Overview:

Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a non-traditional traditional Zelda game.  What I mean by this is that it is a top down adventure with you clearing out dungeons in a kind of linear fashion.  It does throw in some open world aspects of it with quest givers being all over the place with random tasks for you to do with fabulous prizes.  What’s non-traditional about it is you are in control of Princess Zelda who must find out how to rescue Link from the clutches of an evil enemy.  You do find powerups to help you along the way and special abilities.  OH!  The main mechanic of the game is calling up “echoes” of enemies you’ve defeated or objects you’ve found to help you solve puzzles or fight for you.  Zelda is a pacifist and doesn’t fight but she will call hordes of enemies to fight for her and it is super satisfying seeing a bunch of Moblins take out a Darknut while you’re sleeping to regain hearts.  The puzzles throughout the game can be solved in a multitude of ways depending on the complexity but most of the time a simple bed or water blocks were enough to solve anything.  Zelda can also transform into Link mode where she channels Link and wields a sword, bombs, and arrows to also fight enemies.  I wasn’t too keen of this mode and only used it when it was necessary.

Visuals:

The same aesthetic of Link’s Awakening for the Switch on grand display here as it takes everything that made that style so loveable and turns it up to 11.  The characters are so emotive and adorable, especially when they freak out.  The enemies, although dangerous, are never terrifying and become quite funny when they’re fighting for you.  The world is gorgeous.  The biomes are your typical ones but the effects used make them stand out.  I just love the way it looks and over my playthrough of this game and Link’s Awakening I never got tired of it.  I could go for another adventure from this perspective as well as a traditional Zelda seems not what people want anymore.  Either way, I love the way it looks.  

Audio:

You ever want the soundtrack of something so bad only to find out it doesn’t exist in the format you want.  Like the visuals, the audio in Echoes is top notch.  All of the music is so simple and relaxing that you just want to wander around the world listening to it.  Even the boss fights or dungeons are nice to listen to.  The voices are also amazing.  There isn’t voice acting or anything but you’ll get the common “OOOOOY” or “OOH!” often and, each time, it’s funny to hear.  The game is just one word: CHARMING.

Completion:

I FINISHED THIS GAME!  I have to admit, initially, I was really put off by the game.  I didn’t like the way combat was and how Zelda was so defenseless.  I picked it up again, a year and a half later, because I wanted to get use out of the Switch 2 and became instantly hooked.  Everything just clicked and I wanted nothing more than to complete the game, find all the secrets, do all the quests, and just live in the world.  I hadn’t felt this way since Breath of the Wild but, if I’m being honest, I would have to say this is probably one of the top three best Legend of Zelda games I’ve played.  I really loved it and I was sad to see it end.