Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Innovative Puzzle-Solving
Engaging World Map
Return of Traditional Dungeons
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a delightfully inventive and charming departure for the series that successfully marries the freeform, experimental creativity of modern Zelda with the structured, nostalgic appeal of its classic 2D roots.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – Launch Trailer – Nintendo Switch
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 is far more than some second-tier spinoff, combining the expertly crafted dungeons and item progression you’d expect from a 2D Zelda with the wild creativity provided by Tears of the Kingdom.
Thanks to playful puzzles and an imaginative reinvention of Hyrule's historic iconography, Echoes of Wisdom emerges as a bold and creative new chapter in Zelda's legend.
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.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a refreshing, albeit brief, series experimentation that blends modern and classic series elements. Using brand-new magic to battle and solve puzzles fits neatly into the top-down Zelda formula, despite some missteps.
... In the end, I finally got to experience a full, proper, no-asterisk Zelda adventure without having to explain, “Actually, you play as Link,” and I am grateful for the experience.
Echoes of Wisdom mixes Tears of the Kingdom with the classic top-down Zelda formula to create a charming adventure that is both forward-thinking and nostalgic.
It’s a colourful, accessible epic that pushes its console to the limit, with all of the mechanical depth and invention, artistic design, whimsy, and spirit of adventure that you expect from a first-party Nintendo adventure.
Echoes of Wisdom brings the spark of the latest games, but also dives deeper into the ethos of the old games with its use of dungeons. While the regions are the same, there's a new life that's presented in this that nails the aspect of refreshing the franchise in a way that isn’t a total reset. The game delivers on bringing those two elements together and valuing the series. While it isn’t perfect, it goes without saying that the game is impressive and reels you in right at the start and will make you want more after the credits begin to roll. Echoes of Wisdom should be seen as an addition to the mainline of The Legend of Zelda series. I mean, Zelda is in the name, so why not?
We're going to get more top-down views of Hyrule in the future.
Read more
The director and producer of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom reveal a surprising feature that was ultimately cut from the game.
Read more
The plan was so far along that the silent protagonist actually had lines in early development.
Read more
We may never know what was going on between Nintendo and Amazon for most of 2024.
Read more
