Review to Echoes of Wisdom
Soo about time I talk about The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
I somehow can’t find what I already wrote after playing it, so I will try to remember what I thought of it. One thing I know is that I definitely don’t want to replay it.
I was genuinely excited for the game. Finally, a Zelda game where you could play as Zelda! I was interested in the new mechanics, also if it could be criticised that Zelda again lets others fight for her instead of actively fighting herself.
Now, imagine you‘re searched for in a whole kingdom. You have to keep your secret identity upright, and you happen to carry a name that only one person in this kingdom possesses. How would you introduce yourself to new people?
AS ZELDA? ARE YOU QUITE INSANE?
This is what already broke me from the start. You cannot tell me Nintendo put serious effort in this and then just… nukes it? It would have been the perfect opportunity to reference the old Zelda games where you had the chance to name Link whatever you wanted.
The fight system is… nice, sometimes. If you progress too much, fights become less and less exciting. I adore the strategising aspects, but if you get the strongest enemy, you can just let them fight any monster, the point of exploration within these mechanics is defeated.
Let‘s talk about the Dungeons. After many complained about Botw‘s lacking challenge in the Divine Beasts and repetitive Shrines, Totk made some things better, some thing worse. This was supposed to be a game where young and old Zelda fans could explore how Zelda used to be. Only for the dungeons to be the easiest I have ever beaten, I did not feel challenged once, let alone by the bosses. The game is clearly targeted for a younger audience whereas Tloz started out as pretty challenging games. I don’t feel like there was a balance between the age categories as there usually is. It‘s kind of like Princess Peach: Showtime! also failed to impress older audiences, as the general challenge in the game was directed to a much younger audience, despite it being possible to balance the difficulty in f.ex. any Mario game.
There has been a lot of fan service in this game, though plenty has been poorly executed. And suddenly, there’s the end, which I felt was totally anticlimactic. I just did not feel… anything. Except sadness and pity of how great of a game this could have been and completely missing any sort of narrative logic! Tri as a companion also just felt sort of… there. Navi was annoying, but she didn’t feel like a blank slate without nuance. It‘s okay they didn‘t create a second Midna, but Tri did feel bland.
Overall, I am certain I‘m forgetting some concrete points or examples that my notes had if I could finally find them. The game is one of the worst Zelda titles I played, I just hoped to reach the ending. It did not remind me of the greatness of older Zelda games I played :/
(because this is a rather negative review, I want to clarify that if you like this game, that‘s amazing! Just want to share my frustration and should not be an attack to people who like it)
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