Summary
The reviews are in for the new Nintendo Switch exclusive gameThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, set to launch on September 26.The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis taking the franchise in bold new directions. While it features a style of gameplay similar to classicZeldagames and an art style lifted from theLink’s Awakeningremake,Echoes of Wisdomalso features plenty of brand-new ideas.
For one,The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of WisdomfeaturesPrincess Zelda as the main playable characterinstead of Link for the first time in series history. Secondly,Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomhas a brand-new gameplay mechanic where players are able to capture the essence of items and enemies they encounter in the game world to then summon those things for exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat. TheZelda: Echoes of Wisdomgameplay videos have looked incredibly impressive, and now that the reviews are in, it’s clear that the game has largely lived up to the hype.
35 critic reviews have been counted forThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomso far, earning the game an impressive 85 overall ratingaccording to review aggregate site OpenCritic. This makesZelda: Echoes of Wisdomone of the highest-rated new game releases of 2024, though it’s not rated nearly as high as some other games in the series. Regardless, 85 is a great score, and it will be interesting to see how it fluctuates after more reviews are counted. Critics have praised the game’s unique gameplay features and vibrant art style, while some have complained about performance problems when exploring the overworld.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Review Scores
While 85 is a great score and indicates thatThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis indeed a great game, it’s technically the lowest-rated newZeldagame released on the Switch. TheLink’s Awakeningremakeearned an 87, whileBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomboth have 96. Again, it’s possible thatEchoes of Wisdom’s review score will fluctuate, and so there’s a chance the game’s score will end up closer toLink’s Awakeningwhen it’s all said and done, though fans shouldn’t expect it to get close to the extremely high scores enjoyed byBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom.
There are rumors that theGameCube-eraZeldagames could be getting portedto the Switch, but there’s a good possibility thatEchoes of Wisdomwill be the finalZeldagame released for Nintendo’s home console/handheld hybrid. If so, one has to imagine that the nextZeldais in the works for the Switch’s successor, and when it’s revealed to the world, it will be interesting to see how it stacks up compared toEchoes of Wisdomand the other SwitchZeldagames.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
WHERE TO PLAY
Save Hyrule—this time with the wisdom of Princess Zelda!The people of Hyrule are being stolen away by strange rifts—and with a certain swordsman among the missing, it’s up to Princess Zelda to save her kingdom in the latest adventure in The Legend of Zelda™ series!Team up with the ethereal creature Tri and use the Tri Rod to create “echoes,” which are imitations of things you find in the environment—then recreate those echoes whenever you like to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Use echoes like water blocks to reach new heights, make bridges out of old beds, throw rocks at foes, or find your own combination of echoes to do things your way. you may even make echoes of monsters to fight at your side in combat!
