Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores, but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, all whilst including some lengthy gameplay, to give you, the reader, the chance to form your own impressions and views while reading and watching.
In this explanatory review, we’re covering The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom by joint developers, Grezzo and Nintendo EPD:
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Nintendo Switch)
Having already proven they had what it took to completely reinvent what 3D Zeldacould be, thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and then creating something even greater with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo have accomplished a lot with The Legend of Zelda series on the Nintendo Switch, and as fate would have it, they didn’t stop there. With 3D Zelda innovated in such a way that none of us had saw come, now the time has come for Nintendo to do the same for top-down Zelda, but they wouldn’t do it alone.
Having been extensively involved with Nintendo since 2010, Grezzo has worked on multiple Zelda games like Ocarina of Time 3D (2011), Four Swords Anniversary Edition (2011), Majora’s Mask 3D (2015), Tri Force Heroes (2015), and Link’s Awakening (2019). They have quite well for themselves bringing classic Zelda titles to more modern audiences, but now Grezzo has been given free reign to create an entirely new entry for a series we all love so much and it is now time to talk about just how good it is!
As you have probably seen by the trailers and posts throughout social media. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom follows Princess Zelda, not Link, on an adventure of her very own across Hyrule. The game starts off with the playing taking control of Link, as is typical LoZ fashion that many traditional Zelda fans have become accostumed to, and we have a super beefed up hero with max hearts, infinite arrows and bombs.
Link is navigating his way through a dungeon when he eventually finds Ganon holding Princess Ganon captive. After beating Ganon in a playable boss fight, Ganon disappears but not before creating a void that sucks in the hero Link. Just as he sinks into the void, Link manages to fire off an arrow to break the seal surrounding Princess Zelda so she can escape.
From this point on the player now takes control of Zelda who, plays rather differently to our veteran hero Link. Initially, Zelda is not a direct attacker. She can attack enemies at a distance with the help of her her companion Tri and her Tri wand, which can create echoes of monsters to fight on her behalf. Creating echoes consumes Tri’s power (which is displayed as â–¼) and can be seen trailing behind Tri. Each echo has a different â–¼ cost so you are limited to how many echoes you can spawn at any one time. If you have reached your limit, however, spawning new echoes will simply remove older echoes from the field.
Zelda’s primary goal is to rescue her father and their people who have fallen into the Still World beyond the rifts, and sealing them up afterwards. The world of Hyrule is quite vast and there is a lot of freedom on how you take on the task of sealing up rifts and there are plenty of NPC’s that require Zelda’s help in one form or another. A lot of the time, you will be given rather linear objectives but you are free to explore and traverse Hyrule how you see fit.
By using echoes of objects you find in the world, you have the means to reach areas you would otherwise not be able to in a traditional Zelda game. Trees, cliff faces, and chasms that would normally limit Link’s options of traversal, are no problem for Zelda and her companion Tri as she can conjure up beds to use them as bridges or boxes and tables as steps, but those are just a couple of examples. How you decide to travel Hyrule is ultimately up to you.
Even though Echoes is the main gameplay mechanic for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, it isn’t the only one. Players will also learn a technique called Bind and Reverse Bind that will allow Zelda to use Tri’s power to bind herself it monsters and objects. By doing so, Zelda can force that which she is bound with to move in sync with her. This is handy for moving giant boulders and dropping them into large crevasses, or maybe you wish to teach a Moblin how to swim, whether they want to or not.
The Reverse Bind works the opposite to Bind in that Zelda follows the object or monster instead. Some areas of the game require Zelda to overcome large pitfalls that her echoes alone may not be able to help her get across. By reversing binding herself to a floating platform, however, she can essentially transport herself safely over to the other side.
Another mechanic is the Swordfighter form. Upon picking up Link’s Sword, Zelda can transform into a swordfighter for a short amount of time and can attack enemies directly. This form is handy for those who want to be more hands on in fighting monsters but it isn’t completely necessary if you want to rely on Zelda’s Echo skills instead. I should add that the swordfighter form also requires energy to use it and it can be recovered from inside rifts or by drinking certain smoothies.
On the topic of Smoothies, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, has taken the cooking mechanic of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and has transformed it into a smoothie crafting mechanic instead. Throughout the world of Hyrule, Zelda can find all sorts of ingredients to help recover health but when they are combined, Zelda can acquire certain temporary effects, like recieve less damage, run faster or become fire or ice proof. Zelda can’t make these herself though and will need to visit the Deku Scrubs scattered around the world to make Smoothies for her.
For those who have amiibo gathering dust on their shelves, you may be happy to know that they do have some use in this game. It is rather limited though as only the Zelda themed amiibo will work with the game (this includes the Zelda series and Smash Bros series Zelda amiibo). In the early game, any of these amiibo will reward the player with smoothie ingredients.
Once you reach a certain point in the game, you can unlock some outfits for Zelda to wear. I won’t say much more on what kind of outfits though as to avoid spoilers. On the subject of outfits, Zelda will be able to wear a number of outfits with some of them being required to complete certain side quests.
There is so much more that I could talk about with The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom but I feel like I may this review may never end if I did. So, as we come towards the end of our review, I have found this game to be, simply put, the pinnacle of 2D Zelda games. Its creative puzzles and the multitude of solutions to solve is truly next level. Its overworld is massive and extremely imersive with some very familiar A Link To The Past / A Link Between Worlds vibes whilst feeling incredibly fresh and new at the same time.
I particularly love that the Hebra Mountain and the Faron Wetlands have also been included to make this the most expansive Hyrule 2D Zelda has ever seen. This is the most fun and most enjoyment I have had with a Zelda game and I have been a longtime fan of this iconic series. Grezzo and Nintendo EPD have truly knocked it out of the park with The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and I hope this is just the beginning for Zelda in the protagonist role.
Game Specifications:
Developer: Grezzo, Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Action, Adventure
No. of Players: 1 (Single System)
Release Date: September 26, 2024
Price: $59.99
File Size: 5.6 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
