‘The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom’ Reviews Are In, And They Are Very Good

It may not shock you to learn that a new Legend of Zelda game has released and critics like it quite a lot. No, we’re not talking about the 90+ Metascores you’ll see from mainline Zelda games, but as it stands, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is hovering at about an 85, which is certainly very good in its own right.

The game is a top-down puzzle solver starring Zelda herself as the main character for the first time, where she uses magic to create objects and clone enemies to fight and get past obstacles.

The game has four perfect scores right now out of 65 reviews, and loads of 9s. It’s lowest scores are a pair of 60s from VGC and The Guardian (which are not the smallest of outlets). The 85 does not put it in the top 10 highest scored Zelda games of all time, but again, it very much seems worth playing on Nintendo Switch. Here are some of the reviews that have come in:

• Dextero (10/10) – “While Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom successfully brought exciting new concepts to Nintendo’s iconic series and helped revolutionize open-world games – Echoes of Wisdom feels like a big step forward for classic Zelda.”
• IGN (9/10) – “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is far more than some second-tier spinoff, combining the expertly crafted dungeons and item progression you’d expect from a 2D Zelda with the wild creativity provided by Tears of the Kingdom.”
• Washington Post (88/100) – “To get a game this innovative, charming and polished over a year after the remarkable “Tears” is miraculous.”

And here’s one of the lower scores, if you’re looking for a harsher critique:

• VGC (6/10) – “Despite some ambitious ideas, beneath the surface Echoes of Wisdom is surprisingly uneven Zelda adventure. Few of its headline mechanics are utilized to their potential which means that, while enjoyable and charming, it ultimately feels less essential than other modern 2D entries.”

So, with these scores, will The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom be in 2024 GOTY contention? Well, it’s a Zelda game people like, so probably, even if I still expect Astro Bot to take the crown. Alan Wake 2 had an 89 last year competing with Baldur’s Gate 3 as a potential dark horse pick, so I certainly would not rule out Zelda’s chances of making the shortlist, at the very least.

Everyone is sitting around waiting for Nintendo announce something, anything about the successor to the Nintendo Switch where a lot of things are starting to leak. But we may not get anything this year, and we’ll have to be content playing new games like this on the OG version.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.