Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Review

Does removing the hero of the series for the last 40 years, an uneven frame rate, too much dialogue and too much hand holding ruin the magic that is The Legend of Zelda?

The simple answer is no.

Core elements are still here: exploration, quests, dungeons, combat, puzzles, satisfying jingles, and anything else that creates the essence of a Zelda adventure. The big difference is how the new mechanics, alter the experience, creating something unique and fresh

While it feels too soon to rank it amongst all entries in the long running series, Echoes of Wisdom easily one the best top down Zelda experiences, thanks to some unique additions as it somehow gives the player the same amount of freedom in top down perspective that BOTW gave the series in 3D.

Link to the Past, Zelda to the Future

While all of the pre release attention for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was on the ability to truly play as Princess Zelda for the first time ever in a mainline Zelda adventure, this should be the focal point of Echoes of Wisdom, but it isn’t.

It’s the echo system that gives the player the ultimate freedom to approach their adventure how they want to, despite the constraints of a top down perspective. With a similar mentality to Breath of The Wild, where if you can think it, odds are you can do it.

It’s this freedom to approach many of the games dungeons and puzzles in your own way that make this experience unforgettable. There is no set path and there is no correct solution for anything. It might start out extremely simple with boxes and tables, but by the end of the game, you will be figuring out ways to do things that almost shouldn’t be allowed.

Allowing the player to approach the entire game with this kind of agency creates a breeding ground for creativity. The echo system is perfectly balanced as it always borders on game breaking, but never goes over the edge. For example you can create a bed echo at any time, allowing you to recover hearts, virtually rendering health items useless, but there are still times, where creating a bed is inopportune.

Finding is echoes is also very addicting, one of the main draws, similar to pokemon is that collector mentality. When you see an enemy or item that you haven’t copied yet, you feel an instant urge to clone it. The joy of seeing something in the distance in Breath of The Wild or Tears of The Kingdom is replaced in Echoes of Wisdom with seeing a new item or enemy that you can copy and discovering how it can be implemented.

Classic Roots

Despite the change in hero, Echoes of Wisdom still follows a similar structure to most entries in the series. Evil is spreading and it’s up to the hero to put an end to it. Evil rifts are spreading across Hyrule, causing chaos and the only way to save the world is to go into these altered dimensional rifts and defeat the evil awaiting. Inside the rifts are worlds shattered apart, that are not only beautiful to look at, but also present a unique set of challenges to traverse them.

Rifts stand in for dungeons, and while the layout remains similar, they feel fresh thanks to the echo system that will help you solve puzzles and defeat enemies in the rifts. Instead of finding a hook shot, you found a spider that shoots a web that can get you to places or instead of a bow, you can send a murder of crows towards your enemy. Echoes of Wisdom provides the right amount of familiarity with the right amount of new.

constructive criticism

Echoes of Wisdom carried over many elements and principles from Breath of The Wild, what it didn’t bring was the solitude. Easily the biggest problem is that there is too much dialogue, with most of it being unnecessary filler that doesn’t add anything to world or character building. Your floating friend is always talking to you, NPC’s ramble on, and the game holds your hand too much, which causes the game to lose some of its discoverable joy.

The engine used for Echoes of Wisdom is the same as the Switch remake of Link’s Awakening and unfortunately, there are still times when the frame rate can take a dip. While it’s too bad that this issue still remains, the good news is that it never occurs during moments that can hinder or ruin the gameplay experience. There were times when I set an entire jungle on fire, or had five echo bokoblins fighting five enemies and the frame rate held steady. Due to this, it’s hard to pinpoint the problem or if it’s just as simple as the Switch being 2017 hardware.

Echoes of Wisdom isn’t too difficult, treasure chests are often very underwhelming, and sorting through echoes can also be a bit cumbersome at times. Nintendo doesn’t like to break tradition, but with the change in hero, it could now be a time to add difficulty levels to the series. Most games nowadays offer at least a story mode to experience the journey and an adventure mode for those looking for a slightly more difficult experience.

Final thoughts

While there are a few issues that hold Echoes of Wisdom back from being an instant classic, there is enough essential franchise elements fused together with revolutionary changes that make it one of the most unique experiences in the series that is extremely fun and rewarding. Without a doubt, Echoes of Wisdom has changed the trajectory of the series.

Removing the hero of the franchise, who has been a stalwart for nearly the past forty years would be a death sentence for most series, but somehow Echoes of Wisdom is a breath of fresh air.

ECHOES OF WISDOM SCORE

9.5/10