Overview
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is an action-adventure game where Zelda is the playable hero, developed by Grezzo and published by Nintendo, released in 2024. I played it on Nintendo Switch.
I expected to be disappointed at first, but in the end, even though it's not a groundbreaking game, it's really cool to play.
Story and world
The game changes things up since you play as Zelda this time. Mysterious rifts are gradually swallowing Hyrule, and Link disappears into one of them. Zelda then sets off on an adventure with Tri, a small creature who entrusts her with a rod with special powers.
Gameplay
The gameplay is original: Zelda summons everything she comes across, like a bed, a monster, a table, a chair, etc. These copies, called echoes, are used for fighting as well as for solving puzzles or getting past obstacles.
The game brings new ideas, and I'd rather applaud that than be grumpy and say "it was better before, blah blah blah".
Progression happens little by little, depending on the objects you learn to create and on the limit of objects you can summon at the same time, which increases over the course of the adventure.
The downside I'd point out is that it becomes hard to find your way around the menu to choose the right object, because the list gets huge by the end of the game.
Graphics and music
The game uses the "toy-like" visual style of the Link's Awakening remake, released in 2019 and also developed by Grezzo.
Verdict
Not a groundbreaking game, but really cool to play. Its summoning gameplay brings genuinely new ideas and progression happens little by little. My only regret: the echoes menu becomes hard to navigate by the end of the game.