The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Review - Pulled In Two Directions
For the first time in the hallowed annals of The Legend of Zelda franchise, dating back to its inaugural release in 1986, the series’ titular princess, Zelda, finally takes center stage as the primary playable protagonist. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is not merely a spin-off or a tangential entry in the ongoing saga; it is a bona fide Zelda adventure, meticulously crafted with the dungeons, puzzles, and overarching narrative that fans have come to expect. The opportunity to explore a rendition of Hyrule through Zelda’s unique perspective is a long-overdue development, and the developers have strived to ensure that the game not only retains the quintessential Zelda feel but also boldly ventures into new territory. While Echoes of Wisdom may not possess the vast scale or the operatic grandeur of some of its predecessors, and its central gameplay mechanic, while innovative, does exhibit a tendency to lose its initial luster as the adventure progresses, its successes on numerous other fronts undeniably solidify its rightful place within the esteemed legacy of one of video games’ most enduring and beloved franchises.
A New Heroine and a Familiar, Yet Transformed, Hyrule
The most significant and eagerly anticipated aspect of Echoes of Wisdom is, without question, the ability to step into the royal shoes of Princess Zelda. This is a monumental shift for the series, offering players a fresh lens through which to experience the familiar kingdom of Hyrule. Gone are the days of being the damsel in distress; here, Zelda is the active agent of change, the one unraveling mysteries and confronting threats. This democratization of the Zelda experience is a revelation, allowing us to connect with the world and its inhabitants on a fundamentally different level. The developers at Grezzo and Nintendo have clearly understood the weight of this undertaking, ensuring that Zelda’s journey feels authentic to the Zelda spirit, even as they introduce novel mechanics and narrative approaches. The character designs, which mirror the charming, toy-like aesthetic of Grezzo’s previous work on the Link’s Awakening remake, are exceptionally endearing, imbuing both Zelda and the denizens of Hyrule with a palpable sense of personality and warmth. This visual cohesiveness contributes significantly to the game’s overall appeal, making every corner of the world feel inviting and brimming with potential discoveries.
The Ingenious Echo Mechanic: A Double-Edged Sword
At the heart of Echoes of Wisdom lies its groundbreaking primary mechanic: Zelda’s remarkable ability to clone and wield virtually every enemy and object encountered within the game world. This ingenious system serves as the direct replacement for the traditional Zelda item progression, even extending to combat actions like swinging a sword, a feat Zelda herself does not perform directly. Instead, she summons echoes of these entities to act on her behalf, solving problems and overcoming obstacles. The act of discovering new enemies and objects to clone is a genuinely exciting endeavor, quickly blossoming into a delightful collection sub-game. The true genius of this mechanic, however, lies in the player’s emergent creativity. Figuring out unconventional ways to utilize specific enemies – such as latching onto a flying bat to traverse chasms or using a rolling enemy to activate switches – is an immensely rewarding experience, fostering a sense of cleverness and player agency.
However, as we progressed beyond the halfway point of our journey, we began to notice a subtle but significant shift in our engagement with this core mechanic. A handful of particularly versatile clones quickly became our go-to solutions for a vast majority of the game’s challenges. While the thrill of discovering new creatures and items to add to our echo arsenal never truly dissipated, our reliance on these established favorites grew considerably. This dependency, while a testament to the initial strength of the design, began to impact the pacing and inventiveness of the dungeon design. We found ourselves encountering fewer and fewer truly revelatory moments, instances where a novel solution presented itself. Rather than engaging in intricate puzzle-solving with an array of specialized tools, we increasingly found ourselves resorting to the same reliable, albeit somewhat monotonous, giant yellow platform with an eyeball to progress through various trials. This predictable application of the core mechanic, while efficient, did detract from the sense of discovery that is so often the hallmark of a great Zelda title.
Combat: A Matter of Perspective and Satisfaction
The combat in Echoes of Wisdom, while functional, generally left us feeling somewhat underwhelmed. The act of spawning one’s own enemies to observe their relatively simple AI engage in battle, while initially novel, quickly loses its immediate thrill. There is a certain detachment in watching your summoned allies do the heavy lifting, and the thrill of direct combat is largely absent. Zelda does possess the temporary ability to channel Link’s essence and wield his iconic sword, along with other familiar armaments. However, even this borrowed power failed to inject the consistent satisfaction we had hoped for. It often felt more like a convenient “get out of jail free” card, a ripcord we would pull when the methodical pacing of our clones’ battles began to induce boredom. The combat encounters, while necessary, rarely pushed us to strategize or adapt in truly dynamic ways.
It is within the boss fights, however, that the combat system truly shines and offers a much-needed injection of excitement and creativity. These climactic encounters were consistently designed to demand a more thoughtful approach, often requiring players to leverage their collected echoes in innovative and surprising ways. We found ourselves genuinely eager to confront each new boss, anticipating the unique challenges and the opportunity to experiment with different echo combinations to find the optimal strategy. These boss battles provided the most exhilarating moments of direct player engagement, reminding us of the potential for strategic depth that the core combat mechanics sometimes seemed to overlook in their more standard encounters. The contrast between the often-mundane regular combat and the inventive boss battles highlights a missed opportunity to consistently engage players on a more active and skillful level.
Presentation: A Timeless Charm and a Stirring Score
Where Echoes of Wisdom’s primary gameplay mechanic may have faltered in its sustained engagement, the game’s overall presentation never once wavered in its captivating charm. The visual style, a deliberate and successful callback to the aesthetic established in Grezzo’s previous Link’s Awakening remake, imbues the character designs and the world of Hyrule with an almost irresistible appeal. Every character, from the stoic inhabitants of Hyrule Castle to the quirky denizens of smaller villages, is rendered with a delightful expressiveness and a unique personality. This visual consistency creates a world that feels both familiar and refreshingly new, a delicate balance that few games manage to achieve.
The music is simply fantastic, a testament to Nintendo’s unwavering commitment to auditory excellence in their flagship titles. As is often the case with Zelda games, the musical themes present in Echoes of Wisdom are both familiar, evoking nostalgia for past adventures, and yet approached from a new and wonderful direction. The melodies are rich, evocative, and perfectly complement the on-screen action and exploration. We can confidently state that Echoes of Wisdom boasts one of our all-time favorite Zelda overworld themes, a track that manages to be both epic in scope and intimately personal, encouraging hours of joyful exploration.
Furthermore, the narrative itself presents some delightful and unexpected surprises. Thankfully, the developers wisely avoid lingering too long on its initial narrative twist. While an intriguing premise, we were grateful that it did not become an exhausting, overarching focal point for the entire game. This judicious pacing of the story allows other elements to breathe and ensures that the narrative serves to enhance the overall experience rather than dominate it. The story is compelling enough to keep us invested, offering enough mystery and intrigue without becoming overly convoluted.
Exploration and the Open World: Freedom with a Familiar Framework
The act of exploring that beautifully rendered overworld, accompanied by the exceptional soundtrack, stands as one of the game’s most significant strengths. While the dungeons themselves, with their often open-ended nature and the reliance on a single, albeit versatile, cloned item, sometimes felt superfluous or lacking in focused challenge, the freedom to roam outside of these confines is a welcome departure from certain traditional Zelda structures. Being able to venture to almost any point of interest fairly early in the experience fosters a sense of genuine discovery and player agency.
The 2D Zelda games, historically, have sometimes struggled with the concept of an expansive open world, often feeling constricted in areas where freedom should be paramount. However, Echoes of Wisdom largely sidesteps this pitfall. Not only is the exploration inherently fun and open, but there are often tangible rewards for players who venture off the beaten path and discover places that initially seemed inaccessible. This encourages a deeper engagement with the game world, rewarding curiosity and a willingness to experiment with the available mechanics. The interconnectedness of the world, while not on the sprawling scale of Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, is masterfully designed to make backtracking feel purposeful and engaging, rather than a chore.
Finding the Middle Ground: A Delicate Balancing Act
The presumed ambition of Echoes of Wisdom was to forge a happy medium between the more rigid linearity of classic 2D Zelda titles and the experimental, unbridled openness of modern entries like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. In this endeavor, a middle ground indeed exists. However, our personal experience led us to feel somewhat pulled in both directions without ever achieving a state of complete satisfaction with either extreme. There were numerous occasions where we yearned for greater freedom to experiment with the full breadth of our collected echoes, pushing the boundaries of what the game’s puzzles might allow. Conversely, there were also moments where we craved the singular joy of solving a clearly defined puzzle with a specific, cleverly utilized item, a hallmark of classic Zelda design.
The game masterfully presents a hybrid approach, offering freedom while still grounding the experience in familiar Zelda tropes. Yet, the execution of this blend occasionally results in a feeling of compromise, where neither aspect is fully realized to its absolute potential. This doesn’t detract from the overall quality, but it does leave one pondering what might have been if the developers had leaned more heavily into one direction or the other.
A Grateful Conclusion: A Proper Zelda Adventure
Ultimately, the minor criticisms regarding the sustained novelty of the core mechanic and the balance between linearity and openness fade into the background when considering the overarching achievement of Echoes of Wisdom. After years of experiencing Link’s heroic journey, often with Zelda relegated to a supporting role or a plot device, the opportunity to finally embark on a full, proper, no-asterisk Zelda adventure as Princess Zelda herself is an experience we deeply cherish. The ability to play as the series’ namesake protagonist, to unravel the mysteries of Hyrule from her unique perspective, and to engage with the world through her capabilities is, for us, the most significant victory of Echoes of Wisdom. We are profoundly grateful for this opportunity, as it not only delivers a high-quality Zelda experience but also represents a significant and welcome evolution for the franchise. The game is a testament to the enduring appeal of the Zelda formula and a promising glimpse into the future possibilities for the series, particularly with its namesake at the forefront.
Reviewed on: Switch
Platform: Switch
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Grezzo, Nintendo
Score: 8
This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.