The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Review – A Classic Adventure with Modern Enhancements

2024/10/03

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable RPGs I’ve experienced on my Nintendo Switch in quite some time. This title harks back to older gaming eras when games focused primarily on delivering a fun and entertaining experience rather than a cinematic storyline, intricate combat mechanics, or complex characters.

It’s been ages since we saw a top-down Zelda game. The last one I deeply engaged with was The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which I purchased alongside a Switch Lite and invested countless hours into. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom mirrors Link’s Awakening in many ways.

Similar to its predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom isn’t without its issues, but these are few and far between. Despite its minor flaws, Echoes of Wisdom stands out as an exceptionally enjoyable experience, embodying a nostalgic feel while sporting a modern twist.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – A True Classic Zelda Experience

Visuals, Presentation, and Audio

One aspect I seldom critique in any Nintendo first-party release is its presentation, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is no exception. If you’ve played Link’s Awakening on the Nintendo Switch, you’ll find that Echoes of Wisdom shares a similar art style and presentation, with some subtle variations.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom perfectly modernizes classic Zelda aesthetics (Image via Nintendo)

For those who haven’t yet played Link’s Awakening, both games offer a modernized interpretation of classic Zelda visuals. Picture the 2D Legend of Zelda titles on the NES, now enhanced with a contemporary filter.

This artistic direction retains the charm of the classic Zelda games while providing a modern upgrade that does not detract from the “retro”feel. As an NES enthusiast, I couldn’t have wished for anything more. Besides visuals, the audio experience in Echoes of Wisdom also shines.

While I wouldn’t place its soundtrack above earlier Zelda titles such as Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, or even Link’s Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom still boasts a commendable original soundtrack, particularly with the ambient music enhancing your exploration of Hyrule.

Gameplay and Progression

The highlight of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is that it’s not primarily about Link. Although he has an appearance and plays a role in the main storyline, this time around, we get to experience the adventure from the perspective of Princess Zelda herself.

Link makes a brief appearance in Echoes of Wisdom (Image via Nintendo)

This character shift is something I genuinely appreciated. Not only is Zelda portrayed differently, but her “arsenal of weapons”diverges significantly from Link’s. Instead of wielding the Master Sword, Zelda utilizes the magical Tri Rod Staff. This staff allows her to collect Echoes, which act as duplicates of various items and adversaries encountered during her journey in Hyrule.

Echoes are employed not only in combat but also to navigate the numerous puzzles scattered throughout Hyrule. Moreover, Echoes of Wisdom reintroduces the “classic Zelda”dungeons that long-time fans have eagerly awaited, featuring enjoyable puzzles that can be solved in different ways using Echoes.

Echoes are a fantastic addition to Princess Zelda's toolkit (Image via Nintendo) — Echoes are a fantastic addition to Princess Zelda’s toolkit (Image via Nintendo)

To be fair, the Echoes aren’t as advanced as Link’s Ultrahand or the physics-based mechanics found in Tears of the Kingdom. Still, they enhance the gameplay in a style that doesn’t typically embrace player-driven systems. Furthermore, the Echoes ability is a perfect fit for a character as agile as Zelda. After all, would you expect Princess Zelda to charge headfirst into battle against Bokoblins and Moblins?

One of my favorite moments involves summoning multiple NPC Echoes to create a diversion while Princess Zelda tends to flower-picking. If you prefer a more traditional combat approach, there’s the “Swordfighter form,”which enables you to fight, albeit with a cooldown that limits its use to boss battles and specific dungeons.

The Story, or Lack Thereof

To be honest, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom isn’t particularly renowned for its narrative. However, given that it’s an RPG and a spiritual successor to games like Link’s Awakening, I anticipated a somewhat engaging story to propel the characters and gameplay elements forward. Unfortunately, I found myself a bit disappointed in this aspect.

Despite an intriguing opening, the narrative here falls short of previous Zelda entries (Image via Nintendo)

Regarding storytelling, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom resembles titles like Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. The game starts with a brief narrative that drops Zelda into her Hyrule adventure, allowing players to create their stories from there. While I didn’t expect a narrative on par with Red Dead Redemption or God of War, I hoped Echoes of Wisdom would borrow elements from Tears of the Kingdom regarding its storytelling approach. Nonetheless, this is a minor issue, and the lack of depth in storytelling did not detract significantly from my enjoyment after the initial hours.

Minor Technical Issues

I’ll begin this section by stating that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom operates nearly flawlessly when played on the Nintendo Switch’s handheld mode. Thanks to the game’s vivid color palette, it looks fantastic on the Switch’s OLED screen (if you’re using that model of the console). However, the experience in docked mode is less impressive.

Docked mode performance is less than ideal (Image via Nintendo)

I tend to use my Switch OLED in handheld mode, which is how I spent the bulk of my time playing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. I did test out docked mode, curious to see how the game scales on a larger display. Unfortunately, the results were disappointing.

In docked mode, I experienced frequent frame drops, which were quite disruptive. If you’ve played Tears of the Kingdom on the Switch, expect similar performance inconsistencies in various Hyrule regions within Echoes of Wisdom. Additionally, the game crashed twice while in docked mode, causing me to lose some progress.

While a post-launch patch did resolve some performance issues, it didn’t eliminate them entirely. As much as I enjoy my Nintendo Switch, it’s apparent that as we approach 2024, the console’s limitations are becoming more evident. While handheld mode performs reasonably well, expecting a stable 1080p-30fps in docked mode feels overly ambitious for the Switch.

In Conclusion

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom successfully captures the essence of a classic Zelda RPG experience. While it presents several shortcomings in storytelling and technical performance, it remains an excellent title that is bound to please both loyal fans and newcomers to the franchise.