Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is an action-adventure/puzzle game released on September 26th, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch. While all Zelda games build off one another in different ways, this entry in the series takes a step back in a way more reminiscent of the older games like A Link to the Past (though it doesn't allow us to name our character like we could in that game).
Preface
Before I start the review proper, I'd like to explain what I mean by "Classic Zelda" since I'll be referring to it quite a lot. In a series (especially one as long-running as Zelda), there'll be things you'll come to expect in each title. In Zelda, the expectations are as follows: Swordplay, Dungeons, Puzzle-solving/Puzzle-solving Items, and finally, Exploration.
Each title in the series puts its own spin on these aforementioned elements to keep a veteran player engaged and gauge the interest of newer players wanting to get into the franchise. The "spin" that Echoes of Wisdom (which I'll be referring to as "EoW" from this point forward) puts on this formula, while simultaneously trying to emulate it, is the "Echoes" (which we'll discuss later).
Introduction
We begin the game not as Zelda, but as Link, the titular protagonist of the series. Part of the reason this was done was to ease players into the game: what better way to do it than having them play as the character they're most likely familiar with? I have to particularly commend the tutorials being done in real-time, as opposed to interrupting the gameplay to explain something basic. Not only is this a godsend for repeat playthroughs, but it also ensures that returning players don't lose interest due to the amount of hand-holding, a crime that's existed in this series for too long.
After Link gets consumed by a rift, and we get escorted to Hyrule Castle after escaping, the King of Hyrule and his court also get consumed by a rift and wrongfully order Zelda to get locked up for creating said rift, the guards understandably become confused at this order but obey regardless. This highlights a positive with the intro that's thankfully consistent through the main quest: all the characters behaving in a way you would expect them to.
It's at the jail cell that you are introduced to Tri, the game's main companion. While he serves a useful gameplay purpose, his characterization is non-existent. I'm not kidding when I say that the only bits of characterization Tri gets throughout the game are learning the definition of a couple of words like "Thanks", and he also gets in the way a couple of times by summarizing certain story interactions moments after they just happened.
It's also in this section that we unlock the ability to "echo" things. Echoes are this game's main puzzle-solving mechanic, but it can also paradoxically serve as the mechanic surrounding combat as well. While I'll discuss its implementation later, I have to criticize Nintendo for sticking with the same horizontal UI that they used for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom without improving on it at all―while it's fine in the early game when there's not a lot of items to clone, in the mid-to-late game, your clone library increases dramatically and it becomes cumbersome to navigate.
The amount of screen real estate that's being unused is laughable.
The main issue with the UI is that there's a large amount of screen space that's not being utilized. Throughout my playthrough, I rotated between only 6-8 echoes until I received better versions of them, and this partly had to do with the terrible user experience that the interface provides. There could've been a category for monsters, objects, and elemental mobs/objects on top of each other. They also could've utilized the already existing notebook as a replacement since it's much easier to comb through than the existing UI. This is especially noticeable once you unlock better versions of existing echoes: the game doesn't cull the weaker versions from the list to save space and lessen the load that you have to scroll through.
After we escape the jail cells with the help of Impa, the world opens up.
Exploration / Questing
The world in EoW plays the most like Classic Zelda, at least on the surface. Despite the map being huge, it's paradoxically more tightly designed due to not having as much "breadth" as is expected of a game in this genre. This limits the scope and allows the designers to make the optional areas in the game a lot harder since players don't have to explore them.
The heart containers are just as satisfying to collect as they've always been (much more than Spirit Orbs), and they're much more well-hidden thanks to the tightly designed environments. One example is a dungeon with an unobtainable heart container placed at the top: the secret to getting this heart container is finding your way to the surface above the dungeon in the overworld and then summoning a Holmill to burrow through the ground, landing right on the heart container. There are many cases in Zelda where the puzzles are more concerned with making you feel smart than actually requiring you to be smart, but, while this is present in EoW, it's much rarer than before.
Echoes are another reason impelling players to explore since unexplored areas could house certain enemies or objects that would help you in a later scenario. I think the most impressive part about the echoes is how they're useful in both 2D and 3D environments; no doubt it took the designers a lot of time to make each echo serve a gameplay purpose in either perspective.
The quests in Zelda games have, unfortunately, never been all that great, Majora's Mask being the peak, and a close second being Breath of the Wild with its many quests involving the player having to use landmarks and directions to complete them. MM's quests were excellent because of how the character progressed through the 3-day cycle, and having to manage your time efficiently was very rewarding. The main issue with Zelda side quests is that they're more concerned with giving the players something to do than bothering to make it enjoyable.
EoW doesn't have any sort of overarching expectations of the player―there are a lot more quests that point you to their destination; however, its quests are usually more involved than Breath of the Wild's. There are 50 side quests and, while some are simple fetch quests to give the player a reason to go echo an item, there are many that have more going on, such as the "Questioning the Local Cats" quest, which has you dress up as a furry cat to converse with other cats to locate the one that belongs to an old man, or the "Zappy Shipwreck" quest, which has you explore a multi-stage ship dungeon with a mini-boss at the end. I think the lack of a wide map contributed to the quality of these side quests since there's a lot more to find on a moment-to-moment basis, and the interconnected nature of the overworld makes it so you're more likely to have already finished these side quests' objectives before even adding them to your quest log.
Collectibles are less of a chore this time around. The stamp guy is charming enough and more stamps are off the beaten path, making it feel even less tedious. Mini-games are more replayable with plenty of new gimmicks to keep players engaged. The drink-mixing mechanic is just as flexible and enjoyable to experiment with as its Breath of the Wild counterpart, all of these serve as a good distraction from the main quest and are short enough to where that players won't get side-tracked completely.
Dungeons / Graphics / Music
After going through Impa's secret passageway and evading the guards, we travel east to find our first rift, which is this game's reoccurring dungeon type.
It's easy to just say the rifts in Zelda are visually repetitive and grating after a while, even if it has a wildly different interior. But I think this highlights the game's poor visuals more than anything else. The lighting in EoW is very flat and coupled with the lack of artistic "pop" in the models, it makes the graphics feel a lot more "plastic-y" than it's ever been.
I think there's something to be gained with choosing a more low-detail form of texturing and modeling, the gain is that the artists can place more attention on the little stuff while having to spend less time focusing on the stuff that would usually take more work, and while there are some nice details like Zelda having a perpetually frowned face and sweat pours when in the Gerudo region, but these details are few and far between and sometimes have less going on than even the Wind Waker, a game that was released back in 2002.
After we rescue Minister Lefte, it's at this point that we unlock the "Swordfighter Form" (Allowing us to use Link's move set for a limited amount of time) - The saving grace of this ability is that it's of limited use, meaning you have to wait for the right moment to use it since every second counts. However, it has more cons than pros. Firstly: It becomes borderline useless in the mid-to-late-game since you'll always have an echo that could do the same abilities just slightly less fast, and secondly: it removes some legitimacy from Zelda as a protagonist. I have no clue if the designers created Link's move set first and bolted the "Swordfighter form" on as a way to make sure that not all that work was lost for a 3-5 minute introduction. Regardless, I don't think it paid off well.
The dungeons in EoW lack any kind of serious challenge. The closest it comes to this is the Faron Temple. What makes this dungeon a highlight of the game is the simple gameplay scenario it throws the player into. The entire dungeon is very dark and requires careful navigation of the environment to avoid enemies and simultaneously use the echoes to light up a path for the player to get through. But even the best dungeon in the game pales to some of the worst dungeons in Majora's Mask or Ocarina of Time. The major problem with these dungeons is that they feel very underdeveloped, so much so that something as simple as a "dungeon with no lighting" is enough to give players a nice enough break from the routine.
Many of the other story dungeons lack any kind of challenge or cut off right before it gets any good. I'd rather an experience be too short than too long so I wouldn't get on these dungeons' cases too much... if not for Hyrule Castle falling into this category as well. Hyrule Castle is typically the highlight of many Zelda games because it's usually followed by a final boss fight that is a culmination of everything the player learned so far, but that's not the case. Even if it's just as short as the other dungeons, the missed potential here is almost criminal.
It's also during these segments that the music in the game becomes the most static part of the entire experience. While I wouldn't call any of the soundtracks bad, they're forgettable, which is a disappointment. They're expressive enough, but there's nothing in the game that'll stick to you like Majora's Mask's "Final Hour" or Skyward Sword's "Guardians Awaken" theme.
Story / Final Part
After obtaining the three Prime Energies of the Goddesses, they explain to her that Null resided in the void that existed before reality, consuming life when it developed to remain the only being in existence. The Goddesses created the universe over the void to seal away Null, causing it to resent them. The story plays itself similarly to Classic Zelda as well. It's minimal but not non-existent since it serves as an important setup for the player. Watching Link save you before briefly getting consumed by a rift as well should motivate new players to want to save him, especially veteran players who grew fond of playing as him throughout the series.
This is another reason why, despite me saying that Hyrule Castle is a huge missed opportunity, it's still a good dungeon for what it is, and it could've certainly been a lot worse, having Zelda and Link on opposite sides of the same dungeon doing drastically different things is interesting, it's not hard to imagine ourselves in Link's shoes as he's mowing down dozens of enemies since that's something we've grown used to doing with the same character throughout the franchise. It's also partly why the boss fight with Null is as good as it was as well. It feels like a culmination of everything the player has learned throughout.
Conclusion
Overall, I think EoW is a fun little game for what it is. It's easy to just call it a knock-off of Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds, or Link's Awakening, but it tries to put a spin on the formula that hasn't been attempted in nearly 20 years, and for that, I commend it, especially when they nailed a hell of a lot more things right than wrong.
Like a lot of the Zelda games, it exhibits an extraordinary amount of missed potential, which makes some of its shortcomings even more disappointing. A lot of its dungeons could do with making them that little bit more diverse, mechanically and narratively. Having the mini-dungeons be more challenging wouldn't have hurt either - however, the puzzles in this game are a step in the right direction, with the imaginative level design at times making it very hard to put down the controller.
I would recommend EoW to returning veterans who would like a more modern spin on the Classic Zelda formula, and I'd recommend it to the newer fans to get a dose of what the older games were like, before Breath of the Wild.
