Table of Contents 94e1i
Announced this year during Nintendo Direct of June, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the new game in one of the biggest video game franchises and beautifully closes a great generation for the series in Nintendo Switch. The first adventure starring Princess Zelda in a main game (not counting Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, released for the Philips CD-i) is more than just a new adventure in the classic mold; it is the culmination of the series' development over the past few years. 4m6062
The game brings the best of games like A Link Between Worlds e Link's Awakening and adds layers of complexity and freedom to its gameplay and design, coming from the recent Breath of the Wild e Tears of the Kingdom. See our review below The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.
History 1q2o4l
Echoes of Wisdom begins in a different way than other games in the series. The opening scene of the game is Link's apparent last mission in an adventure to defeat Ganon, the franchise's iconic villain, who is terrorizing Hyrule once again. Under the player's control, we use a Link with gameplay similar to that seen in Link's Awakening to defeat the villain. However, things go off-script when a mysterious power begins to create dimensional rifts, causing several people to disappear, including Link himself after his battle with Ganon.
Zelda escapes and seeks refuge in her home, Hyrule Castle. Soon, things begin to spiral out of control when rifts begin to appear throughout the castle, causing the king himself, Zelda's father, to disappear in the process. In addition, this mysterious force creates an evil copy of the king himself, obstructing Zelda's actions so that she is arrested and executed.
To combat this evil, Zelda s forces with Tri, who aims to maintain control of these mysterious rifts that appear throughout the kingdom. Tri gives Zelda a magic staff, which allows her to create reproductions of objects, creatures and items. The game's adventures begin when Zelda is sent by Impa, her faithful protector, to visit different regions of the map and close the rifts, saving the people and her own father.
Throughout the game, we meet several characters whose lives have been affected by these rifts. The game shines in building these small stories and their characters, whether in secondary missions or in the main ones.
From the Gerudo princess who needs to prove herself capable of leading her people, to a friendly snow monster who is searching for her brother, or even tribes of the Zora people who find themselves in a moment of rivalry and need to forces to save the region, the game does a great job of populating Hyrule and making the player care about those who need to be saved.
Unlike many games in the series, this new one Zelda hides its true villain for much of the story. For most of our adventure, the narrative consists of the protagonist going after regions to close the rifts and save people, including the legendary hero Link. One thing that Echoes of Wisdom does a lot of good in showing Link's impact on people's lives, as his adventure already took place before the start of the game, and the mysterious hooded hero in green clothes, mentioned by many characters, has already made his contribution to the world.
In this way, the princess of Hyrule now has the opportunity to prove her worth by reversing roles and saving Link and the kingdom.
Gameplay and graphics 3l4c1y
Next, we'll take a deeper look at what it's like to play. Echoes of Wisdom, its structure of missions and temples (or dungeons), the implementation of echo mechanics, the new combat with Princess Zelda and the game's performance on the Nintendo Switch.
Game structure l6g5d
The Legend of Zelda is a series that for decades had a very well-defined game structure. The pre-Breath of the Wild consisted for the most part of following a very characteristic pattern that combined exploration, puzzle-solving and narrative progression. The exploration of the map was guided by a central story that guided the protagonist, Link, to specific places of interest. These places, usually temples or important areas, were important for the progression of the narrative and for the collection of essential items that would allow Link to save the region and face the main villain.
Exploration in the world was often linear, although it gave the player some freedom to uncover hidden secrets and collect optional items. Over the years, games have increasingly given the player more freedom, to the point that A Link Between Worlds on the Nintendo 3DS allows the player to do any temples in any order.
The main storyline would often clearly indicate Link's next steps, pointing out where he needed to go to continue his journey. Progress was often blocked by natural barriers or obstacles that could only be overcome with items acquired later on, such as bombs to destroy rocks or a bow to activate distant levers.
Em Echoes of Wisdom, this structure returns. Unlike Breath of the Wild e Tears of the Kingdom, who opted for an open world proposal and “unguided” exploration, this new title goes back a bit to its origins. However, it allows the complete exploration of that world, being a mix of the classic structure, but without being as limiting as in Twilight princess ou Skyward Sword.
A criticism that can be made regarding the exploration of the world in Echoes of Wisdom is the disappointing lack of practicality when using the horse during the game. A mechanic highlighted in the promotional videos before the launch, the mount was barely used by me during the adventure, as it was limiting in the sense that it did not allow for proper fighting. In addition, the horse becomes dispensable when we consider the dense structure of the world; you can end up ing right by hidden places and items. For long journeys, fast travel proves to be a more practical option.
In the case of temples, they have always been the center of the franchise's experience, both in of design and challenge. Each dungeon introduced a new item, such as the classic grappling hook, magnetic boots or bombs, which became the central focus for solving puzzles and fighting enemies within that environment. The design of these temples revolved around the creative and progressive use of these new tools, requiring the player to learn how to use them in increasingly complex combinations to unlock new areas or defeat bosses.
Already in Echoes of Wisdom, these dungeons are back, but without the focus on using these items to solve challenges and combat. With the introduction of echoes, the game began to give the player much more freedom to solve each moment using their own creativity and tools.
The mechanics of echoes 4t6g1a
Speaking of echoes, this was the game's main addition and is considered the game's biggest novelty. When we think about The Legend of Zelda pre-Breath of the Wild, we thought of a game that has unique puzzle solving and predictable combat of attacking with a sword, defending with a shield and using arrows. In the case of Echoes of Wisdom, there is a subversion of these ideas with the introduction of echoes.
When defeating an enemy or finding a new item on the map (some specific items only), Zelda can use her staff to create a copy of that object. In this way, it is possible to create copies of a bed to form a ladder that will allow the protagonist to climb to a seemingly unreachable place. Likewise, to reach this place, it is also possible to stack blocks made of water so that the protagonist can swim up, as if it were an elevator.
There is no single solution; there are several, and each player will find different ways to overcome the challenges. This feeling is constant in Breath of the Wild e Tears of the Kingdom, and that's what we see being reproduced again in a game with the 2D Zelda structure in Echoes of Wisdom.
When you least expect it, this entire line of reasoning spreads throughout the rest of the game. Walking through the world, climbing to a high place, overcoming challenges in a cave, solving puzzles in a temple and even facing enemies, all of this relies on a layer of creativity on the part of the player to solve it in whatever way their imagination allows.
But not everything is perfect when it comes to using echoes! Imagine that you have a toolbox with several wrenches, pliers, tapes and screws of different sizes, all arranged together without any organization. This is the feeling when using the main mechanic of the game.
Perhaps one of the biggest criticisms that Echoes of Wisdom can receive is precisely in the practicality of using its main mechanics. With a vast number of echoes available in its catalog as you progress through the game, it becomes a tedious and repetitive task to press the D-Pad of the Nintendo Switch controller to the right and keep looking for which echo to use. An improvement to this mechanic could consist of greater customization of the use of echoes by the player. A way of quickly accessing echoes could be implemented to mitigate the problem generated by choosing this design.
Combat 39414i
In combat, the game brings a new breath of fresh air to the series by implementing echoes into battles. Zelda is a character who doesn't use a sword and guns like Link in previous games. Instead, most fights are resolved by using enemies you've already defeated before. Does fighting a Lynel seem complicated? Summon other enemies that are just as strong and just watch a monster fight.
This mechanic has its positive and negative sides. On the one hand, it is a breath of fresh air for the series, providing a new way to resolve conflicts, valuing the player's creativity and adding a layer of strategy to the game, since there is a limit to the number of echoes that can be created simultaneously. On the other hand, it trivializes part of the combat and can make it tiresome at times.
The game creates a new form of battle, but maintains the amount of enemies from other games in the series, which can be seen as a design flaw by some, since facing enemies in this game is not as quick and simple as in Link's Awakening. For example, taking on a fire bat flying overhead may require summoning other flying enemies to reach you, or monsters that shoot projectiles that hit you in midair. However, the AI of these echoes is not as accurate as the player's, and you will often find yourself patiently waiting for one enemy to hit another to progress in the adventure.
On the other hand, the game recognizes these potential difficulties and offers an easy solution to the problem. Zelda is able to assume Link's form for a limited time, using an energy bar. In other words, at various moments in battle, the player will transform into Link, facing a race against time to resolve that encounter as quickly as possible.
In of difficulty, the game doesn't offer as many challenges as other titles in the franchise. With the various tools available, it's always possible to exploit monsters' weaknesses to overcome battles. It's even possible to summon a bed to restore Zelda's health; when she lies down, the protagonist will recover hearts until she's fully healthy. This slightly more casual gameplay may appeal to many players looking for an experience more focused on exploration and story.
When it comes to boss battles, the game hits the nail on the head, requiring the player to use a mix of their abilities as Link's spirit and the echoes collected to overcome challenges. The game pays homage to several titles in the series with the return of some classic enemies at the end of temples.
So, the game's combat is very good when it works, but it can become tedious for some players. The use of Link's spirit is clearly a correction that the game's production needed to make to get around many difficulties in the combat design. Overall, it's a success that has room for improvement in future games.
Performance and localization 6v4ji
In performance and graphics, the game uses the same engine as Link's Awakening and it is aesthetically very pleasing. The characters have a lot of personality, the scenarios are interesting and even the enemies demonstrate this characteristic in their visuals.
In of performance, I encountered frame drops, especially in areas of the map with a larger number of objects, characters, and buildings. However, for most of the game, these frame drops are slight and do not compromise the experience.
One of the most praiseworthy aspects of this new Zelda is its localization. The game was released in Brazil with a full translation into Brazilian Portuguese (as long as the console's system is set to that language) and it's one of the best localization jobs I've ever seen in a video game.
Price and Availability 573wx
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom can be purchased in physical media by Amazon ou Mercado Livre, for R$ 350,00 or you can buy the digital copy through Nuuvem, for R$300,00. The game is exclusive to the Switch family of consoles with Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch OLED and Nintendo Switch Lite.
Conclusion a5r1x
In short, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom It's a great game and a new path that the Zelda series begins to tread after the success of the remake of Link's Awakening. We can expect that in the coming years we will have more games in this classic style alongside the big open world games like Breath of the Wild e Tears of the Kingdom.
The game suffers from some problems and could have certain improvements in future iterations with these mechanics, if they are repeated, but, overall, the balance weighs heavily in favor of the game's positive qualities. Echoes of Wisdom is another success for Nintendo and ends the generation with a flourish. Nintendo Switch for the franchise, making the console perhaps the best platform for the fan of The Legend of Zelda.
Did you enjoy The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom? Tell us in the comments!
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reviewed by Gabriel Princessval in 07 / 10 / 2024
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom 56p33
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of WisdomPros 2pk
- Great dungeon design
- Amazing world and NPCs
- Rewards player creativity
Cons 1b3r1v
- Slight FPS drops
- Combat can become repetitive
- Echo usage menu could be better
