Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

@ShieldHero
Honestly, the favorites menu changes the game big time. It's completely customizable and kept me in the action most of the time. Pretty much fixed the only problem I had with the game in the first place.

I had so much fun playing it through for the second time and completing almost everything. It feels like a game that was crafted with love and care, as corny as that sounds. There are so many cool little quests and stuff to do after you cleanse each area. So many fun little puzzles that aren't particularly challenging but still make you feel good after solving them.

@rallydefault, Echoes of Wisdom really is awesome. I did as I said and returned briefly yesterday on my Switch 1, got the last 3 echoes I was missing. Because of how well-designed it is, I'm still considering ranking it higher than botw and totk, and would've done that already if those games weren't awesome as well. 10/10 game in my book, the brief return was worth it. 😄

@ShieldHero
Yea, BotW and Tears are amazing games, but it’s this flavor of Zelda that I’ve always loved. I’m someone who would take most of the 2D games over most of the 3D games, though, except for maybe Ocarina.

I found the game to be a bit lacking personally, but it's mostly just boiling down to how the combat feels less tight when most of it revolves around standing around and summoning things rather than using the sword. I used the Sword ability constantly- especially towards the end of the game when the charm of the new combat wore off for me.. but then they sort of take it away from you, and it makes the final fight a genuine slog to get through.

I guess it was an interesting experiment, but I sort of hope the next 2D Zelda goes back to something more akin to A Link Between Worlds rather than Echoes of Wisdom.

@VoidofLight, I can definitely see how some people who are used to the sword combat don't like the echoes that much.

I just liked the idea of summoning echoes of monsters because stuff like that is in some of the anime I watch 😃.

The only time that I didn't particularly like using the echoes was during those Dojo time trials in Kakoriko Village. I left half of them unfinished because of how inefficient the computer controlling the echoes is. The computer controlling them is fine for the most part... when there isn't a time limit going on 😵‍💫.

And I can see why you'd think the final boss is a slog... it took me almost 25 minutes, I think 🤣.

And about your final paragraph, it certainly is an interesting experiment (an experiment that I give a 10/10 score personally, since, for the most part, I loved the echo summoning), but even I, someone who loves the game, would rather like the next game to go back to the classic sword combat. Though what am I even saying... if the next Zelda game also had echo summoning... I would still play it 🤣...

@ShieldHero @VoidofLight The final boss felt more like an interactive cut scene to me than a final boss. Kind of an odd way to end the game, but it was an interesting artistic choice and I didn't really mind it. Maybe I would have liked it less it if I had died or if it had taken longer.

The rest of the combat in the game though? I never once used my sword except for the couple places the game forces you to. But I also didn't stand still. I sprinted and dodged like a maniac, throwing various echoes directly in enemy faces or in their paths when they were moving, platforming around off my echoes, etc. How fast you can kill various bosses with the right (and correctly positioned) echoes was always an interesting fast-paced combat puzzle.

I do really like traditional top down Zelda games also though.

@FishyS,

"I sprinted and dodged like a maniac, throwing various echoes directly in enemy faces or in their paths when they were moving, platforming around off my echoes, etc."

This was me for most of the game since I didn't use my sword much myself except for a few dojo time trials and bosses 🤣. My most used combat echoes early on were the Wolfos, Crow, and Fire Zol. But later on I mostly used Sword Moblin Level 3 and Mothula Level 2. As for non-combat echoes, I mostly used the beds, water blocks and flying tiles.

I will agree with the complaint here about the combat. It became especially irritating with any sort of flying enemy, cause man, those flying echoes did not like attacking things in a timely manner.

For me, the issues with the echoes was that it felt like once you got the higher ranking enemies, you didn't really need to use the other Echoes to fight anymore. There's over 100 echoes to collect, and it's nice that they brought back some obscure Zelda enemies that haven't been used in ages to fill out that roster.. but I found myself just using the higher ranked ones when I got them, or the ones with abilities that felt broken. It also got annoying to utilize them when you had no direct control over them. A good chunk of the Echoes forced you to kinda sit and wait for them to attack or move close enough to the enemy.

This combined with how the dungeons were laid out are probably the largest two complaints I have for the game- outside of just them reusing A Link to the Past Hyrule again for the third time.

You could always bind them and wield them directly. Also there were quite a few which did damage instantly so you could spam summon and unsummon them to basically nuke enemies. I tended to direct control some and let others do their own thing as backup.

I don't think anyone used all 100 echoes. A chunk of them were pretty useless. There were probably 50 I used a lot at least temporarily, but 20 at any given time and my favorite 20 evolved throughout the game. I'm surprised how many were useful tbh. I'm glad there weren't more because the number got a bit rediculous near the end.

Flying tiles are 100% combat echoes - I used them as arrows. For that matter, water blocks drown enemies. Beds can make funny traps, but that's pretty indirect 🤔

Echoes was and still is a great game, I absolutely loved it. I do have to agree that most of the echoes were pointless as I got through most of the game using Lynel and Crows and almost nothing else, the game had flaws but it was still lots of fun.

The concept is great and think if they make a sequel then they can do it a lot better. EVERY echo should have a purpose and not just for combat. They need more sections were you need to obtain a specific echo from Area A and use it to defeat an enemy or solve a puzzle in a dungeon in Area D. It would also make more sense if every enemy in the game had a specific echo you needed to use in order to destroy it, each enemy in the game has a weakness to another in the game and you being challenged to find out which one would have made it more challenging and more fun I think, and made collecting all those echoes make more sense.

I really do hope a sequel is in the works.

Started the game tonight and it is um interesting. I am not big on puzzle type games that you have to place all kinds of objects to get through a room and I am not big on that Zelda cant fight directly (which puzzles me since she has a spin attack that cuts down bushes and such but cant hurt enemies). Still its addicting so I will give it that.

Graphics take some time getting use to as they remind me of plastic toy sets or something. Music is enjoyable for the most part. Overall not bad just odd.

@Tasuki
I beat this one at launch, only doing the necessary stuff for the most part, and pretty much thought it was "meh."

Went back to it earlier this year with the new Favorites menu (and Switch 2 upgrades) with the intention to 100% it, and I LOVED it. It's a really cool game and so different from everything else in the franchise or even the genre. I think this game takes more chances than BotW did, to be honest, but it was billed as a fairly minor release and didn't have so much pressure on it to sell millions.

As you move along, you'll get to play as "Link" more frequently and for longer depending on how you prioritize your upgrades. And especially when you're in the void world or whatever, most of the enemies drop crystals that refill your Link meter, so you can stay as Link for pretty long stretches if you play it right.

I loved the game on my first playthrough but I also basically 100%ed on my first playthrough. I never did use the Link abilities except the very brief time you are required to because it was so fun to play with all the other abilities. Maybe I will replay someday and use them.

I'd think that Swordfighter Mode is mostly there to appease fans of the older games who would prefer Zelda to be able to take on the enemies directly in the way that Link would.

You don't need to use it beyond a few occasions, and I'd think that the game is more fun that way. Indeed you're going to have to do without it after a certain point in the story anyway, so it's best not to become too reliant.

Similarly, there are a huge variety of different things that Zelda can summon by the end of the game, and nearly all of them have secondary uses. You'll also have more fun if you try to use all of them, rather than just sticking to a trusty handful.

Finally starting to get use to combat in this game. Manged to find a few more echoes mainly the Rope and Moblin which make combat a bit easier now. Also found a few for utility ones too. Right now I am just past Southorn village and about to enter a rift.

@Tasuki have fun. Have you noticed the similarities in Alttp yet?

@NintendoByNature Not yet, but I am not far into the game. I just made my way to the first town mostly just playing around trying to get familiar with the controls and gameplay. Now that I got the hang of it, I will be looking to find some dungeons and stuff.

So I forgot to add that I have also picked up some stuff like berries and monster fangs which I gathered is for crafting but is that something I learn later on?

@Tasuki they're for making smoothies. You might not quite be to one of the smoothie vendors yet.

I think you can also just eat berries to have a lesser effect.

You can also sell stuff for rupees.

There are a ton of items in this game between clothing, crafting components, usable stuff, and collectibles. Not to mention the echoes.