The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
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 Now it really IS The Legend of Zelda!
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The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is an action-adventure game developed by Grezzo and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on September 26, 2024, and is the first mainline game where Princess Zelda herself is the main playable character instead of Link, rather than a secondary one like in Spirit Tracks in 29 years (not counting the infamous CD-i games.)
Why It's Zelda's Turn to Save Link
- This is the third game to feature Princess Zelda as the main protagonist, after the Philips CD-i games Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure, but this is a massive improvement over those games.
- In the same vein as Princess Peach: Showtime! and Super Princess Peach, in which Peach was the main protagonist while saving Mario and Luigi, this game features a well-executed role reversal where Link is captured by the Still World's rifts, and thus Zelda must save him rather than the other way around.
- As with Super Princess Peach, the idea of making Zelda the main protagonist of a game in her namesake series is a very novel one, considering that she hadn't been so in almost 40 years
- Using the Tri Rod she obtained from Tri, Zelda can learn and create Echoes, which are clones of enemies or objects that she finds throughout her journey. There are almost 130 Echoes to learn, and they can all be used to solve puzzles and/or defeat enemies.
- The Land of Hyrule has many environments and makes many references and combinations to previous Zelda games. Some of the areas you can explore are the Gerudo Desert, Jabul Waters (where both River and Sea Zora live alongside Lord Jabu-Jabu), Eldin Volcano (a volcanic area where the Gorons and Kakariko Village are located), Faron Wetlands (a jungle/wetland area where Deku Scrubs enjoy their smoothies), and Hebra Mountain (which leads to Holy Mt. Lanayru, and is where Condé the Yeti makes his home).
- Good graphics that use the same art style as the Link's Awakening remake, and also incorporate some more modern character designs into the game (such as with the Lynel in the Eternal Forest).
- There is a colorful cast of characters both old and new, such as the King of Hyrule, Minister Lefte, General Wright, Impa and her older brother Lueburry (the man who made Link's sword using might crystals), Darston the Goron chief, Kushara and Dradd (the leaders of the Sea and River Zora, respectively), Condé the Yeti, Blossu the Deku Scrub, and of course, Null itself (the main antagonist).
- Once you obtain Link's Sword of Might, you can transform into Swordfighter Zelda, who uses Link's move set (Y for Sword, X for Bow, A for Bombs) to defeat enemies provided she has enough energy in her blue gauge.
- You can also upgrade your Swordfighter abilities by giving Lueburry might crystals to use in his machine.
- Good soundtrack composed by a variety of artists.
- When Zelda finds accessories and clothes, she can wear them to gain effects such as increased heart drop rate (Heart Pin), jumping higher (Frog Ring), increased Rupee drop rate (Bronze, Silver, and Gold Brooches), and even speak to the cats around Hyrule (Cat's Clothes)!
- If you scan a Zelda series Amiibo, you gain three new outfits (Blue Clothes for Zelda Amiibos, Red Tunic for Link Amiibos, and Black Cat Clothes for any other Zelda series Amiibos, such as Ganondorf).
- Besides Echoes, Zelda can also attack foes using Automatons, provided she assists Dampé in making them. These mechanical allies must first be wound up before Zelda can use them, and attack in various ways, such as jumping very high (Techtite), lulling enemies to sleep with flashing lights (Techzol), etc.
- The dungeons are a return to form for the series after the Wild Era's experimental ones; they feature a return of keys to open locked doors, defeating mid-bosses to earn a Big Key, and then defeating the dungeon's boss. Even the Jabul Temple, which requires you to turn on various-colored faucets to create a jetstream to the boss, is still more linear than TOTK's Water Temple was.
- While on the topic of bosses, they are fun to fight as always and require your knowledge of Echoes to defeat them. Some of the fun bosses include Vocavor, Jabu-Jabu, Echo Ganon, Volvagia, Manhandla, Skorchill, and of course, Null itself.
- This is one of the very few times Ganon gets hijacked by another villain instead of the other way around (much like Yuga in A Link Between Worlds), as the Ganon you fight in Still Hyrule Castle is an echo created by Null, who has existed before even Demise did. While Null may not be the most memorable antagonist, it still has a creepy design, is fought in an epic boss fight, and even creates an Echo of Zelda named Tekom!
Bad Qualities
- Without Link's sword, bow, and bombs, Zelda cannot attack on her own without summoning an Echo or operating an Automaton; the Spin Attack she learns cannot be used offensively except to cut down bushes and tall grasses.
- There are a few pace-breaking, arbitrary stealth sections that break the natural flow of the game. Luckily, only three of them are mandatory to progress (Hyrule Castle Dungeon, Still Hyrule Castle Dungeon, and Deku Jail) and one is optional to obtain the Gerudo Pajamas.
- Unsuprisingly, there are frame-rate drops from 60 fps to 30 fps, and they're even more noticeable than in Link's Awakening. Keep in mind, the Nintendo Switch is a very weak device, so most games have struggled with frame-rate issues like this.
- For whatever reason, Zelda doesn’t speak at all in this game, even though she could do so in previous games.
- Missed Opportunity: This game could’ve taken place in between the events of Link’s Awakening and A Link Between Worlds, but instead, it has no known connections to any existing Zelda game in the “Downfall Timeline”. As this game features a different Link and Zelda, this adds more confusion to the Zelda Timeline and makes it hard to place it in the timeline because it lacks continuity.
- However, Nintendo eventually confirmed the game takes place after Tri Force Heroes, but before Zelda 1[1].
Reception
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom received generally favorable reviews from critics and users (scoring 86/100 and 8.4/10, respectively, on Metacritic), who praised the game's art style, soundtrack, Zelda as the main playable character, and the gameplay innovation and mechanics, while criticizing the inconsistent frame rate.
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