingdom.
This
is
a
traditional

Zelda
experience
through
and
through,
with
plenty
of
puzzles
to
complete,
intricate
dungeons
to
master,
and
a
more
linear
fantasy
story
to
discover.

That
might
be
a
turn-off
to
some,
but
will
undoubtedly
be
a
huge
draw
for
others.
I
can’t
deny
that
there’s
something
incredibly
refreshing
about
the
return
to
the
2D
format.
As
brilliant
and
innovative
as
it
is,
the
shift
to
a
more
freeform
open-world
has
definitely
sacrificed
some
of
the
more
careful,
considered
design
of
older
games
like

The
Legend
of
Zelda:
A
Link
to
the
Past.

Nearly
every
aspect
of

Echoes
of
Wisdom
feels
finely
crafted,
with
the
introduction
of
some
clever
new
mechanics
successfully
differentiating
it
from
what
we’ve
seen
before.
I
think
that
it
will
be
remembered
as
one
of
the

best

Zelda
games,
perhaps
even
one
of
the

best
Nintendo
Switch
games,
because
of
this,
but
it’s
not
a
title
that
is
without
its
flaws.

Girl
power

Echoes
of
Wisdom
marks
the
first
time
that
the
series’
titular
princess
takes
the
starring
role.
Link
has
vanished,
swallowed
up
by
one
of
the
countless
purple
rifts
enveloping
the
kingdom
of
Hyrule
and
spewing
out
legions
of
shadowy
monsters.
The
king
has
been
replaced
by
a
sinister
clone
that
sentences
his
daughter,
Princess
Zelda,
to
death,
confining
her
to
the
castle’s
dungeon
until
her
execution.
It’s
here
that
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
of
the
malevolent
force
behind
the
rifts.
This
begins
with
the
power
to
create
echoes,
copies
of
certain
objects
that
can
be
placed
at
will.
From
tables,
giant
crates,
and
beds
that
can
be
stacked
to
form
bridges
to
floating
blocks
of
water
and
bouncy
trampolines,
there
are
countless
echoes
to
discover
and
experiment
with.
Any
that
you
find
are
added
to
a
growing
library
and
can
be
brought
out
at
any
time,
adding
a
fantastic
collectible
element.

You
quickly
learn
Bond,
which
allows
you
to
bind
yourself
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.
While
this
whole
system
is
not
as
expansive
as
the
building
of

Tears
of
the
Kingdom,
these
powers
are
leveraged
in
a
plethora
of
interesting
ways
once
you
escape
into
the
world
of
Hyrule
and
begin
your
quest
in
earnest.
Puzzles
frequently
require
the
intelligent
use
of
echoes
and
Bond.
A
large
rock,
for
an
abstract
example,
might
be
positioned
on
the
opposite
side
of
a
grate.
You
can’t
reach
it
normally,
but
you
can
use
Bond
to
move
it
around.

If
the
rock
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
as
a
makeshift
ladder
in
order
to
drag
it
up.
It’s
all
delightfully
intuitive
and,
importantly,
remains
so
as
the
complexity
ramps
up.
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.

This
openness
can
be
a
bit
of
a
double-edged
sword
at
times,
though.
Many
dungeons
contain
platforming
challenges
that,
although
tricky,
are
very
enjoyable
to
finally
crack.
Unfortunately,
almost
all
of
these
can
be
bypassed
by
simply
stacking
up
long
chains
of
beds
in
order
to
bridge
across
them.
This
is
in
itself
a
lot
of
fun
and
rewards
experimentation
in
a
way,
but
does
feel
like
a
bit
of
a
waste
of
the
otherwise
superb
level
design.

Free
roam

Although
it
follows
a
very
linear
story
that
is
broken
up
into
clear
digestible
chunks,

Echoes
of
Wisdom
does
feature
something
of
an
open
world.
You’re
free
to
wander
around
any
accessible
area
as
you
please,
though
large
portions
of
the
map
are
blocked
off
until
you
reach
about
the
halfway
point
in
the
story.
There’s
not
a
huge
amount
to
do
in
this
version
of
Hyrule,
but
there
is
just
enough
to
make
a
little
exploration
worthwhile.

Hidden
chests
are
littered
throughout
the
world,
filled
with
rupees
and
the
occasional
smoothie
ingredient.
These
can
be
eaten
raw
as
a
quick
health
top-up
or
combined
into
powerful
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
cooking
introduced
in

The
Legend
of
Zelda:

Breath
of
the
Wild.
You
can
even
make
your
own
rather
ineffective
‘Dubious
Smoothie’
by
adding
in
a
splash
of
monster
guts,
a
detail
that
I
found
quite
amusing.

There
are
a
good
number
of
side
quests
too,
most
of
which
have
you
collect
and
summon
a
specific
echo
at
the
behest
of
an
NPC.
They’re
quick
to
complete
and
don’t
offer
much
in
the
way
of
useful
rewards,
but
do
result
in
some
quite
amusing
and
memorable
interactions
that
help
the
world
feel
that
much
more
alive.

On
top
of
those
found
in
dungeons,
Hyrule
is
also
packed
with
enemy
creatures
to
fight.
Combat
is
one
of
the
most
significant
areas
where

Echoes
of
Wisdom
departs
from
previous
entries,
as
Zelda
does
not
possess
any
conventional
combat
abilities
at
first.
She
can
toss
heavy
rocks
to
deal
damage
in
a
pinch,
or
create
echoes
of
previously
defeated
foes
to
fight
on
her
behalf.
This
is
a
blast
at
first
but
unfortunately
wears
out
its
welcome
quickly.

Even
with
a
button
to
direct
your
minions
toward
a
specific
enemy,
they’re
just
too
slow
and
unresponsive.
I
often
found
myself
skipping
running
past
entire
fights,
purely
because
I
didn’t
want
the
hassle
of
managing
an
army
of
unreliable
slimes.
Thankfully,
you
unlock
more
combat
abilities
as
you
progress,
including
a
magical
sword
that
lets
you
transform
into
a
swordfighter
form.

In
this
form,
Zelda
dons
Link’s
trademark
attire
and
effectively
gains
all
of
his
abilities.
You
can
slash
with
a
sword,
get
shots
off
with
a
bow,
and
eventually
toss
explosive
bombs.
Your
strength
in
this
form
can
be
upgraded
too,
with
special
collectibles
hidden
at
the
end
of
dungeons
or
in
the
most
hard-to-reach
corners
of
the
map.

Miniature
mayhem

The
whole
of

Echoes
of
Wisdom
is
rendered
in
an
adorable,
miniaturized
visual
style
that
makes
everything
from
the
characters
to
individual
trees
and
buildings
look
like
it
was
plucked
from
a
cute
diorama.
It’s
very
similar
to
the
look
of

Link’s
Awakening
and,
sadly,
means
that

Echoes
of
Wisdom
suffers
from
many
of
the
same
performance
problems.

Frame
rates
are
a
little
higher
overall,
especially
within
dungeons,
but
are
still
prone
to
significant
drops.
This
is
understandable
in
particularly
intense
moments,
especially
when
you’re
dealing
with
lots
of
enemies
and
summoned
creatures
on
the
same
screen,
but
is
pretty
inexcusable
when
it
happens
at
random
points
in
the
world.

The
particularly
awful
performance
of
one
snowy
area
late
in
the
game
is
almost
unbearable
in
both
handheld
and
docked
mode,
which
is
a
massive
shame
and
does
spoil
an
otherwise
attractive
part
of
the
world.
Hopefully,
there
will
be
patches
to
address
at
least
some
of
these
problems
down
the
line.

Otherwise,
there’s
an
awful
lot
to
like
in

Echoes
of
Wisdom.
It’s
cute,
charming,
and,
despite
relying
on
an
older
formula,
it
is
packed
with
a
handful
of
novel
ideas
that
make
it
well
worth
your
while.

Accessibility

There
are
no
dedicated
accessibility
settings
on

The
Legend
of
Zelda:
Echoes
of
Wisdom.
The
game
allows
you
to
choose
between
a
normal
and
Hero
difficulty
setting,
with
the
latter
designed
for
more
experienced
players,
but
that’s
it.
This
is
very
disappointing,
especially
given
the
reliance
on
holding
button
inputs
to
use
abilities.
A
few
basic
options
to
alter
the
control
scheme
to
remove
longer
inputs
would
go
a
long
way
to
make
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
played
over
15
hours
of

The
Legend
of
Zelda:
Echoes
of
Wisdom
on
Nintendo
Switch

OLED.
During
that
time
I
completed
the
main
story
and
played
in
a
combination
of
both
handheld
and
docked
mode.
In
docked
mode,
I
played
on
a
1080p
monitor
and
used
a

Nintendo
Switch
Pro
Controller.
In
handheld
mode,
I
played
using
the
standard

Pastel
Pink
Joy-Con
controllers
and
used
a
pair
of

Final
VR500
earbuds.

Throughout
my
time
with
the
game,
I
was
careful
to
compare
my
experience
with
other
adventure
titles
and
plenty
of
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
Ages,
plus
plenty
of
time
in
the
original

The
Legend
of
Zelda.

First
reviewed
August
2024.