Grezzo’s first all-original Zelda introduces plenty of good ideas, but isn’t able to realise their potential…
VGChartz's Evan Norris: "From the beginning, 2024 had its work cut out for it. The previous year, 2023, was one of the best in a long time, thanks to a plethora of unusually great games that included Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate III, and Resident Evil 4. In the end, 2024 failed to surpass its predecessor, but it turned out plenty of extraordinary experiences in the process.
Among those experiences are Astro Bot, a 3D platforming tour-de-force that proves PlayStation studios offer far more than just cinematic third-person action games; Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, an action-RPG that builds upon the successful framework of Final Fantasy VII Remake, a GotY contender itself; Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which did what Hollywood could not and made Indy compelling again; The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, a different and joyfully experimental take on the evergreen series; and Metaphor: ReFantazio, yet another in a long line of deep and engaging role-playing games from Atlus."
VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "Even if it is still technically one of the younger art forms out there, video gaming is no longer in its infancy. It has well over 50 years of history and most of its biggest franchises are old enough to be married with kids. At this point there's inevitably some predictability to the games that are made, some "been there, done that" that can occasionally make an otherwise well put together game feel dull. But this category is for celebrating the games that go against that and still insist on pushing the envelope, rather than adhering to a well-established blueprint."
VGChartz's Taneli Palola: "The nominees for Best Original Music Score of 2024 were once again a mix of entirely new soundtracks and updated rearrangements of old favourites. From the wonderful reorchestrations of Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, to the entirely new original scores of Astro Bot, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the top contenders of the year are unlikely to be much of a surprise to anyone, though as always some excellent scores missed the top five, and only one can take home the top prize."
Trash review. This website is irrelevant for a reason.
I won't presume that the game is bad, but after playing through 80% of Link's Awakening, this has the fingerprint of something that I won't enjoy. The magic of the Zelda formula has been lost with me for a long time. The mechanics and puzzles aren't surprising to me anymore, and the overly long quests and backtracking get monotonous. That being said, I'm not surprised that the gaming press will emblazon this with 9s and 10s.
Reusing a game engine, with the same performance issues that plagued the older game years before, is also unfortunate.
The game doesn't look new at all. It's the same engine as Links Awakening.