Hey, pay attention! It’s harmful to go alone.
For four decades, the Zelda franchise has resided in the collective consciousness, fostering a cultural phenomenon that has spawned countless memes, cinematic and televisual nods, and even inspired the most audacious electronic music producers.
In a bold departure from tradition, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge innovates by placing Princess Zelda at the forefront as the playable protagonist in a mainline title for the first time, finally flipping the script and making Zelda both the princess and the hero.
Despite the passage of time, certain aspects of The Legend of Zelda remain unchanged. Fittingly, the primary discovery within Echoes of Knowledge lies in its enduring soundtrack, where a distinctive opening sequence masterfully reworks fundamental motifs into something both modern, otherworldly, and atmospheric, showcasing Nintendo’s remarkable ability to reimagine familiar themes.
As you’re suddenly transported into a miniature, chibi version of Hyrule, you find yourself in a whimsical realm that’s bursting with life and reaction, featuring an astonishing array of collectibles just waiting to be discovered. At the heart of this esoteric game lies the ingenious mechanism known as Echoes.
With the aid of her trusty magical ally Tri, Princess Zelda can harness the power to create duplicates of touched objects or enemies within Hyrule, empowering her to devise innovative solutions to puzzles or engage in strategic combat. From humble beginnings with ordinary vessels like pots and containers, my collection rapidly grew to exceed two hundred items, featuring a diverse array of peculiar entities and their levelled counterparts, culminating in the discovery of unusual contraptions such as trampolines and even disembodied cubes of water inspired by Minecraft.
In the realm of Echoes of Knowledge, these echoes stand out as the most powerful manifestation of this vast expanse.
While some video games tout the phrase “play your way,” it’s rare to find ones that genuinely allow for creative problem-solving, where you can combine objects in innovative ways that yield unique solutions not possible through other methods.
In Echoes of Knowledge, it’s possible that distinct gamers will naturally gravitate towards disparate strategies in battle, sparking diverse choices such as unleashing waves of rolling armadillos from a distance, taking cover behind a metal-clad knight, or charging forward to deploy sea urchins on monsters’ heads as an impromptu melee construct.
You’ll be able to apply this method to puzzles, where if you find yourself stranded on one side of a crevasse, you can interact with the supposed mechanics of an environment or simply stack beds on top of each other to build a bridge and trampoline off the end to clear the chasm instead. Venturing beyond familiar boundaries and exploring diverse areas of the map can yield innovative solutions to challenges, thereby rendering the experience less rigid and more open-ended.
Regardless of its condensed nature, navigating across the map takes mere minutes, thanks to the entire biomes and locations from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom being accessible in a compact open-world format. This, combined with shared UI elements where Echoes are selected from the same hot menu as weapons and Zonai Gadgets in Tears of the Kingdom – a feature that, while familiar, is undeniably Nintendo Tax – effectively makes Echoes of Knowledge feel like a genuine Zelda experience?
Though Echoes of Knowledge’s toy-chest artwork course is charming in its own right, the series suffers from some rough edges that fall short of a flagship franchise like The Legend of Zelda – as the Switch, now showing signs of wear and tear like the aged Lady Impa, starts to look its age.
Some of the environmental textures appear muddled, lacking definition and clarity. The character traits and distinguishing features are unclear. During abrupt scene changes and when numerous game elements populate the screen simultaneously, the frame rate tends to fluctuate, causing a temporary slowdown.
While exploring Echoes of Knowledge reveals many impressive features, the overall experience falls short of being truly awe-inspiring. While there may be some things that appear pleasant at first glance, the overall impression is more underwhelming than impressive.
While it’s not fair to say Echoes of Knowledge is devoid of spectacle, the establishing cutscenes that introduce distinct areas are indeed stunning, and pivotal story moments pack a punch – yet Hyperlink’s Awakening, five years prior, left me thrillingly enthralled in a way Echoes of Knowledge doesn’t.
Given that its foundation is built on the same framework as A Link to the Past, Echoes of Knowledge contains several borrowed elements that, while well-intentioned, ultimately fail to integrate seamlessly.
While The Place Hyperlink is often considered the archetypal silent protagonist, it may not be entirely logical to maintain Zelda as a mute essential character who can still communicate with others but lacks spoken dialogue? While the narrative as a whole remains charming, its pace becomes somewhat monotonous, leading to a sense of padding in the second half, as multiple interconnected dungeons are tackled in swift succession, resulting in a less engaging experience compared to the initial crucial quests.
While the puzzle-solving in these dungeons is pleasant and feels organic, certain later levels also introduce frustrating mechanics – such as stealth sections with instant failure and gusts of scorching air that fail to dispatch players as high as intended – which compounds the challenge.
The leadership team at Echoes of Knowledge may occasionally spark differing opinions among stakeholders. While I won’t reveal the secrets of beating certain levels, it’s frustrating when there’s much that isn’t clearly indicated. The harmony between exploration and combat is disrupted when forced to abandon the fluid approach and focus singularly on defeating formidable foes?
While Echoes of Knowledge’s straightforward style may occasionally falter, its brevity ensures such imperfections are brief and don’t linger uncomfortably. Although the game is substantial in size, spanning approximately 15-20 hours like Hyperlink’s Awakening, it never feels oppressively large.
As Echoes of Knowledge fade away, a nod to the impending arrival of new hardware, signaling the next chapter in this evolving tale. This iconic, boundary-pushing adventure on the console’s limits perfectly embodies the essence of a top-tier Nintendo game, boasting intricate mechanics, ingenious design, playful whimsy, and an infectious sense of discovery.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Echoes of Knowledge is launching on the Nintendo Switch on September 26th. .
