The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a homage to classic Zelda with a new team and director. The studio making the game is no stranger to Zelda as a whole, they love the franchise, and it can be seen in the art style and in the in-game references to other games in the series.
Studio Grezzo has been around for a while, Zelda players know them as the developers behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask 3D remakes for 3DS as well as the Link’s Awakening game for Switch. This time out they were given a master class on Zelda for nine days and allowed to make their own game. The game features two firsts in the series. Grezzo used a female director for the game and Miyamoto is not credited in the game.
Story
The story this time is basic and easy for players to grasp. Hyrule has seen rifts emerge and its citizens have become trapped in these rifts. One such citizen is the series staple hero Link. Zelda finds herself in a situation to put her in contact with the rifts when the castle is overtaken by these rifts. She must escape and find her father and other palace officials trapped in the rift. She meets Tri and learns about Echoes the mechanic of the game in the early hours. Tri allows Zelda to travel into Still World versions of Hyrule to save people trapped in the rifts. It’s simply the world inside the rifts for clarity.
Echoes
The main mechanic of the game is Zelda using echoes of anything that can be learned by the rod Tri gives Zelda. This allows Zelda interesting ways to move around the world. Stacking beds to climb a mountain, for example, is a way to progress in the game or ride up a block of pure water. Zelda cannot fight beyond spinning though so monster Echoes allow her to protect herself as she does not collect items in dungeons like Link in past The Legend of Zelda games.
Rifts and the Still World
After a point in time, Zelda and Tri begin exploring the Still World to save Hyrule and Tri’s friends who when combined close the rifts and give Tri a bonus. Zelda at a point fights an Echo Link and gets his sword, bow and arrows, and bombs. Zelda can enter Still World Dungeons as well as the Still World rifts. There are six main dungeons and the events leading up to the final boss Null.
Echo Link and Swordfighter form
At a point in the game, Zelda has to fight Echo Link, otherwise known as Shadow Link in other games, and after defeating him she acquires his sword. This sword is called the Sword of Might, which grants Zelda the ability to become Link. With enough Might Crystals Zelda can upgrade the sword, her Might Bar, the bombs and bow and arrows. This allows Zelda to explore Hyrule freely.
Smoothies
The main way to heal Zelda is through drinking smoothies that a Dekus, a forest species, creates in the land of Hyrule. Zelda will begin a side quest that will allow her to make more smoothies. These smoothies do different things from adding electric resistance and helping her swim to protecting Zelda from the cold. The player should get into the habit of making these smoothies like cooking in Breath of the Wilds and Tears of the Kingdom. They help with bosses later on.
Side Quests
The game gives Zelda access to side quests, which can drop smooth ingredients for Zelda to craft smoothies with, and also help the citizens of Hyrule. These quests may or may not require going into rifts to accomplish them.
Stamp Man
Throughout the game players encounter stamp pedestals. There is a mini game for collecting a stamp booklet for each one in the game. A reason to do this is that three pages get Zelda a fairy bottle, which is an extra life for Zelda.
The Great Fairy Shrine for increasing equipment accessibility and costumes
At a point in the game, Zelda will find The Great Fairy. These fairies are staples of Zelda. In Echoes of Wisdom, this fairy will take rupees and add an equipment slot for accessories for Zelda. There are wardrobes that Zelda can change in the game as one such costume is required for a quest. Zelda buys a cat suit to fight a lost kitten.
Still World Dungeons and Echo Link/Shadow Link
The Still World dungeons are the main way Zelda removes rifts from certain areas in Hyrule. This plays out in a traditional Zelda fashion, three dungeons then an event happens, three more, then preparations for the final boss, then the final boss. This sounds boring but the formula worked up until Breath of the Wilds, where the main team changed to four dungeons and 120 basic shrines. The inside of the Still World dungeons is the more interesting level design layouts for Echoes of Wisdom. The players use their echoes to fight and explore the dungeon and the path is not set in stone and allows for slight deviation. Since no main weapons are in these dungeons, getting the boss key is enough to fight the boss. Echo Link appears from time to time and must be fought to move forward. The bombs and bows and arrows can be acquired here for Zelda’s version of Link. Echoes are used to fight the bosses of these dungeons to repair the rifts taking over Hyrule.
