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 Metacritic (129 critic reviews), and 85/100 on OpenCritic (151 critic reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
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.
AI-generated editorial synthesis of the source scores and sampled review themes, not a hands-on test. Reviewer experiences and allegations are not independently verified facts.
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.
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