The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | Review Thread

[John Elden Ring]

Game Information​

Game Title: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom


Platforms:

• Nintendo Switch (Sep 26, 2024)

Trailers:

• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom — Overview Trailer — Nintendo Switch
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom — Into the Still World, a Journey Continued — Nintendo Switch
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – Traversing Hyrule Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Developer: Nintendo

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 85 average - 88% recommended - 17 reviews

MetaCritic - 86/100

Critic Reviews​

COGconnected - James Paley - 85 / 100

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Checkpoint Gaming - David McNamara - 9 / 10

A perfectly-paced, delightful twist on the classic 2D Zelda formula, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom takes everything Nintendo has learned from the Switch era and condenses it into a tight adventure jam-packed with heart. Through its wonderfully magical Echoes mechanic, satisfyingly diverse dungeon design, and unique blend of modern and classic design elements, this is both a celebration of the franchise's history and a bold first offering for Zelda as protagonist. Performance issues aside, Echoes of Wisdom is impossible not to love for newcomers and series veterans alike.

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Dexerto - James Busby - 5 / 5

While Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom successfully brought exciting new concepts to Nintendo's iconic series and helped revolutionize open-world games – Echoes of Wisdom feels like a big step forward for classic Zelda.
The game is a punchy cocktail of old school Zelda, expertly blended with modern mechanics from the series’ two open-world giants. As a result, Nintendo has created something that feels both nostalgic and uniquely fresh.
It may have taken 38 years for the series's titular princess to finally get her own game, but boy was it worth waiting for. Echoes of Wisdom not only demonstrates that Nintendo is capable of wowing Zelda fans, but it can breathe new life into its legendary series.
Echoes of Wisdom is a resounding success, a masterclass in creativity, and a worthy debut title for the series’ legendary princess.

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Digitec Magazine - Domagoj Belancic - German - 4 / 5

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom turns the tried and tested Zelda-formula on its head with its magic wand and 'Echo' clones. The daring gameplay experiment works for the most part. It's fun to find new monsters and items and experiment with them — both in combat and when solving puzzles. Every now and then I wish I could take a more active part in the battles. The limited “swordfighter mode” only partially satisfies my appetite.
Unfortunately, the otherwise expertly crafted game is somewhat marred by a cumbersome menu navigation and annoying stutters. Despite these shortcomings, fans of the series can look forward to an excellent 2D-spin-off that does a lot of things differently and yet still feels familiar.

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GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 86%

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Nintendo Life - Alana Hagues - 9 / 10

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom should be the new standard for top-down Zelda going forward. Rather than abandoning the classic formula, Zelda has shown that the old and the new can come together and produce wonderful results that reward experimentation and reinforce the joy of play. This is easily in contention with A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds as one of the best top-down adventures in the series, and we hope we don't need to wait another 35 years for Zelda to take a starring role again.

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Press Start - James Mitchell - 9.5 / 10

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom elegantly bridges old and new Zelda with grace and gusto. The Echoes system is inventive, the dungeon designs are strong and the whole experience feels like everything a classic Zelda experience should be. While minor performance issues hold Echoes of Wisdom back from being everything it could be, they're only minor blemishes on an otherwise stellar adventure fit for a princess.

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SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 9 / 10

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom may not be a game for everyone. Maybe not even a game for every Zelda fan. It does things differently, turns the traditional formula on its head and asks you to do something other than traditional combat. But that's what impressed me about it. It's not trying to do the same thing that worked five years ago. It's building on that, but it's doing something new, something fresh and something interesting that's hard to tear yourself away from.

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Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 7 / 10

A light-hearted game for those who are tired after work for a nice adventure with innovative multiplayer gameplay

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Spaziogames - Italian - 8.7 / 10

Echoes of Wisdom lays the groundwork for the future of the Zelda series, offering a beautiful and exhilarating experience that blends classic elements with forward-thinking design.

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Stevivor - Matt Gosper - 9 / 10

The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom is a unique new addition to the Zelda family. It’s wonderful to see the same boundless creativity celebrated in a smaller-scale title.

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TheGamer - Jade King - 4 / 5

Despite how much joy I mined conquering its temples and delving into its many rifts, at times it doesn’t push its ambition far enough. That never stops Echoes from being a warm hug of a video game that enraptured me from start to finish, but it does leave me infinitely more curious about what the future holds. Now Zelda has helmed her first epic outing, it’s only a matter of time until she goes onto bigger and better things.

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TheSixthAxis - Stefan L - 8 / 10

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a charming delight, an adventure for Zelda herself that embraces a wholly different style of gameplay to Link's tales, allowing for player expression and creativity throughout.

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TrustedReviews - By Thomas Deehan - 4.5 / 5

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VGC - Andy Robinson - 3 / 5

Despite some ambitious ideas, beneath the surface Echoes of Wisdom is surprisingly uneven Zelda adventure. Few of its headline mechanics are utilised to their potential which means that, while enjoyable and charming, it ultimately feels less essential than other modern 2D entries.

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Video Chums - Alex Legard - 8 / 10

Although it's a mostly great experience, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a clear step below the S-tier Zelda games like Twilight Princess, Tears of the Kingdom, and so forth. There's still plenty of fun to be had if you're a fan of the classic Zelda games and perhaps this return to that formula is the shake-up that the series needed following Tears of the Kingdom.

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WellPlayed - Nathan Hennessy - 9 / 10

Princess Zelda finally takes the stage in this magnificent farewell to the series' best generation, giving the top-down adventure a serving of the latest 3D entries' innovations.

 

[Bryank75]

Seems good...but it's no Astro Bot level game.

Kidding. I know it's a smaller game for them.

 

[voke]

My final switch game.... I get Nintendo consoles for Monolith Soft games, but in the process I've become an overall fan of Nintendo and I think the Switch is one of the best consoles ever made.... Hyped for this!!!

 

[Entropi]

Good reviews. I’m definitely getting it.

 

[mibu no ookami]

This was probably the last major barrier keeping Astro Bot from winning GOTY.

I'm not even sure Zelda gets nominated now. Could be a toss up.

 

[voke]

This was probably the last major barrier keeping Astro Bot from winning GOTY.

I'm not even sure Zelda gets nominated now. Could be a toss up.

Metaphor Refantazio will definitely be up there as well. That's an easy 90+ IMO

Sony gonna have half the TGA noms as exclusives (Helldivers 2, Astro Bot, Rebirth)

 

[ethomaz]

Seems like really a great game by the scores.

More old school Zelda.

 

[mibu no ookami]

Metaphor Refantazio will definitely be up there as well. That's an easy 90+ IMO

Sony gonna have half the TGA noms as exclusives (Helldivers 2, Astro Bot, Rebirth)

This Zelda score massively helps Wukong out. I thought Wukong was farfetched to be nominated, but not sure if you can ignore the response to the game.

Hogwarts Legacy wasn't nominated and technically, Wukong probably shouldn't either. All reports are the game is a mess technically. I don't think it would have the votes, but this Zelda game probably (probably) shouldn't either.

Good news for Prince of Persia and Dragon's Dogma 2 as well.

I don't think Metaphor Refantazio is going to review as well as you think. Helldivers 2 is going to be an interesting one. I think it scored too low and came out too early.

1. Astro Bot
2. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
3. Helldivers 2
4. Zelda Echoes of Wisdom
5. Dragon's Dogma 2
6. Black Myth Wukong
7. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
8. Prince of Persia

Only 6 will get nominated.

 

[Ico]

pre ordered this one a while back, the only classic zelda ive played is link to the past a few years ago, im hyped

 

[Cool hand luke]

Ah well, maybe next time, Nintendo!

 

[Ico]

i've been playing for at least 2 hours by now! its really creative and a fresh air to the top down games, my main complaint is that the performance during the open world feels very bloodborne-like, i wonder if the tilt-shift like graphics are the reason, it looks amazing but oof, at least it runs well during the dungeons, the puzzles and the new zelda powers shine the most there, i agree with the 8/10 reviews