The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge Evaluation

After the profitable launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo has returned to the world of Hyrule with one other progressive twist. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge takes a well-recognized world and flips it the wrong way up, creating probably the most inventive however nonetheless accessible entries within the long-running action-adventure franchise.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge begins with Hyperlink battling by way of a dungeon and dealing with off in opposition to Ganon. Hyperlink’s sword, bow, defend, and bombs are at your disposal. It’s a enjoyable little “hey, bear in mind Zelda video games?” second that lightly eases gamers into the motion and teaches the fundamental expertise that may change into accessible once more.

However this isn’t a recreation about Hyperlink. Or, no less than, it isn’t about taking part in as Hyperlink. There’s a primordial evil often called Null trapped away within the Void lurking within the background. Null makes use of ominous purple rifts linked to one thing often called the Nonetheless World that he makes use of to infiltrate the world and return it to the Void.  Hyperlink falls into this Void whereas Zelda is ready to escape, setting the stage for her to be the first hero on this journey.

As soon as she returns to Hyrule, Zelda runs into imposters of her father the king and his prime advisors. She is blamed for the rifts, arrested, and sentenced to execution. She meets Tri, a fairy who may also help Zelda shut the rifts and save the world. Armed with the Tri Rod, Zelda units off on an journey to save lots of her household, pals, and your complete world.

The thought of a world-ending risk that solely the hero can cease is nothing new to the Zelda franchise. The large twist is that, for the primary time in franchise historical past, gamers get to play as Zelda as an alternative of Hyperlink. Hyperlink’s normal fight skills change into accessible later within the recreation, so the change feels surface-level at first, however it begins to matter increasingly more as the sport progresses.

Small moments like Zelda not having to sneak into Gerudo since she’s feminine assist make this expertise stand out from the traditional method. There are different smaller story bits that assist her develop as a personality on her personal as an alternative of being merely tied to no matter Hyperlink is doing. Character interactions all through the world are sometimes enjoyable and fulfilling even when they don’t all the time have an enormous affect on the bigger story.

Hyperlink is a continuing presence, nevertheless, which does cease Zelda from fully standing on her personal. It could have been nice to see her stand on her personal completely, however it’s nonetheless a step in the correct route and opens up prospects for extra tales centered round her because the playable character sooner or later.

Whereas the story doesn’t precisely reinvent the wheel, the gameplay is what makes The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge really particular. Sword, Bow, and Bomb fight returns however these have been simply my least-used mechanics of alternative. The brand new Echo mechanic is an interesting addition that fully modifications how gamers method all the things from fight to exploration. There’s additionally the power to summon creatures to assist combat enemies, creating new methods to method fight.

The Echo skill permits gamers to repeat echoes of things on this planet and place them across the map. It isn’t as endlessly inventive because the system in Tears of the Kingdom, however it doesn’t have to be. It’s a extra distilled bundle that simplifies the inventive course of with out severely limiting choices.

That is principally seen within the dungeons explored all through the story. There isn’t any “appropriate” method to any of the dungeons. As a substitute, gamers can use the echoes they’ve collected to experiment with how they wish to method it. It retains the dungeons feeling contemporary, particularly in direction of the top of the sport.

There are a ton of echoes to gather and the sport retains throwing them at you all the way in which till the top. This will get a bit overwhelming with how cumbersome the choice wheel is, however it’s good to have so many choices at hand. I did discover myself gravitating in direction of the identical few echoes, however after I did experiment I by no means had any problem discovering new strategies to sort out acquainted duties.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge is a blast to play however can also be stunningly stunning. The creativity on show pops off the display and each new discovery is a pleasure to have a look at. The visible method is much like the 2019 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Hyperlink’s Awakening and it completely nails the design. The surroundings is nice to have a look at and the inventive character and enemy fashions make fight as enjoyable to observe unfold as it’s to truly have interaction in.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge twists the everyday Zelda components whereas nonetheless staying true to the franchise. It’s a really progressive expertise that Nintendo will hopefully proceed to discover in future entries.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge is out now on Nintendo Swap.