The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom feels like a kind spirit in the 2019 remake Link’s Awakening, both in the challenge and the vibes. It’s a far cry from the incredibly busy and complex worlds it’s in Tears of the Kingdom, and while I only played about 90 minutes (spread over two separate parts of the game), I came away from the demo impressed by the beautiful, moving art style. Not to mention the joy of finally playing as Zelda for the first time in the series with her infamous name. And although most adults will really enjoy it The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and it feels designed as an entry point for younger players.
We already knew about the art style and gameplay as Zelda — what was really important about this preview was that I got a chance to see how Zelda’s “echoes” worked in the game itself. As you’d expect, there’s a gentle tutorial that shows you the ropes. My playthroughstarted early in the game, with Zelda imprisoned; My first challenge was to find a way to get him out of jail. Fortunately, Zelda is equipped with the Tri Rod, a device that allows her to fuse objects and animals alike. Objects shining on the screen can be stored as echoes, the first of which was the humble crate. Once you’ve learned an echo, you can call it with the tap of a button – but echoes use energy so you can have several on the screen at once. Along with the Tri Rod is a small spectral creature Tri that helps you and shows how much power you have to create echoes at any time.
I was amazed at how many random things I could turn into echoes and how useful they ended up being. After I learned about the crate, I also learned how to make an “adult bed” – something that doesn’t offer as much height as a crate, but is long enough to open up small cubbies. Making three on top of each other makes a small solid bridge.
But you can’t fight enemies with a crate – that’s where echoes of monster learning comes in. The first evil person I met was defeated by pelting it with a rock. But after that, I was able to summon the same gelatinous little guy as Tri Rod and put him to sleep on other enemies. Hitting more monsters greatly increases your attack power. I quickly took down Keese, which I could use to attack the other baddies in the air. I further expanded my arsenal by bringing out a spear-throwing Moblin and a powerful warrior who attacks with a wicked swing.
I’m looking forward to seeing what other echoes you can learn throughout the journey and how you can combine them to strange and funny effect. For example, I was able to read the echo of a trampoline, then throw a Moblin on it and have him jump to a higher level in the pit to go after the enemies up there. I’m sure there will be plenty of tricks and creative ways for people to combine echoes, especially as Zelda’s abilities expand and she can have more on the screen at once. It’s not nearly as complicated as the Ultrahand ability appears Tears of the Kingdombut it allows players to find solutions to the puzzle in a variety of ways — there won’t always be a “right” way but there may be multiple ways to get the job done.
Zelda also has the ability to “bind”, which allows her to attach herself to objects that follow her movements. An example of this shown in the latest trailer is a great introduction to the new power: after grabbing a huge rock, you can simply go “down” the screen; a rock follows and lands on top of a chasm that you can’t throw, opening the way forward. You can also attach yourself to moving objects, such as floating platforms, and ride them.
Sometimes, however, just relying on echoes to do your dirty work won’t be enough. Fortunately, Zelda picks up an important new ability from the first dungeon I played: the ability to switch to “sword fight” mode. To do this, I had to beat a version of Link, who you may remember as a hero from every other Zelda game. Once you defeat this pseudo-link, Zelda is equipped with a good shield and sword and can attack enemies directly. The only catch is that he can stay in this mode for a limited time. If you run out of power, you’ll need to grab crystals from downed enemies to revive them and switch modes again.
This adds a fun way to experience some of the classic Zelda action in this game, but with a time limit to make sure players don’t screw up. Another quirk is that you can’t use echoes when wielding a sword, so you’ll need to choose your sport. The boss at the end of the Suthorn Ruins dungeon I played was a good example of how you can use your power in concert – using echoes and the binding ability, I was able to make a very dangerous Seismic Talus, then I switched. in sword mode and belted it until I took it down.
While most of my demo took place in the aforementioned dungeon, I was able to explore a small piece of Hyrule. Rest assured, this map is very different from other versions of Hyrule you’ve tested, although there are some classic features from other games (mountains in the north, castle smack in the middle, ocean in the south). What I saw was colorful and bright, and designed to use your echoes to navigate effectively.
In terms of difficulty, this feels like one of the most accessible Zelda games I’ve played in a while – but it will present its own challenges. The first dungeon was short and sweet, but I died a few times trying to figure out which echoes I needed to fight powerful enemies. Similarly, the nature puzzles are not very difficult, but they are very different from other games because you need to use echoes to solve them. For me, it wasn’t always clear which solution the game was pushing me towards. But I think that was because I often forgot about some of the echoes I had. When I remembered the right tools, the solution became very clear.
Perhaps the biggest challenge I see is managing all those echoes. By the end of the demo, I’d picked up more than a dozen, and the linear menu system I used to switch between might not be very powerful if that list grew. If you have ever played Tears of the Kingdom, it’s like a menu that you use to select what to attach to the arrow before you shoot it, another nice unwieldy system. I believe you can access different echoes through the pause menu, similar to choosing weapons or items in the old Zelda games, but I haven’t spent much time messing with such things.
What I have seen so far, Echoes of Wisdom it is simultaneously a throwback and an adventure. The over-the-top presentation and overall vibe reminds me of plenty of classic Zelda games except for the obvious Link’s Awakening to compare. But the gameplay is completely different in a way that should give experienced players a completely different challenge, and the lower difficulty level will, as well Link’s Awakening, the first Zelda game for little beginners.
Source link
