I love Link's Awakening. After the success of Link to the Past in 1991, the same team created a masterpiece two years later and a unique title on the Gameboy, overcoming the console’s limitations. The titles of the era on the Gameboy seem inferior to their SNES 'siblings,' but Link's Awakening feels like a sequel to Link to the Past. Director Tezuka wanted the game's world to resemble the TV show Twin Peaks, and it achieves this with the magic of a dreamlike (both literally and metaphorically) world and a story that lacks key elements (no Zelda, Triforce, Ganon, etc.).
In 2019, we got a wonderful remaster from Grezzo under Nintendo’s supervision. Improvements that bring the title into the modern era, a toy-like art style that's fantastic, and one of the best musical remasters of all time, with wind quartets and violins combining to create an extraordinary result.
So, when the first information about a new 2D title with the same art style appeared, I was incredibly excited. With every new trailer, my excitement grew. And now, 1.5 weeks from today, I have Echoes of Wisdom in my hands, a day-one purchase. After 25-30 hours of completing the game, here’s what I have to say:
• I was thrilled to see Zelda in a leading role for the first time (no, the Philips CD-i never existed 😂). It’s refreshing to see a female protagonist (Nintendo’s second title this year after Princess Peach) and how this is emphasized without becoming the main focal point.
• The echoes are an excellent mechanic. During the adventure, each enemy, after being defeated, and many objects can be learned as echoes and summoned in battle or platforming.
• Nintendo and Grezzo have masterfully handled the legacy of the title. The map is an expansion of Link to the Past. The echoes have the game-breaking freedom of Tears of the Kingdom, though this isn’t negative when it comes to solving puzzles and dungeons. Solutions are often multiple, but one method doesn’t solve everything. The art style is the same as Link’s Awakening, as is much of the gameplay.
• 2D is sometimes better than 3D. The strength of 2D Zelda games lies in the dungeons and the core gameplay that defines them.
• Nintendo needs a new console soon. Yes, the game is beautiful, but frame drops were frequent.
• There needs to be a solution for the massive menus. The same issue exists as in Tears of the Kingdom. There were many times when I was trying to find a specific echo in a horizontal quick-select list of 60 options.
• Without spoiling anything, I’ll say that the story is good but a bit slow. It adds a lot of lore to the timeline, though.
In short, the result is excellent. Is it one of the best Zelda titles? Does it reach the dreamlike atmosphere of Link’s Awakening? In my opinion, the answer is 'no' to both. However, in a time when game design is going through a crisis, it’s a reminder of why we first picked up a Gameboy in our early years and fell in love with titles like this.