The first main Zelda game to star the actual Princess, Echoes of Wisdom is an open world adventure as Zelda earns and wields echoes of items and enemies to save Hyrule from mysterious rifts.
Easy to Play
Great Graphics/Art
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Story & Themes
Messy Zelda timeline not withstanding, Echoes of Wisdom is a prequel that features a brand-new Link on a rescue mission for Princess Zelda. While successful, Link is drawn into a strange rift, trapping the swordsman and leaving Zelda to deal with the threat of rifts appearing all over Hyrule. The rifts cover entire areas, trap citizens, and spawn dangerous monsters.
Thankfully Zelda isn't alone. With her new spirit ally Tri, she wields a magic rod that can create echoes of certain objects and all monsters. By summoning whatever she needs, she can creatively battle enemies and solve puzzles.
The world most closely aligns with classic top-down Zelda games such as A Link to the Past and Between Worlds, with a generally square-shaped Hyrule that features all the familiar locations such as Gerudo Desert and Kakariko Village. The world of Hyrule opens up after the initial hour, allowing players to explore most of the world and tackle various rift dungeons at their own pace.
The chibi art style is similar to the Link's Awakening remake, giving the world and characters a toy-like effect.
As she gains more and more echoes, Zelda has a lot more creative freedom than Link. She can use pots, beds, and trampolines to reach new areas, and summon familiar enemies to defend her. Those who miss playing as Link will enjoy entering swordfighter mode, essentially transforming Zelda into Link for a limited time.
Save Points
Players can save the game at any time. The game also frequently autosaves.
Difficulty
On normal difficulty, Echoes of Wisdom is very forgiving. Enemies don't deal too much damage, and frequently drop hearts to restore health. For older and more experienced players, Echoes of Wisdom offers a "Hero" difficulty, which makes enemies deal much more damage, and hearts no longer drop, forcing players to use health-restoring items and crafted potions.
Heads Up!
Violence Zelda mostly uses a magic wand to summon items or copies of enemies to battle other enemies with swords, spears, claws, fire, and spikes. Zelda can also temporarily transform into a swordfighter and wield weapons herself. There's no blood, damage reaction is minimal, and enemies poof when defeated, though Zelda is often surrounded by multiple enemies, creating intense situations.
Scary Imagery The Zelda series features a few scarier enemies, though they're less intense than the big 3D games thanks to the cuter art style and isometric perspective. The zombie-like RedDead are probably the spookiest, as their special ability is to scream and stun everyone nearby.
Conversation Starters
- What's it like controlling Zelda instead of Link, and using magical echoes to fight indirectly?
- What are your favorite go-to echoes for combat and puzzles?
- Do you prefer top-down Zelda games or 3D Zelda games?
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