With Echoes of Wisdomthe Nintendo Switch is about to welcome its third game Zelda unpublished. After the excellent Breath of the Wild And Tears of the Kingdom suffice to say that the bar is set high. And for the occasion, this new game, twenty-first title in the saga, radically changes our habits: we forget Link, and we welcome Zelda as the main heroine. It was high time! Already convinced by the preview, we had the opportunity to test the full game.
The story begins with the disappearance of Link. The hero dressed all in green has certainly managed to save the princess, but he has also been swallowed up by a strange fault. Princess Zelda, meanwhile, has managed to escape from this fatal dungeon. This time, it is indeed her that we embody: a big first in the saga, even if Zelda has already been playable a dozen times in the past.
Whatever the case may be
Princess Zelda therefore has the heavy burden of discovering the origin of the faults that are eating away at Hyrule. To do this, she can count on the help of Tri, a strange golden sphere that gives her two powers. First, that of echoes: thanks to her magic scepter, Zelda can memorize different objects and even enemies and then recreate them at will. Tables, beds, pots, plants… All this allows you to explore the surrounding world (for example, by creating a passage to an unreachable area) as well as solve puzzles and fight.
Indeed, unlike many other incarnations of Zelda, the princess ofEchoes of Wisdom does not know how to fight directly. It is always possible to throw pots or stones at enemies, but it is better to summon monster echoes so that they fight in our place. It is much more effective, and it gives us the impression of playing a strange crossover of the saga with a kind of Pokemon in real time.
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Throughout the adventure, Zelda also gets her hands on the legendary sword, which allows her to transform into a swordsman for a short time. Once transformed into a Link ersatz, she is able to wield a blade, then a bow, and finally bombs. The metamorphosis only lasts for a while: once the magic gauge is emptied, Zelda becomes Zelda again, and she must then find pieces of energy in the Void.
All in sync
The second power granted by Tri is synchronization, which itself works in two ways. Zelda can first synchronize an object or even an enemy to her movements, which allows her to easily move huge masses, such as huge boulders. Second, Zelda can synchronize her own movements to another object or an enemy. Want to fly? Just synchronize yourself to a bird! Understanding the mechanics of synchronization is very important for progressing in the adventure, since many puzzles rely on this power.
The latest open-world adventures in the series Zelda, BOTW And TOTKfocused particularly on action, with more formidable enemies than usual, and on interaction, with great freedom granted by Link’s different powers. Echoes of Wisdom is very clearly in the tradition of interaction and freedom, but it puts aside the confrontations a little, or at least modifies their approach to give them a slightly more strategic aspect. Clearly, these new adventures give pride of place to reflection, and offer a very interesting counterpoint to the more muscular last episodes.
A new world to discover
Just like A Link Between Worlds had shaken up the recipe a little Zelda 2D by breaking linearity, Echoes of Wisdom also shakes things up. After a straight-line introduction, the game drops us into a whole new Hyrule. In reality, it’s more of a fleshed-out version of the Hyrule region.A Link to the Pastreleased in 1991 on Super Nintendo (and available on Nintendo Switch Online). Connoisseurs of this Zelda III (and ofA Link Between Worldswhich also used the same map) will therefore have the pleasure of rediscovering many areas, while discovering new ones: a volcano, a swampy jungle or a snow-capped peak.
Echoes of Wisdom also takes the opportunity to multiply the winks to many episodes of the saga, whether through the enemies encountered, the bosses, the places, the characters, the species or even the situations. fan service at all levels, but in an intelligent way, without weighing down the game and especially without distorting it. Taken in isolation, this new adventure is totally coherent, even if it has a spin-off flavor as it could have had Link’s Awakening.
A legend like no other
And precisely: concerning the realization, we forget realism and we reconnect with the realization of the remake of Link’s Awakeningported from its native Game Boy to the Nintendo Switch in 2019. The cute, round, and colorful style ofEchoes of Wisdom contrasts radically with that of Breath of the Wild And Tears of the Kingdomwhich might confuse some players. However, don’t be fooled: this doesn’t make it a “ Zelda for children” however. The title remains accessible, like any other game in the saga, but it offers real puzzles, sometimes quite tricky, which will also challenge the brains of older children.
Even if we do not know at all where it is placed in the complex chronology of the saga The Legend of Zelda this Echoes of Wisdom particularly convinced us thanks to gameplay that is as simple as it is addictive, like the powers imagined for BOTW And TOTK. The adventure is certainly less dense, 2D requires, but it is really mastered from start to finish. It is a bit like the meeting of the best of both worlds, with a smaller region full of little secrets, side quests and other hiding places, and a very appreciable freedom in progression. We already hope that in the future, Nintendo will capitalize again on this gameplay for future episodes featuring Princess Zelda.
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