The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Reviews
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fusing classic series sensibilities with modern ones, Echoes of Wisdom is an inventive and endearing 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?
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a surprisingly substantial top-down Zelda with the slap-things together puzzle-solving spirit of Tears of the Kingdom, though its new ideas sometimes get in the way of the fun.
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.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a gorgeous, brilliantly clever game in a series that continues to be unique and innovative.
Overall, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a good game but not a great one. The echoes setup is certainly cerebral, but the lack of basic combat moves outside of the Swordfighter Form is jarring and only emphasized further at the end of the game. Here’s hoping that the next time Zelda ventures out into the wild world of Hyrule, someone remembers to give her a sword.
Echoes of Wisdom is a marvel both visually and gameplay-wise. It's riddled with clever puzzles and gives you total freedom to choose to save Hyrule in your own way. An outstanding experience marred only by a few usability issues.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
To get a game this innovative, charming and polished just over a year after the remarkable “Tears” is miraculous. I can’t wait to see what the next Zelda game learns from this one. Its echoes will ring long after the credits roll.
At times inconsistent and unrefined but the echoes concept is excellent and allows for one of the most innovative and open-ended 2D Zeldas of the modern era.
My run through the game during this review period lasted a bit over 30 hours, but the game will take longer for the completionists out there. Each player will tell a different story with how they play, solve puzzles, the order in which they clear dungeons, and so much more that I can't talk about at risk of spoiling the story. Needless to say, long-time Zelda players will be smiling from ear to ear when they roll credits. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is full of wonderful surprises, engaging gameplay, and tons of stuff to do in the biggest top-down iteration of Hyrule yet.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom wisely combines the format of the classic deliveries with the style of the modern ones; a link between the past and the future of the saga that also brings homegrown ideas full of possibilities and freshness. The princess has shown why she has always been HER legend.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom only feels like the beginning for what could become a great Zelda saga.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom proves that a classic approach to the series is still possible as long as it only partially negates the evolutions of recent years. The new gameplay mechanics blend perfectly with the old-school structure and are fun, while the art direction takes your breath away.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
While it likely won’t be remembered to the same degree as “bigger” Zelda installments, it’ll absolutely go down as a classic to me. Echoes of Wisdom is brilliant in its creativity and versatility, one of the best in the series as far as I’m concerned.