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I started my year by finishing TLoZ: Echoes of Wisdom. It is a lovely take and a fascinating idea to bring the titular character from the series to star in her own game, despite some shortcomings. Here are my thoughts on it, and why I give it a 7/10 🧵

Using the art style of Link's Awakening Remake is also a great way to make it super charming while keeping the stakes low for Zelda. This isn't a super serious game like Twilight Princess or a BOtW/TOtK spin-off. It's a chill and cozy experience, to unwind and explore.

Summoning the echoes you learn during the journey allows you to have endless possibilities, and the systems interact in simple but intuitive ways. A fire creature will set the grass on fire, and a block of water will drown a creature you drag into.

This, however, makes you super OP as soon as you start to get heavy hitters, and the combat quickly becomes a bit dull as you're just watching your summons kick other creatures' butts as you wait, or help them by using the dragging ability.

And you do get heavy hitters early on, so you start the journey almost overpowered immediately. Immediately you get a bunch of echoes that easily mow down the regular mobs and you're just breezing through the game.

Which brings me to the first major problem. The UI in this game is a big step back for a Zelda title. As the collection of echoes grows bigger and bigger, so is the scrolling left and right looking for the echo I'm looking for. There's a button for sorting, but it's not great.

The second problem is that the game offers you no friction or challenges whatsoever. I understand this is a cozy and chill game, and I'm not asking to be soul-like, but most of the time the puzzles were so simple that don't feel like a puzzle at all.

The third and biggest problem with the game is the "Hero Mode" ability. At the touch of a button, Zelda can "Become Link" and use swordfighter abilities. It's limited use, upgradeable, and it serves to quickly deal with bosses and groups of mobs in "classic Zelda" combat.

I feel this undermines a little of the impact of "Zelda's first big title". It's absolutely an optional ability, and you can play the whole game without it, but doesn't take away the fact that Zelda still "needs" Link to be playable in the game in some way.

Despite this, I had fun with Echoes of Wisdom. Feels like a weird mix between the new abilities of TOtK and the classic Zelda format of Link's Awakening. While not the most challenging game, the art style never gets old for me, and I love interacting with everyone in Hyrule.