Let me get this off my chest: I freaking hate the Zelda series, with maybe a few rare exceptions. A Link to the Past was my first journey into the series and I played the hell out of it to the point where it held a firm place in my heart, and its direct sequel, A Link Between Worlds, is equally dear to me, if not a little more so. I absolutely detested all the mainline 3-D Zeldas I played, even the "masterpiece" Ocarina of Time, and actually felt the Hyrule Warriors spinoffs were a million times better. I got the latest series entry, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, from my younger brother as a Christmas gift, another top-down entry. Does it fare any better?
This entry begins with Link seeking to rescue Princess Zelda from a dungeon, disappearing into the Still World in the process, Zelda herself becoming the protagonist, a first since the botched Phillips CD-i production The Wand of Gamelon. However, it quickly devolves into another methodical adventure, with the series timeline always having been ambiguous, and the typical terrible writing of the franchise doesn't help, with lines like "Your loyal Impa" and "You look strong, like that guy who wears green," alongside other gems. Granted, story has never been a strong suit in Nintendo's mainline franchises, and Echoes of Wisdom continues that trend.
That leaves the gameplay to shoulder the burden, but Echoes sadly doesn't fare any better in this department. The standard staple Zelda mechanics are here, including the Heart Piece system where she can collect four fragments to gain additional health alongside that obtained from vanquishing main dungeon bosses. "Echoes" also play part, Zelda able to absorb elements like tables, beds, and various monsters, able to summon them to do things like platform and attack enemies, which provides a great deal of strategy and tons of ways to kick the crap out of adversaries.
However, Zelda doesn't actually get standard melee abilities, with the closest thing being Link's ghostly powers she can summon on a whim, although she has only a really finite time to use them, as the gauge dictating their use drains quickly, and fragments to recharge it are far and few. Many enemies and even early bosses, furthermore, have very specific strategies to kill them that led me to reference the internet, which is always a sign of terrible design, alongside many puzzles. In the end, the gameplay shows promise, but still really falters and makes the game inaccessible to mainstream gaming audiences.
Control is okay, with the convenient ability to record progress anywhere (although as with prior Zeldas, you always return to dungeon entrances when you reload your past files). There are also some good conveniences such as the ability to teleport to fixed unlockable areas on the overworld even without being close to said waypoints. However, an in-game clock is still infuriatingly absent, and making it through the game can be a pain, as mentioned, without referencing the internet. Overall, middling control.
The sound is one area where Echoes doesn't fall flat, with some good tracks, although the grunts and vocals of the various characters can really be grating.
The game further utilizes the visual style from the Link's Awakening remake, and it looks decent, but there is plenty environmental blurriness and slowdown.
Ultimately, Echoes of Wisdom is yet another Nintendo game that starts innocently and has tons of great ideas but quickly declines in quality as it drags on. The game mechanics quickly become cumbersome and unbalanced in terms of difficulty early on to the point where I had to reference the internet, and the story and writing are subpar. The sound and sight are better, but those can't compensate for the gameplay experience as in any other video game, of course. Given my negative early impression of the latest Zelda game, I can safely say the series is dead to me and will never touch another entry as long as I live for sake of my mental health.
This Deep Look is based on a little over six hours of play up to the Gerudo Desert quests.