For many of us, playing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom feels like finding an old photo album full of cherished memories. I first encountered the Zelda franchise upon the release of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and the series had already entertained countless early adopters. For me, though, that journey into the light and dark worlds and its magical mix of gameplay and adventure astounded my senses. It stayed with me and defined my gaming experience for years to come.
As I fired up Echoes of Wisdom, it brought all those wonderful times thundering back from the past in a parade of familiar music, bright colours, and gameplay so intuitive that it feels like muscle memory.
In its very first moments, we find ourselves controlling Link’s jade-clad personage as he rushes forward to do his favorite thing (besides smashing pots) — save the princess. Within minutes, you fight Ganon like it’s 1992 all over again, but suddenly, there’s a twist. A defeated Gannon opens a black, shimmering portal into which Link falls, leaving Princess Zelda to free herself. Just like that, we’re not in the Hyrule we knew anymore.
In this game, you take on the role of Zelda herself. While this is not the first instance of Zelda as a playable character — that honor belongs to the widely reviled Phillips CD-i games — it is the most significant of those occasions.
Perhaps equally as important, video game developer Grezzo, previously involved in creating several remakes and remasters of other Zelda series entries, finally managed to get hold of the keys to Hyrule Castle. After Grezzo created the widely acclaimed remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Nintendo allowed them to start development on an entirely new chapter in the history of Zelda games. At this point, Grezzo could easily have cloned their previous work, performed a character model swap on Link, and left it at that.
Luckily for us, they chose not to take this approach. Echoes of Wisdom soon treats us to the first of many excellent escape sequences which require you to control Zelda precisely as she flees her former prison. As she emerges, the game greets us with a majestic view of Hyrule Castle and its surroundings, which made my heart swell with the promise of the journey to come.
After this, we discover that rifts are opening all over Hyrule, swallowing up the landscape and its inhabitants and leaving dark patches of dangerous nothingness in their place. Zelda meets a cheerful yellow sprite named Tri, who creates a magical “Tri Rod” for her.
This rod gives Zelda the powers that differentiate this title from its peers. First, Zelda can move things at a distance by firing out a magic beam latching onto target items in the vicinity. That object then matches Zelda’s movements, an ability utilised throughout your time in Echoes of Wisdom. Additionally, Zelda can use the rod to copy items and monsters. Once copied, Zelda can reproduce these “Echoes” at will, subject to some limitations. Each item has a point value ascribed to it; Tri has limited power, so only a certain number of Echoes can exist at any one moment.
It’s a simple system. However, there are many Echoes you can obtain throughout the game, and there are a multitude of ways to approach the puzzles. Consequently, you develop your own methods to deal with the obstacles placed in your way. The question of how to cross a gap or defeat those three annoying monsters does not require the same answer from everybody. For instance, I mainly used beds to bridge chasms and the scorching strength of the Fire Wizzrobe (a floating wizard who shoots out fireballs) to dispatch my enemies, but there are often varied approaches.
The freshness these new abilities bring to the gameplay makes Echoes of Wisdom a triumph. Utterly different from anything that has gone before, even the most avid Zelda aficionados will find themselves marvelling at how much invention Grezzo has artfully employed here. Echoes of Wisdom has masterfully designed puzzles: difficult but not impregnable. You generally won’t find yourself flummoxed by the trials put before you. I admit to pausing for thought a couple of times, but on each occasion, the answer came to me eventually. When it did, that eureka moment was all the sweeter.
The true joy lies in how the developers have married these novel ideas to the comfort of slipping back into the Zelda universe. Every step forward brings a sense of warmth that fills your being, like you’ve imbibed one of the delicious smoothies Zelda makes to restore and enhance herself throughout the game. Woven into our gamer hearts, the mysterious jingle played as you discover a hidden door and the triumphant notes that accompany the opening of a treasure chest invoke a Pavlovian response from the eager audience.
Echoes of Wisdom utilises the same style as Link’s Awakening, eschewing the more realistically proportioned look of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the kawaii approach adopted by the former title. Indeed, the producer of the Legend of Zelda series, Eiji Aonuma, recently stated in an interview on Nintendo.com that for their “2D” games (although these titles are not really 2D), this represents their “new approach for graphics and gameplay feel.”
You can see why they have made this decision. The look of Zelda’s world is entrancing, as if a child with a love of high fantasy has carefully arranged the contents of their toybox before us. Each tree, brick, and dungeon tile looks smooth, shiny, and tactile.
The designs of the creatures and people in Echoes of Wisdom offer new spins on classic Zelda icons, such as the mask-wearing warrior-women of the Gerudo and the oddly proportioned Deku, who in this game have a strange obsession with “Cotton Candy.” The differences between the River Zora and the Sea Zora emphasise their division: the River Zora are more piscine, and the Sea Zora have softly tentacled heads. Even the creatures that should be repulsive are appealing in unique ways, and each monster copied adds to a bestiary that you will treasure as it expands.
Echoes of Wisdom has admirable worldbuilding for a title with a story so intentionally simplistic. The way each of the peoples of Hyrule refer to the rifts in different manners, such as the woodland Deku who call them “dark thorns,” subtly draws you further into the tale.
A marvelous sense of humor threads throughout the game. I love the comically drawn wanted posters appearing when Zelda becomes persona non grata in the Kingdom of Hyrule that look like an especially artless child drew them in a hurry.
Echoes of Wisdom does have minor issues. A large part of the gameplay involves using your monster echoes to fight for you. Theoretically, you can direct your creatures to fight individual enemies, but you cannot reliably target them correctly, as the cursor randomly selects objects and foes in a haphazard fashion. Practically, this doesn’t cause too many problems. My army fought well in general, laying waste to those nearest, but dismissing this frustration is difficult. On top of this, object placement can sometimes prove awkward as you accidentally stack a crate to the right of you instead of in front. I started to wonder whether Zelda’s frequent plummets off the edge of cliffs somehow affected her fine motor skills in some way.
These are trivial complaints when compared to Echoes of Wisdom‘s carefree inventiveness. The game possesses an addictive gameplay loop. First, you find a small rift. Upon entering it, Tri requests that you help him find his compatriots. You must then use your imagination to devise methods to locate and reach the little glow-bugs. Once gathered, Tri and his buddies close the rift. As I witnessed the world of Hyrule slowly heal, I felt a great sense of satisfaction. After this, you head to the main rift dungeon, where even more ingenious puzzles await you. At the heart of the dungeon lies a boss. These battles, almost all of them highlights, encourage you to find the secrets to defeating each imposing monster. The standard difficulty level provides a perfectly attuned experience, offering challenge without frustration. A harder difficulty mode exists where no hearts appear to refill your life meter. It’s not for me, but those who seek the most punishing experiences will likely approve.
Sometimes, the action shifts to a side-on view, allowing the developers to mix up the nature of the challenges you must face. These areas blend seamlessly into the whole and stop the gameplay from becoming dull.
Echoes of Wisdom caters to those who prefer early Zelda gameplay too, as Zelda gains the ability to transform into a sword-wielding battle princess, though a magic meter limits her time in this form. After mostly tackling fights in a passive fashion, allowing your monsters to dominate while you bounce away from your foes to avoid harm, it is satisfying to break out your blade and wale on the bad guys directly. A bit of fireball pinball never gets old either as you return serves to Ganon like you’re at Wimbledon.
If the main story isn’t enough for you, numerous side quests await. Many of them build the narrative and atmosphere of Echoes of Wisdom, such as a mission to track down a potential imposter within the ranks of soldiers at Hyrule Castle. They’re not all great though — like the ones showing bored Gerudo flying tiles or tumbleweeds they want to see for some reason. They do live in a desert, though. I imagine they have to find their own entertainment. Fortunately, you are not forced to undertake these quests, so they do not impact the overall experience.
Echoes of Wisdom has a beautiful score, mostly orchestral in nature. Many of the familiar Zelda themes appear with pared-down arrangements, possessed of a clarity and tone that emphasises the themes of Hyrule, a simple place of binary good and evil. I found variety here too, though, with dungeon music sometimes straying into heavy bass and xylophone sounds. Traveling through the Faron Wetlands felt like listening to a Ghibli movie, and the final stage has a suitably discordant tone.
In Echoes of Wisdom, we have everything that I hoped for and more. New and old, revolutionary and yet traditional, it pulls you back to a place of long-treasured happiness without solely relying on nostalgia. More than a worthy entry in the series, destined to be held in affection for decades to come, it could introduce a whole new generation of Zelda fans to the magic that the best of this series delivers.