The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom review - Old meets new, but for who?

radiotimes.com:

What do you get if you cross a Game Boy classic like Link’s Awakening with some massively modern Zelda games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom? The answer, it turns out, is Echoes of Wisdom.

The first game to make Princess Zelda a playable character (not counting 1993’s Wand of Gamelon for Philips CD-i), Echoes of Wisdom is essentially a mash-up of ideas from previous Link-starring adventures.

It has a retro-aping Chibi art style, reminiscent of the Link’s Awakening remake from 2019. But in terms of gameplay, it seems heavily inspired by the player freedom and creativity that earned rave reviews for Tears of the Kingdom last year.

This mix can be seriously charming at times. As you wander between tiny houses and chat to cute NPCs, it does feel like you’re playing a forgotten Game Boy game.

But as you wander further, you’ll realise that you’re actually in a modern open-world environment with plenty of side quests and hidden treasures to find. It’s a winning blend of old and new.

Before I previewed the game a few weeks ago, I had assumed it would be a simple kid-friendly affair that wasn’t really for me.

I was pleasantly surprised by the preview event, though, with the first couple of hours winning me over with their surprising amounts of depth and agency.

Although Zelda can temporarily transform into 'Swordfighter' mode to borrow Link’s sword, shield, bow and arrow, you spend most of the game developing a different set of skills — skills that encourage you to think your way through situations rather than simply hacking away at them.

With the the help of her yellow floating orb friend named Tri, Zelda can use her wand to summon 'echoes' of almost anything — items such as tables and beds, enemies such as piranhas and birds, can be plucked out of thin air to help you out.

Whether you’re building a bridge to traverse a dungeon, or summoning your former foes to defeat the next big nasty, you’ll come to rely on this echoes system a lot.

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