Good News, Early Reviews For Princess Zelda’s First Game Are Positive. But…

So far, it's unclear how the game scales for families, and if the game makes any accommodations for younger audiences.

Not as cool as a bed, however.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the first time Hyrule’s princess leads a Zelda game instead of hanging out on the sidelines and looking melancholy, arrives tomorrow. In the meantime, critics have been putting the game through its paces. Often, those critics are allowed to share their thoughts on the game ahead of release.

Nintendo does not provide Crossplay early access, so I’ll have thoughts next week! I’d like to thank Nintendo for creating a world where my eight-year-old says “why don’t you have the new Zelda game yet, don’t you get everything early because of your job?” 

[rubs (water) temples]

In any case, happy news: generally speaking, critics are happy with Echoes of Wisdom.

There’s a lot of praise for the “echo” mechanic of using items and enemies to interact with the world, even if players will probably end up using the same handful of useful ones over and over. It sounds like an idea Nintendo can iterate on in future games. Some reviewers noted Princess Zelda also does not speak in Echoes of Wisdom, which means the game’s mechanics do most of the “talking” for Zelda’s first solo outing.

(Link does not traditionally speak when he’s the main character, either, for the record.)

Here’s what a handful of critics are saying about their time with the game:

IGN:

“The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is far greater than a gimmicky spinoff led by Zelda instead of Link. Its echo summoning is a clever concept used to combine the expertly crafted dungeons, puzzle rooms, and item progression you’d expect from a classic-style 2D Zelda with the borderline unhinged freedom provided by Tears of the Kingdom. This experiment doesn’t produce an entirely perfect result, with a little bit of clunky menu management and combat that simply isn’t quite as compelling, but it’s an impressively successful one all the same. Echoes of Wisdom is also a glowing proof of concept for how a modern 3D Zelda could recapture some of what fans like me miss about the series before Breath of the Wild without sacrificing the intoxicating creativity it introduced. Creating echoes aside, if this is the future of Zelda, I can’t wait to see more.”

Nintendo Life:

“The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom contains many great life lessons we should all take into consideration: get others to do all the work for you; talking to cats is worth your time; making friends with spiders is good; horses can smell carrots from hundreds of miles away. Oh, and beds solve all problems. Okay, in all seriousness, as the first brand-new top-down Zelda since 2015’s Tri Force Heroes, Echoes of Wisdom is a near-perfect marriage of the old and the new. As with many of Nintendo’s best titles, this adventure completely understands the magic of play, the wonder of curiosity.”

Eurogamer:

Still, even through its missteps and occasional dead-ends, Echoes of Wisdom is rarely content to just sit on its laurels. It forges its own path at almost every turn, challenging our understanding and expectations of how Hyrule's flora and fauna can behave, while also unearthing new wrinkles that make its well-worn highways feel fresh and exciting again. For all Zelda's apparent helplessness, the joy of discovering new Echoes and monster abilities never abates, drawing you deeper into its world instead of pushing you out of it. Ultimately, it's a plucky and inventive spin on everything we know Zelda to be.

VGC:

“The potential for a special Zelda adventure is present in Echoes of Wisdom’s ideas, but uneven execution means it’s neither as mechanically refreshing and satisfying as A Link Between Worlds, or memorable and well-crafted as Link’s Awakening. There’s plenty to like, and not enough to love, which for a series like Zelda, is less than we’ve come to expect.”

But…

I’ve read a dozen reviews of Echoes of Wisdom, and unfortunately, they don’t dig into whether the game will be entertaining or workable for families. That’s not a surprise, because unlike Princess Peach: Showtime!, this isn’t explicitly pitched at younger audiences. It doesn’t have the “mature” look of Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, following a cartoonish style created for 2019’s fantastic Link’s Awakening remake, but do not let the visuals fool you: this is very much made for longtime fans.

I spent time with the game at PAX, and concluded it was probably a perfect game to play alongside my eight-year-old. In the demo, she needed assistance, but was able to play on her own. My four-year-old, however, needed someone to hold the controller.

Here’s what I wrote at the time: 

“Echoes of Wisdom is approachable for kids, but it does not speak down to its audience. I’d call it “kid compatible”? It’s going to be a game that works across a variety of ages, and does not, at least based on the few hours I spent with it, feel like it will be lacking depth for adults, either. And by emphasizing creativity over controller skills and finger dexterity, it looks like there’s an opportunity for different ages to find their own fun. I don’t anticipate my eight-year-old being able to beat it on her own, but on the flight home, she was already talking about other ways she wants to use the objects when the finished game comes out later this month. The game left a huge impression.”

So…we’ll see! 

My four-year-old told me her costume for Halloween: Princess Zelda. Mine? Link, of course. And tomorrow, I’ll surprise here with Echoes of Wisdom. I’m so excited for her.

Have a story idea? Want to share a tip? Got a funny parenting story? Drop Patrick an email.

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Also:

• Are your kids counting down the days/hours for Echoes of Wisdom? I think it’s interesting how disconnected younger audiences are to tracking such things.

• I was originally told I was Link for Halloween, but it’s also been teased that I might have to be Ganondorf, if my daughter’s friend agrees to be Link, instead.

• My children are headed to see Simone Biles this weekend without me, so I might have to load up Echoes of Wisdom on their Switches for their hotel stay.