The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – A Great Adventure with Some Bumps Along the Way

As the Nintendo Switch enters its final years, it’s amazing to see just how many 'Legend of Zelda' games have graced the console since its 2017 release. Each new title manages to bring something fresh and unique to the table, and that’s definitely the case with **The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom**. This time, however, there’s a big twist—players take control of 'Princess Zelda' instead of the usual hero . This isn’t just a simple character swap; playing as Zelda brings a whole new style of gameplay that encourages creativity and experimentation.

Visually, Echoes of Wisdom might remind players of the 2019 remake of Link’s Awakening. That’s because it’s likely running on the same technology, with developer 'Grezzo' leading the project again. While Link’s Awakening was a solid game, it had one major issue: poor performance, particularly with the frame-rate. Sadly, the same problem affects Echoes of Wisdom, and in some cases, it might even be worse.

Let’s start with what makes the game shine. From the very beginning, it does a fantastic job of handing over the reins to Princess Zelda. In a lively and exciting opening sequence, Link symbolically passes on the hero’s role to Zelda. When you finally step into the open world as Zelda, you’ll notice something familiar—the game world resembles the Hyrule map from the **Super Nintendo** classic A Link to the Past. However, despite some familiar landmarks, the layout has been significantly expanded and changed, giving players a sense of nostalgia while still offering something new and fresh to explore.

Unlike Link’s Awakening, which was a direct remake, Echoes of Wisdom takes the basics from the past and builds on them with modern ideas. For example, while Link’s Awakening was limited by the Game Boy’s hardware—resulting in lots of straight lines and right angles—Echoes of Wisdom offers more complex terrain. You’ll encounter slopes, hills, and other natural features that weren’t possible in earlier games. What makes this game even more interesting is how it gives Zelda a wide range of abilities right from the start. There’s no need to worry about gaining new skills to swim or climb; Zelda can do it all, allowing for a more open and flexible approach to exploration.

One of the most exciting new features is Zelda’s magic staff, which lets her summon objects and characters to help solve puzzles. As you progress, you can add more items to your magical collection, creating a vast range of tools to use in both puzzles and combat. This system offers a lot of freedom—there’s often more than one way to solve a puzzle, and you’re encouraged to think outside the box.

However, not everything in Echoes of Wisdom is perfect. As mentioned earlier, the game suffers from some serious performance issues, especially with its frame-rate. The game’s frame-rate constantly fluctuates between 30 and 60 frames per second (fps), often dropping whenever you start moving through the world. These drops can become particularly frustrating during boss fights or in areas with complex terrain. For example, while fighting a **sand boss** in one of the game’s major dungeons, the frame-rate would dip so much that it affected the enjoyment of the battle, making it harder to focus on solving the puzzle at hand.

Interestingly, the frame-rate issues seem to be connected to how data is streamed into the game as you move through the world. When you’re standing still and moving the camera around, the frame-rate often jumps back up to 60fps, but as soon as you start running or exploring, it drops back down to 30fps. This could suggest that the problem lies with the **Switch’s memory bandwidth rather than the GPU.

Indoor areas and dungeons fare much better, with smoother gameplay overall. Here, the frame-rate stays closer to 60fps most of the time, with only occasional dips. This contrast between the overworld and dungeons makes it feel like you’re playing two different games at times—one smooth and one stuttery. If the performance issues in Link’s Awakening bothered you, they’ll likely be even more noticeable in Echoes of Wisdom.

The game’s image quality also varies depending on where you are. Indoors, the resolution ranges between 972p and 1080p, but once you step outside, it can drop to as low as 720p. While this isn’t a dealbreaker, it does mean the game doesn’t always look as sharp as it could. That said, the overall visual design is still charming. The tilt-shift perspective, chibi-style characters, and colorful world give the game a unique look that fits well with its whimsical tone.

In the end, despite its performance problems, Echoes of Wisdom is still a great game. The freedom to solve puzzles in creative ways and the strategic combat make it a fun and engaging experience. It’s just unfortunate that the technical issues hold it back from being as polished as it could be. As the Nintendo Switch approaches the end of its life cycle, it feels like we’re due for a hardware upgrade. Hopefully, a more powerful system in the future can help smooth out the bumps in games like this.

For fans of the Zelda series, especially those who enjoyed Link’s Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom is still worth playing. Its engaging gameplay, large world, and the chance to play as Princess Zelda make it a memorable entry in the series, even if it’s not without its flaws.