I’m So Glad Echoes of Wisdom Exists
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a game that nobody was expecting. Following the success of the two open-world titles in the series, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, nobody thought there would be another Zelda game on the Nintendo Switch, let alone a top-down game where you play as Princess Zelda. It delivered on so many things that the fans have been asking for but nobody thought we’d ever get.
I enjoyed my time with Echoes of Wisdom a lot. However, this is not a strict review of the game. I’m here to talk about what this game represents for The Legend of Zelda as a series, and do a little bit of speculation for fun. If you’re on the fence about buying it, I strongly recommend you give it a try, but that’s all I’ll say for review.
As a game series, The Legend of Zelda is often split into two main categories: 3D games and top-down games. The two are largely similar but have a couple of differences outside of just the camera angle and number of dimensions used. Broadly speaking, the 3D games have a stronger focus on combat while the top-down games have a heavier focus on puzzles. After the series first breached the third dimension with Ocarina of Time in 1998, the games split with home consoles hosting the 3D adventures and the top-down games moving onto handheld systems. Both styles have been generally well liked by fans, which is why many were surprised by the lack of any top-down games on the Switch. You see, the top-down games usually came out one or two at a time in-between the big 3D releases.People were expecting to hear about one after Breath of the Wild in 2017, but before we knew it, Tears of the Kingdom was announced for 2023 and we still had nothing since 2013’s A Link Between Worlds, Meaning that there was an unprecedented eleven year gap between top-down games.
Okay, here’s where I need to clarify a few things. I’m talking only about new, single-player games. No remakes and no multiplayer spin-offs. There’s nothing wrong with these games, the Link’s Awakening remake was a ton of fun, but they aren’t what people think of when talking about a new Zelda game. So we aren’t counting 2015’s Tri Force Heroes or Majora’s Mask 3D, nor the aforementioned Link’s Awakening remake in 2019.
Prior to Echoes of Wisdom, there was usually only a two-to-four year wait between top-down games. Fans were pretty used to them coming out fairly regularly in conjunction with the flashier console games, so having this massive gap between releases led many to believe that we wouldn’t see another adventure in that style as Nintendo seemed to go all-in on their open-world structure. I cannot stress enough that people were surprised but also delighted when the first teaser for Echoes of Wisdom dropped, even people who weren’t massive fans of the game’s art style. A lot of people love the top-down games, for some it’s their preferred style for Zelda, so to finally get a brand new one after eleven years of waiting feels like a blessing. I may prefer the 3D games, but I have a lot of fond memories with the top-down entries and I’m thrilled to see Nintendo hasn’t given up on the format. Hopefully EoW’s respectable 2.58 million units sold at time of writing, according to GameRant, and positive reception by fans can return us to more regular releases; series producer Eiji Aonuma indicated in a BBC interview that this, combined with new discoveries during development, might just be the case.
In addition to that, a lot of people were excited to see that the game featured the return of traditional dungeons, something that a lot of people found themselves missing after the open-world games. Tears of the Kingdom did have dungeons, but many were left wanting more as four of the five main dungeons in the game felt too similar to one another, given that all of them shared the same mechanics. Echoes of Wisdom has brought back dungeons as everyone remembers them. Temples and ruins with rooms full of puzzles, enemies, and locked doors. You find a dungeon map, fight a mini-boss, then go challenge the monster behind the big door. Given how much of a staple of the franchise they are, it’s great to see them return to their original form. This batch has some pretty good ones, too. I’m a particular fan of the Gerudo Sanctum.
Finally, the big one: you play as Princess Zelda. It’s almost surreal to have experienced it. After years of jokes and legitimate desires to see her headline her own game, Zelda takes the spotlight—in a mainline game no less. For comparison, Princess Peach has only gotten a couple of spinoff games. Up until now, Zelda was only playable in the Smash Bros. and Hyrule Warriors series. She’s always been depicted as capable, so players have wanted her to have an adventure of her own. Sadly, until now, the only game she got was the infamous Zelda’s Adventure on the Phillips CD-i back in 1996. A less than stellar appearance, but now we’ve got a proper adventure where the Princess gets to save her people and her kingdom without terrible controls and hilariously bad voice acting.
On a side note, using characters other than Link to showcase new central game mechanics is a great idea, and I wonder if we’ll get to see other characters take up the hero mantle in the future. Either way, hopefully this isn’t Zelda’s only outing in the role.
Echoes of Wisdom is a fun game and a very solid entry in the franchise, but I’m more so just glad it exists. It shows that Nintendo is willing to bring back elements people love and still tinker with older formats. While the sales are solid but not amazing, I think this game is a good omen for the future of the franchise. It gave the developers the chance to see what their trademark creativity can do on a smaller scale, while also proving the financial viability of this style of adventure. Hopefully we’ll see them continue to make the Zelda series more diverse in the future. I’m now even more hyped to see future games.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is available now on Nintendo Switch.
