The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Review: Resounding Success

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In a delightful fusion of old and new, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom stands out as the most liberating top-down Zelda game yet, offering an unparalleled degree of player autonomy. A significant part of its appeal lies in its innovative summoning mechanics for monsters and objects to tackle puzzles, but it also echoes elements from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom by allowing you to shape your own journey.

Echoes of Wisdom might not hand you the complete blueprint for achieving your goals, so to metaphorically speak, but it certainly surpasses expectations in an enjoyable manner. It takes a more guided approach to help you discover things independently, yet it consistently offers familiar motifs, themes, and melodies that undeniably make it a Zelda adventure you wouldn’t want to skip.

The Adventure of Zelda

For a change, Echoes is true to its name by focusing on Zelda’s tale for the first time in a main series game. In this game, she takes an active role in saving Hyrule from peril. As one might anticipate, the narrative unfolds as you progress, and while it lacks the intricate plot twists of previous games, it maintains your interest as you seek solutions to the many questions posed right from the start. The game also delves into the mysteries behind the peculiar dimensional rifts appearing all over Hyrule, as well as the origins of the peculiar, yellow Lemonhead-like beings who are tasked with mending these rifts.

Rest easy, if you’re thinking this game, titled “Echoes“, might be a spin-off because Link isn’t the lead character. It carries the essence of any other main “Legend” series game, as its gameplay and compelling narrative will confirm. Without giving away plot details, this game offers a fresh element to the series and introduces its own primary antagonist, while maintaining connections to previous games’ themes that give it a unique, familiar feel. The twist is that instead of using traditional weapons like a sword, you utilize Zelda’s newfound abilities to navigate the world.

In the course of your journey, you make friends with a unique character called Tri, who provides you with a unique staff that enables you to save duplicates of the foes and items you meet during your escapade. You can then place these replicas onto your world at your discretion, giving you greater flexibility in exploring your environment. For example, you could create stepping stones to hop on and reach a hidden treasure high up on a pillar, or summon a spider and utilize another newly-acquired ability to scale trees and traverse the map freely.

From the get-go, these skills offer you the freedom to venture anywhere you desire. While certain cutscenes are only accessible once you’ve progressed through specific parts of the game, there’s plenty of time spent exploring vast portions of the world, uncovering hidden treasures, battling enemies to acquire new echoes, and choosing when to return to the main storyline.

Fighting Outside the Box

As a fan, I found myself in an unexpected combat scenario because I wasn’t controlling Link. Instead, I was utilizing these echoes for assistance, each one possessing its unique power demand. As I advanced through the game, I gained access to more potent echoes that required higher power levels or allowed me to summon multiple echoes simultaneously to overpower my adversaries. Initially, I spent a significant part of the game exploring and discovering echoes in areas I shouldn’t have ventured into yet. This strategy proved beneficial as it enabled me to find powerful echoes that became useful later in the game when I had amassed more power. During this phase, I relied heavily on the resources at my disposal to defeat enemies within dungeons and those safeguarding treasure chests scattered across the map.

In essence, you have a degree of playing as Link, as you can temporarily harness his abilities when needed. This feature is particularly useful against certain bosses, allowing you to focus on hitting their vulnerable points instead of waiting for your echoes to attack. The game even rewards you with items that replenish your “Link” power gauge during boss battles. However, it’s important to note that using echoes remains crucial for combat, but summoning Link’s powers can speed things up, making the game less passive in key moments.

Some sounds are designed for exploration, but they can also be utilized tactically during battles. For instance, you can use these non-combat sounds to create obstacles for enemies, such as rolling a boulder in front of them or firing a wind cannon to push them back. Additionally, by employing the bind ability, you can psychokinetically seize enemies and maneuver them wherever you desire, sometimes guiding them towards traps or simply hurling them off cliffs or into bodies of water for their demise. The way you engage in combat is entirely your choice, so be prepared for as much fighting as you would encounter in any typical Zelda game, with the unique twist being that you’ll need to think creatively and strategically.

A Kingdom to Explore

In my experience as an avid gamer, the principle of combat I’ve encountered in these dungeons you explore is surprisingly versatile. They are brimming with adversaries to conquer, yet they also hide intricate puzzles that can be tackled in numerous ways. Sometimes, all it takes is a swift whack to activate a switch and open a door, but the method you choose often depends on the echoes at your disposal and your ingenuity.

The main dungeons in this game are delightful to explore and even more enjoyable to conquer, as they carry forward the elemental themes from past games while offering innovative solutions. Unlike previous versions, these dungeons don’t provide you with weapons or special items upon completion, but instead, your echoes serve that purpose. Each dungeon introduces new enemies for your collection and encourages strategic use of their abilities.

In addition to the primary missions, Echoes offers numerous side quests that enable you to discover special echoes and collect rupees for purchasing various items offering permanent stat enhancements each time they are equipped. Additionally, you can get smoothies that temporarily boost your stats and replenish health, although I didn’t find them essential except during tough boss battles. You have the ability to summon a healing echo at any time to recover your health, so unless you choose to engage in the game’s challenging Hero mode, maintaining your health generally won’t pose much of a challenge.

There is one is issue, however, with amassing a large number of echoes and that is selecting the right one quickly from an ever-growing list. To call an echo, you open up a menu and scroll through them, but you can only sort them in a couple of ways such as most used, last used, etc. There is no way to favorite echoes or map them on other buttons making this process of summoning them a bit clunky. There’s not much you can do when you have a set number of buttons on a controller, either, but it’s a necessary evil worth mentioning.

Final Thoughts

In terms of appearance, the game possesses a unique, doll-like aesthetic similar to the remake of Link’s Awakening, making it visually appealing with its vibrant and cute design. However, despite the game’s serious tone and poignant emotional scenes, the visuals can occasionally strain the Switch’s performance, causing occasional frame rate drops, particularly during exploration. These performance issues are relatively minor and shouldn’t significantly impact your overall enjoyment of the game, but they are noticeable in certain situations.

Beyond minor flaws, the game “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom” is an absolute joy to play, capturing the essence of how every top-down Zelda experience ought to be. It skillfully combines familiar elements with fresh additions, creating a Zelda game that neither feels too monotonous nor alienating. Remarkably, its soundtrack offers entirely new tunes, yet subtle references to classic themes evoke a sense of nostalgia instantly.

Nintendo has learned from past games’ successes and incorporated fresh mechanisms, enabling players to delve into the game at their leisure without being overburdened by tasks. The game Echoes of Wisdom seamlessly blends these components, creating an adventure that keeps you hooked while highlighting Zelda’s strengths for all the right reasons. Although it may not be as expansive in size or complexity as Tears of the Kingdom, it still offers a wealth of enjoyable exploration and wonder that solidifies its place as a significant addition to the Legend of Zelda series.

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2024-10-01 15:32