“The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom” is the latest installment of the long-running “Zelda” franchise. Marking the first canonical installment to feature Zelda as the main character (not counting spinoffs and the infamous titles on the Phillips CD-i), it is another must-own title for the Nintendo Switch.
The main story sees Zelda thrust into the role of maintaining order in Hyrule after Link and the king are pulled into a parallel universe known as the “still world.” Befriending a mysterious figure known as Tri, Zelda’s quest is one that blends elements of every previous game from last year’s highly-acclaimed bestseller “Tears of the Kingdom” all the way back to the original games on Nintendo’s 8-bit and 16-bit consoles.
The experience co-developer Grezzo has with the franchise shines through here, as the game contains many stylistic and gameplay similarities to their 2019 remake of “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.”
Using an artifact known as the “Tri-Rod,” Zelda can create “echoes” of objects and creatures around her to fight enemies and traverse dungeons. Some in-game puzzles are fairly straightforward; others require more unconventional thinking. To give one example of how many solutions there are to problems encountered in the story, a bed can be used on its own to recover health points, or several echoes of beds can be used to build a bridge. The controls make the game simple enough to pick up and play, but a surprisingly complex physics system makes it tough to truly master.
While there is some occasional dipping in frame rate performance, the game is visually gorgeous as a whole. Sporting a similar graphics style to the “Link’s Awakening” remake, the game’s cute character designs and colorful environments give the art an inviting look and feel. The soundscape and music contain some of the best work in the franchise, warmly arranging classic fanfares from previous games in unique ways.
Overall, “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom” is another highly-recommended title for the Switch, one that echoes the best elements of the series’ past to forge a path for its future.
At a glance:
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EPD/Grezzo
Platform: Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: E10+
My Rating: ★★★★★
