The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Review (NSW)

It is less than two years since the release of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and we already have a brand new Zelda title to dive into. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a top-down, dungeon-filled Zelda title that includes many of the design elements of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. The game translates those features into an overhead perspective.

From the surprise reveal of the game in June, gamers have speculated that you will play primarily as Zelda in this new title, and that is indeed the case. The top-down/overhead perspective is continuing the legacy of titles such as Zelda: Link’s Awakening on the Game Boy. Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a non-linear adventure filled with rich Zelda storytelling and side quests.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the first first-party Zelda title where Zelda herself is the main playable character. This move has meant that the playable character doesn’t wield a sword herself (most of the time), but she does wield the Tri-Rod, a new item that can summon “echoes.” The echoes are copies of objects and enemies. Through this system, Zelda can summon strong creatures to defeat enemies and use summoned objects to solve puzzles. Minimizing combat is brave of Nintendo, and it will be a limitation for some. However, the new tools at your disposal are fun and cool, so most people won’t care that you can’t swing a sword to kill enemies (most of the time).

The echoes system also lets you climb. You can do this by summoning tables, (and many other kinds of objects) and piling them on top of each other. This means that you have freedom and can traverse Hyrule in a similar way to Breath of the Wild. There are few limits to where you can go. If you can create a ladder to climb a cliff then the game will probably let you get there. This is a great addition to 2D Zelda and, again, draws comparison to Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

The start of the game is cinematic, and impressive, and will make longtime Zelda fans happy. One aspect of the game that is brought to the player’s attention near the start is the “rifts.” These are openings that are appearing throughout the world and sucking people in, leaving them lost. These areas are similar to the dark world in A Link to the Past. However, in Echoes of Wisdom, they are drawn to our attention near the start of the game rather than the middle like in A Link to the Past. The rifts play a key role in the story and it is great to see Nintendo mix up gameplay concepts from previous games (if that is indeed what they are doing). It all blends really well and the polish, in both the gameplay and environmental storytelling is of a high quality.

Echoes of Wisdom doesn’t have a full crafting and cooking system like Breath of the Wild. However, it does have a new, functional smoothie-making mechanic. These smoothies are made by combining fruits and plants that are found in the overworld and dropped by enemies (like Breath of the Wild there are few hearts to be found in the overworld). Each smoothie has different advantages, such as one that increases swim speed. It’s great to see the return of a certain Zelda race, a member of whom owns the in-game shop where the smoothies are made.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom does have full dungeons. However, this game is an evolution of the Breath of the Wild formula applied to 2D Zelda. There are no shrines in the game, but perhaps because of this, there’s a new style of dungeon. The ones in Echoes of Wisdom seem to focus one an overarching issue. Such as finding two specific statues in Gerudo Sanctum. I can’t quite identify what it is with the dungeons that makes them special, but they definitely have a different flavor in this game. Also, in the order that you tackle these dungeons you have freedom. For example, the second and third dungeon can be completed in either order and then the fourth, fifth, and sixth can be completed in any order.

The game’s graphics and style are very similar to the 2017 Link’s Awakening remake. However, they also have similarities to 2013’s A Link Between Worlds. In terms of gameplay systems, Echoes of Wisdom is like an evolution of A Link Between Worlds. It has dungeon choice like in A Link Between Worlds, it has full 360-degree movement mechanics like it, too (and unlike its remake), and it has a novel item/echoes system similar to its item rental mechanic.

The game has a new, amazing Koji Kondo soundtrack. The music and sound design are of high-quality, and the game’s theme evokes Tears of the Kingdom. So, along with borrowing game mechanics, much of the soundtrack is also borrowed and inspired by Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has some performance problems. There are long loading times. I didn’t notice many issues with frame rate during my playthrough, even when many enemies were on-screen. I’ve read that the frame rate in Echoes of Wisdom is worse than in the Link’s Awakening remake (2017), but honestly, I had no problems in this regard, for me, the game flowed smoothly and it was a pleasure to play. The loading times, on the other hand, did get irritating at certain points. Regardless, generally, the game looks and sounds great.

Echoes of Wisdom is a top-down Zelda adventure rich in character where the player must use echoes creatively to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. While the lack of combat may be a disadvantage and handicap to some, to others it allows more creative and interesting tactics to be used, and the lack of focus on combat may have encouraged the developers to create a rich, detailed overworld with numerous side quests. The storyline is quintessential fantasy and very polished in every way. It is striking how everything comes together to form one of the last twenty years’ most wholesome and inspiring Zelda games.