The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Games review
As of Jul 20, 2026, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is rated 85/100 on OpenCritic (151 critic reviews), and 85/100 on Metacritic (129 critic reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
Is The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom worth it in 2026?
An 85 from both OpenCritic and Metacritic across a combined 280 critic reviews is a genuine consensus, and the praise is substantive: creative puzzle design leads the critical conversation, followed by strong dungeon craft and the novelty of finally playing as Zelda herself in a mainline 2D entry. The echoes system, summoning objects and enemies to solve problems, is the game's central idea and its central tension: at its best it delivers real player freedom and clever open-ended puzzles, but reviewers flag inconsistent execution and moments where the new ideas feel intrusive rather than empowering. Combat is the sharpest limitation: meaningful fighting is gated behind a separate Swordfighter Form, which means for most of the game you are solving your way through encounters rather than fighting through them, a genuine structural compromise, not a minor quirk. The result is a warm, inventive Zelda that earns its score while stopping short of the greatness its own concept promises.
Fans of classic top-down Zelda who want the open-ended, puzzle-first creativity of Tears of the Kingdom applied to a tighter dungeon-focused structure and are happy to treat combat as a secondary concern.
If you play Zelda games primarily for combat, the limited direct fighting options outside of Swordfighter Form is a real structural restriction, not a minor quirk, and the echoes system, while inventive, runs inconsistently enough that puzzle-solving can feel like friction rather than flow.
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes below. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Pros
- creative puzzle design7
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- Thanks to playful puzzles and an imaginative reinvention of Hyrule's historic iconography, Echoes of Wisdom emerges as a bold and creative new chapter in Zelda's legend.
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is far more than some second-tier spinoff, combining the expertly crafted dungeons and item progression you’d expect from a 2D Zelda with the...
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a refreshing, albeit brief, series experimentation that blends modern and classic series elements. Using brand-new magic to battle and solv...
- blends classic and modern6
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- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is far more than some second-tier spinoff, combining the expertly crafted dungeons and item progression you’d expect from a 2D Zelda with the...
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a refreshing, albeit brief, series experimentation that blends modern and classic series elements. Using brand-new magic to battle and solv...
- Echoes of Wisdom mixes Tears of the Kingdom with the classic top-down Zelda formula to create a charming adventure that is both forward-thinking and nostalgic.
- zelda as protagonist5
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- Despite how much joy I mined conquering its temples and delving into its many rifts, at times it doesn’t push its ambition far enough. That never stops Echoes from being a warm hug...
- ... In the end, I finally got to experience a full, proper, no-asterisk Zelda adventure without having to explain, “Actually, you play as Link,” and I am grateful for the experienc...
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom should be the new standard for top-down Zelda going forward. Rather than abandoning the classic formula, Zelda has shown that the old and the...
- inventive gameplay mechanics4
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- It’s a colourful, accessible epic that pushes its console to the limit, with all of the mechanical depth and invention, artistic design, whimsy, and spirit of adventure that you ex...
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a gorgeous, brilliantly clever game in a series that continues to be unique and innovative.
- To get a game this innovative, charming and polished just over a year after the remarkable “Tears” is miraculous. I can’t wait to see what the next Zelda game learns from this one....
- charming and engaging4
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- Echoes of Wisdom mixes Tears of the Kingdom with the classic top-down Zelda formula to create a charming adventure that is both forward-thinking and nostalgic.
- Fusing classic series sensibilities with modern ones, Echoes of Wisdom is an inventive and endearing adventure,
- To get a game this innovative, charming and polished just over a year after the remarkable “Tears” is miraculous. I can’t wait to see what the next Zelda game learns from this one....
- player freedom and choice3
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- Echoes of Wisdom is a marvel both visually and gameplay-wise. It's riddled with clever puzzles and gives you total freedom to choose to save Hyrule in your own way. An outstanding...
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has the potential to become a whole new series on its own thanks to the many possibilities that Zelda introduces as the main character, both n...
- My run through the game during this review period lasted a bit over 30 hours, but the game will take longer for the completionists out there. Each player will tell a different stor...
Cons
- ambition not fully realized2
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- Despite how much joy I mined conquering its temples and delving into its many rifts, at times it doesn’t push its ambition far enough. That never stops Echoes from being a warm hug...
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has the potential to become a whole new series on its own thanks to the many possibilities that Zelda introduces as the main character, both n...
- limited combat options1
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- Overall, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a good game but not a great one. The echoes setup is certainly cerebral, but the lack of basic combat moves outside of the Swordfighter Form is...
- new ideas sometimes intrusive1
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- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a surprisingly substantial top-down Zelda with the slap-things together puzzle-solving spirit of Tears of the Kingdom, though its new ideas...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 20 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 280 ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.