With the release of two critically acclaimed open-world entries in The Legend of Zelda franchise, it seemed less and less likely that Nintendo would make a meaningful return to smaller, more focused games. Within this window, Link’s Awakening and Skyward Sword were both released as remakes, but totally new experiences were lacking. Fortunately, Nintendo recently announced Zelda’s first solo adventure in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. After some hands-on time, this entry feels like another creative grand slam for the long-running series.
In the game’s opening moments, Link comes to Zelda’s rescue once again, but he’s captured by an ominous purple rift while Zelda is able to escape. Shortly thereafter, she meets a mysterious creature named Tri, who grants her the ability to capture the ‘echo’ of an object or creature and make her own copies. An echo seems shorthand for essence because capturing an object’s echo doesn’t seem to affect it, though monsters can only be captured after they’ve been defeated. Armed with her newfound power, Zelda is able to reach a small village, gathering various objects and creatures along the way.
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These echoes are the backbone of the game; in my short time playing, the gameplay loop rewarded exploration to capture new echoes and use them creatively. If you’re trying to climb a cliff, it’s possible to make a staircase out of beds, but you can also summon a spider and climb the web they create or use a trampoline to get some height.
Since the creatures of the game will be sharing the spotlight with Zelda, it’s no small wonder they’ve used the same adorable art style established in the Link’s Awakening remake, giving the whole world, including Zelda’s creatures, the appearance of a child’s toy. Thankfully, it’s not the only title that seems to have influenced Echoes of Wisdom. While it appears to be much smaller than the massive Tears of the Kingdom, it seems to share its philosophy for open-ended puzzle-solving.
This extends to combat as well; you can certainly summon a handful of creatures to fight for you. My personal favorite strategy was sending a trio of bats at my enemies, making the adventure game feel more like a creature battler. Even though the bats died from a single attack, you’re able to replace them the instant they’re defeated, eventually crushing my foes under a flood of winged rodents. If you want to be more strategic, you can summon a spear-wielding Moblin and another creature to support it or act as a distraction so your enemies are blind-sided by your echoes. Either approach, along with countless others, was viable and kept each battle exciting.
After some time playing through the introduction, I was shifted to the game’s first dungeon, which resides in a surreal space where objects are disposed of. This space is where the purple rifts take the objects they absorb. Now equipped with a few new echoes, I tackled the dungeon head-on. Much like earlier entries in The Legend of Zelda franchise, the dungeon was chock full of puzzles, combat encounters, and opportunities for optional exploration.
In The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, however, the ratio weighed more heavily in favor of puzzles. Nearly every room revealed a chance to exercise your brain, and the less common fights also had a more thoughtful slant to them. How would you deal with a carnivorous flower on a ledge? With your utility belt full of echoes, there are countless solutions to this and other trials.
Despite the titular focus on echoes, Zelda isn’t limited to a single new ability, however interesting it may be. Partway through my hands-on time with the game, Zelda gained the ability to bond with objects, including the echoes she created. This gave her the ability to shift them according to her own movements. Setting down a spikey ball and bonding to it gives you a makeshift spike barricade, damaging any enemies you wield your echo at. Bonding with a massive boulder allows you to move it out of your intended path or even repurpose it as a bridge. There were multiple uses in combat as well, allowing you to hold an enemy while your echoes attack or ripping their shield away to make them more susceptible to death via swarm of bats.
Most of the way through the dungeon, Zelda found herself face to face with Link himself, or at least something that looked like Link. The silent swordsman was out for blood despite his appearance, and we were forced to fight him. This segment felt like a neat inversion of the series, where I had to discover which monster was best suited for defeating the legendary hero.
After a few tense moments, we beat him, earning Zelda the ability to temporarily wield a sword. These moments felt more like a traditional 2D Zelda game, turning the princess herself into a fighter who could hack and slash her way through any enemy. My concern that this would detract from the experience was short-lived since the ability cannot be used endlessly.
As is the standard, the dungeon (and my preview) was capped off with a boss battle. This fight seemed to have a few sure solutions compared to the puzzles leading up to it, but there was still room for improvisation or clever thinking. Zelda’s toolset now included summoning echoes, bonding with objects, and transforming into a swordsman, but none of it felt out of place for her, and my time with the game ended along with the boss fight. As the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, it’s refreshing to play a different approach to the series’ staples. These early hours of the game, coupled with the promise of optional exploration in the world, are poised to make Echoes of Wisdom a legendary adventure.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom releases September 26, 2024 on Nintendo Switch.
