REVIEW: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom


Title	The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Developer	Nintendo, Grezzo
Publisher	Nintendo
Release Date	September 26th, 2024
Genre	Action-Adventure
Platform	Nintendo Switch
Age Rating	Everyone 10+
Official Website

Recently, I was asked if I wanted to request some Nintendo games to review. I honestly thought it was too late for an Echoes of Wisdom review, but I guess not because we got a couple of recent releases I’ve found myself interested in. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the first one I’ve been given to review and I’ve now finally played through and finished it.

I think everyone knows by now that Echoes of Wisdom is a unique Zelda game based on the trailers. It starts off with Zelda captured as usual. However, when Link comes to save her, he ends up sucked into a rift as he does so. Eventually, Zelda meets a new friend, Tri, and receives the Tri Rod, which you can use to create echoes. Zelda can’t attack on her own, you have to rely on echoes of various enemies to attack for you. Later on, you can even turn into an echo of Link, with the caveat of having a time limit for directly attacking enemies on your own as his echo. Throughout the game, you’re tasked with investigating these rifts to prevent them from swallowing up all of Hyrule, as well as saving Link wherever he ended up because no one else is able to.

I quite enjoyed my time playing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. It was nice jumping into a game again that’s super easy to pick-up and only play for however long I feel like. It doesn’t have any of the tediousness that games I play more often normally do. A simple adventure like Echoes of Wisdom is always a fun break for me every once in a while. I also thought it was nice that they added in some lore explaining Link’s lack of vocal skills. Although, despite being a simple adventure and easy to pick-up, you do have puzzles to figure out as you progress through dungeons and other parts of the game, much like most Zelda titles. Speaking of which, yes, this game does have more traditional dungeons like older entries in the series prior to Switch. Honestly, that’s not a surprise for me. Despite the Breath of the Wild universe not really having them anymore, I expect a top-down Zelda title such as this, to contain traditional dungeons.

Now, back to the topic of tediousness. That reminds me of… I do believe the only real complaint I have about Echoes of Wisdom. Once you’ve collected a good amount of echoes, it can take quite a while to cycle through them and select the one that you want. There are filters, though, which let you put the most recent echoes you’ve used at the top, or even the ones you tend to use most often. Also, you can simply open the menu, thus pausing the game, and select an echo from there. Still, it would’ve been nice to have a way to setup a bar of only specific echoes you’ll need for the time being, or ones you use the most in general, and not have numerous other echoes in the way stretching the selection bar way out there.

Visually, the game looks quite nice. I really enjoyed how all of the scenery looks, especially the water. I also loved being able to swim around rivers and the ocean without the need of some added gear. The game does come with gear to equip to Zelda, but it’s simply accessories with minor effects. For example, sandals that prevent Zelda from sinking into quicksand, or flippers that let you swim a little bit faster. The music was also pleasant. The songs are a bit simple and I noticed one in particular was a bit repetitive. But for the most part, it was enjoyable music which suited all of the different areas of Hyrule. Maybe not as memorable as the songs in certain other Zelda games, but it worked for Echoes of Wisdom.

Overall, I think The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a pretty fun game. I don’t believe it’s the most memorable or outstanding entry in the series ever, nor do I think it has as much as replay value as some other titles. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it for what it was, and if you want some new gameplay outside the norm for Zelda, or you want to check out some brand new traditional Zelda dungeons, then I do highly recommend the game for fans of the franchise. I also think it’s a great game for anyone who likes adventure games which are relatively simple and easy to pick-up and play on a whim. I spent over 30 hours on this one and I’m glad I had a chance to play it.