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[Robb]

but then you get enemies with different levels, and those could have been easily categorized together

I'm only 5h in but I already agree. It's very strange to me that they've chosen to have Lvl. 1/2/3 types of enemies separate and not clump them together or just let you choose the one that you want in the menu.

This was definitely one of my concerns before playing. This menu system worked 'okay-ish' in TotK but only because you didn't have to use it all the time. Here it's the main mechanic.. Strange to think they couldn't do a better job, or thought that this was good enough.

I highly enjoyed BotW and TotK but speaking honestly, the rewards you get for exploring is so MUCH better in Echos of Wisdom compare to BotW and TotK.

It could still be better imo, lots of chests with just rupees and fruit/ingredients. But the fact that enemies are a reward in and of themselves in this really makes exploring a lot more worthwhile for sure. You get some pretty cool/useful echoes in the caves.

 

[Exentryk]

How good are the detailed maps in this? And not just overworld, but excellent dungeon maps as well. Love it.

 

[Danjin44]

It could still be better imo, lots of chests with just rupees and fruit/ingredients. But the fact that enemies are a reward in and of themselves in this really makes exploring a lot more worthwhile for sure. You get some pretty cool/useful echoes in the caves.

Well there are useful accessories that cost lot of rupees and you need even more rupees to increase how many accessories you can equip.

 

[Robb]

Well there are useful accessories that cost lot of rupees and you need even more rupees to increase how many accessories you can equip.

Ah cool. I need to play some more. Haven't really come across anything yet, but it's still very early.

 

[Robb]

Hmm.. This game is a lot more linear than I thought it'd be. Doesn't seem like they allow for much sequence breaking (if any?).. That's a bit disappointing.

Got kind of annoyed in the Gerudo Desert when I found a room where I was supposed to light torches near a grave only to find out that lighting the torches doesn't do anything until after you've moved on with the main quest. Then I had to do it again. Definitely room for improvement here in future entries.

Also doesn't seem like you can tackle temples in any order (?). I explored both the snow mountains and the swamp but didn't seem to be able to 'clear' those areas.

 

[Aldric]

Just beat EoW. What a great little game.

It seems like they've addressed a lot of complaints people had about the BotW formula and created something that feels like the best of both worlds. It's a much more balanced experience than the two open world Zelda games on Switch even if it never reaches the heights of these two games.

My biggest issue with Botw/TotK was the enemy variety and it's fixed here in a brilliant way. Of course it was greatly helped by assets reuse from the LA remake but still it's so satisfying to fight against classic Zelda monsters again. They even added new ones too. Obviously the variety of enemies in the game is particularly important because they double as items, which is really genius. The echoes system is fantastic, constantly rewarding, tied to progression since you won't be able to use some powerful ones as long as Tri hasn't leveled up and versatile enough to encourage you to dabble in emergent gameplay but at the same time far more limited than Link's abilities in the most recent 3D games so you still have to think about your plan instead of doing whatever because you're so overpowered.

Puzzles are pretty good, nothing mindblowing but they're pretty varied and plentiful. The game is much more dense than previous entries with some sort of light traversal puzzle everywhere you go and even a mix of Korok hunting and Seashells foraging from LA, rewarding your observation. Speaking of traversal the 2D sections and the Rifts make this game the most platforming heavy Zelda since AoL on NES which is also something I enjoyed, especially since you have so many movement options with your echoes. I also didn't think I'd appreciate the return of heart pieces as much as I did. There's really nothing like finding these as a reward for exploration.

Which by association brings me to the best aspect of EoW, the return of more classic dungeons and minidungeons. I said last year that shrines were a fine experiment in BotW but that by the time of TotK they had already overstayed their welcome. What a pleasure it is to have genuine places to explore again in this game even if none of the dungeons are exceptional. Still at least two of them are very good, definitely top notch isometric Zelda dungeons. Bosses are for the most part mechanically fun to fight, following the BotW template of having multiple ways to deal with their relatively complex patterns (for Zelda standards).

On a more minor aspect I liked that narrative wise they didn't drop Link like the Resetera peanut gallery wanted and instead gave him a pretty important role still. They even did something pretty clever with his usual silent nature, which I enjoyed. As for Zelda it might be a bit of a missed opportunity to have her be mute as well but it doesn't bother me. If anything I liked that they managed to make the gameplay and story coherent by having her take tons of damage when she's hit by enemies since she's not a trained fighter.

If I had to list negatives outside of the obvious like the excessive menuing I'd say I didn't like the tone of the game which is probably the most childish it's ever been. I understand the artstyle and the fact Zelda is the playable character might have influenced the writing but it was too saccharine for me. Some of the bosses and NPCs also look genuinely lame, like cheap bootleg toys. I also didn't really understand the point of some of the systems like the horses and the Dampé's artefacts, felt very useless.

Overall I loved the game and hope the next big 3D entry takes inspiration from it. Bring back heartpieces, drop shrines, put in a bunch of dungeons and minidungeons and work on enemy variety while retaining BotW's exceptional mechanical depth and you pretty much have the perfect Zelda. In the meantime EoW is a fantastic new entry in the series and probably in my top 3 favorite isometric Zeldas.

Solid 8,5/10.

 

[jshackles]

I also just finished the game after almost 30 hours. I can echo what Aldric said above, it's a weird return to form for classic Zelda while at the same time being its own unique thing. The music was a huge standout hit for me, especially after BotW's tepid piano tracks. Huge dungeons were amazing and exactly what I want from a modern Zelda game. Again the familiarity of the map, but with slight variations on Link to the Past - awesome.

Spoiler: End spoilers and emotional personal story

I wasn't expecting to get so emotional at the end. Tri seemed like a pretty basic character that was just put there to give a voice to Zelda, and I didn't find myself having much attachment to him throughout the adventure. When I said he had to go sleep with the goddess... I lost it.

I've talked about this on GAF before, but my grandpa was the one that got me into gaming at a young age. His favorite games were The Legend of Zelda games. He had the original and scoured it endlessly. He drew maps. He plotted out which tiles could be bombed or set fire. When I'd visit his house he would just be so excited to watch me play the game - and would be tickled to death when I'd ask him for help. The same with The Adventures of Link, and then Link to the Past. When the Gameboy Link's Awakening came out, I was old enough that I bought it before him and started playing, but I'd call him on the phone and tell him about my adventures. He was SO excited when Ocarina of Time came out, but unfortunately by then his mind had started to go, and he just didn't have the coordination to play. I got to see a weird mix of joy and sadness as I told him about the new Zelda adventures as they came out - Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, then finally Minish Cap.

In 2006, just before Twilight Princess came out, he passed away. With the game's gritty nature and dark tones, I just couldn't bring myself to play through it - though I've tried several times. It just didn't feel right without being able to phone up my Grandpa and tell him about it. I similarly skipped Skyward Sword, the series seemed like it had moved on without me with its unusual motion controls and strange settings. I returned to the series with A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS, and playing a new game set in the world of Link to the Past really was special for me - lots of memories of me and my grandpa playing the original came flooding back those 20-odd years later.

And so it was with this game as well. But when Tri said goodbye to Zelda, and that he had to go sleep with the Goddess now - a wave of memories came flooding back to me, and as a parent myself now of kids that are close to the age I was when he passed... it just hit different. We make friends along the way in the journey of life, and sometimes we have to say goodbye to them for good. Zelda's staff hanging in her room in a place of honor is not entirely dissimilar to my own memorial in my house to the man who loved me, helped raise me, and molded me into the person I am today.

I am so happy this game exists, and I can't wait to tell him all about it some day.

 

[TropicanaTwista]

Didn't get a chance to play much this weekend. I'm still torn on this game. I really want to love it, and it does some things very well. But I really can't get over the annoying combat and seemingly endless amount of talking. I still feel like I don't understand the mechanic on using x to grab an item with tri, but then hitting R to follow. Gotta just be me being stupid but sometimes I feel like it allows me to get through far areas staying in the air depending on what I'm grabbing and other times it does nothing. Idk, again, it's probably me being dumb but I don't feel like the game explained that all that well.

Using the echos you collect in the dungeons and over world is just peak Zelda though. Absolutely love that aspect and that's really the thing that keeps me coming back.

 

[Danjin44]

I still feel like I don't understand the mechanic on using x to grab an item with tri, but then hitting R to follow.

For example, you have echo of black spider that climbs walls, what you do is summon him then grab him with X and then press R so that when the spider climbing the wall it will take you with it.

 

[TropicanaTwista]

For example, you have echo of black spider that climbs walls, what you do is summon him then grab him with X and then press R so that when the spider climbing the wall it will take you with it.

Yea I get the premise but it seems hit or miss for me. Not sure if it really matters but will spoiler tag just in case

Spoiler

Near the desert area the 2nd or 3rd dungeon, you get this spinner echo. I used it at one point to go across a platform with a large gap. The first time the spinner felt to the floor below me but by hitting R I stayed elevated but followed the spinner from side to side. Well, on the next floor I tried to do the same thing and it just wouldn't work. I was then consistently falling with the spinner instead of staying in place. It has to be me either not holding in R or something but I couldn't really understand why.

Again, I do feel like it's more user error on my part but at the same time, while I'm not great at games, I'm not a total noob lol. I can usually pick up on concepts but this concept just seems a little wonky imo.

 

[Emedan]

Yea I get the premise but it seems hit or miss for me. Not sure if it really matters but will spoiler tag just in case

Spoiler

Near the desert area the 2nd or 3rd dungeon, you get this spinner echo. I used it at one point to go across a platform with a large gap. The first time the spinner felt to the floor below me but by hitting R I stayed elevated but followed the spinner from side to side. Well, on the next floor I tried to do the same thing and it just wouldn't work. I was then consistently falling with the spinner instead of staying in place. It has to be me either not holding in R or something but I couldn't really understand why.

Again, I do feel like it's more user error on my part but at the same time, while I'm not great at games, I'm not a total noob lol. I can usually pick up on concepts but this concept just seems a little wonky imo.

Spoiler

Yeah kinda agree, it's the same with birds. They've indicated you could use one to fly but you can't control where they go so I've never got it to work. I am a master of making beds though.

Anyone has any idea how you're supposed to use the

Spoiler

"wind pillars"
to traverse? It doesn't give enough hight or momentum to just jump into them?!

Hmm.. This game is a lot more linear than I thought it'd be. Doesn't seem like they allow for much sequence breaking (if any?).. That's a bit disappointing.

Got kind of annoyed in the Gerudo Desert when I found a room where I was supposed to light torches near a grave only to find out that lighting the torches doesn't do anything until after you've moved on with the main quest. Then I had to do it again. Definitely room for improvement here in future entries.

Also doesn't seem like you can tackle temples in any order (?). I explored both the snow mountains and the swamp but didn't seem to be able to 'clear' those areas.

It opens up more later.

 

[Danjin44]

Spoiler

Yeah kinda agree, it's the same with birds. They've indicated you could use one to fly but you can't control where they go so I've never got it to work. I am a master of making beds though.

I don't use the birds to get over the big gaps, I either use water cubes or flying tiles and black spider is perfect for climbing big walls.

 

[Emedan]

I don't use the birds to get over the big gaps, I either use water cubes or flying tiles and back spider is perfect for climbing big walls.

I haven't found the water cube echo yet somehow, I think I should have it by now. Didn't even think about flying tiles, thanks!

 

[Danjin44]

I haven't found the water cube echo yet somehow, I think I should have it by now. Didn't even think about flying tiles, thanks!

Flying tiles are useful because they just go straight line, its perfect going over big gap.

 

[Robb]

Flying tiles are useful because they just go straight line, its perfect going over big gap.

I just got this one, it's really great! Probably the most useful one yet.

 

[Robb]

It opens up more later.

Good to know. I kinda wish they'd gone all out BotW/TotK on this though. Seems like missed opportunity.

That kind of fully open-ended design seems like such good fit for a top down Zelda since they're easier to re-play.

I've played ALttP so many times, would be such a neat thing if every playthrough was vastly different.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

man this game is off to a great start

loving all the things u can do copying monsters and items so far

and looks like im in a proper zelda dungeon with floors and maps and everything? (maybe)

 

[Exentryk]

The UI in Zelda games is always top notch and this game is no different. Given how much menuing you do, it's good that the UI is gorgeous.

 

[Robb]

Ahhh, the simplicity of Kakariko Village.. Nothing quite like it. They might have taken it a bit too literal in this installment though.

Time to re-boot the old Switch.

 

[Hookshot]

I never had any glitch like that in my playthrough

 

[Robb]

I never had any glitch like that in my playthrough

Yeah, no idea what caused it. Might just be random I guess. Went back to normal after restarting the Switch/game.

It still shows an image of the glitch on my most recent save though which looks kind of funny.

 

[DragoonKain]

There's way too much dialogue in this game. Pound for pound adjusting for overall game length, there's more dialogue per minute in this game than TotK and it isn't even close. I just started skipping the dialogue, story I'm these games was never their strength anyway.

 

[Emedan]

There's way too much dialogue in this game. Pound for pound adjusting for overall game length, there's more dialogue per minute in this game than TotK and it isn't even close. I just started skipping the dialogue, story I'm these games was never their strength anyway.

Well the story demands some more exposition than normal. I think it's unfair to compare it to TOTK though, that game world is just bigger so there's more travel time in between NPCs. Even though Tri is suffering from a little Navi syndrome I think he's way more sympathetic and the best companion in quite a while.

 

[Aldric]

What were you guys most used echoes at the end of your playthrough? Mine were:

Spoiler

Water block: self explanatory. Best traversal echo in the game and can even be used in combat.

Ignizol: melts ice, burns down grass and spider webs, provides light in dark areas, can keep you warm in cold weather, can be spammed to easily get rid of ice and plant enemies. Don't think any other echo can do as much as this little guy.

Lizalfos lv3: by the time you reach the midgame this should be your go to option in combat. Can fight underwater, can fight flying enemies, immune to fire, high DPS if you summon and dispell him repeatedly. He's only surpassed by another overpowered combat echo and even then he's still superior in certain situations.

Octorok: spamming them in early game was my safest combat option. They form a meatshield of sort and have surprisingly high fire rate which can overwhelm weaker enemies.

Cloud: almost water block tier. Only downside is it requires a bit more skill since you have to position them properly and can't stay still for too long or else they disappear but outside of that they're completely broken.

Trampoline: another early game favorite, made obsolete by the water blocks.

Zirro: another easily spammable combat echo that can clean up entire rooms with what is essentially carpet bombing. Very fun.

Bombfish: basically the classic bomb item, even when I unlocked actual bombs I still prefered to use these.

Flying tile: the third most broken traversal tool. Can traverse huge horizontal distances, avoid environmental hazards and even gives a bit of height.

Buzz blob: best underwater combat option, made short work of the lv3 Lizalfos by simply spamming them.

Boulder: blocks certain attacks, can be used in puzzle solving and traversal. Simple and effective.

Lynel: trivializes most combat encounters.

Fire Octo: see Octorok.

Beds: all of them, first for traversal then to heal everywhere.

Club Boarblin lv2: best early game combat echo, since it attacks immediately after being summoned you can do the same trick as with the Lizalfos lv3 and get solid DPS with constant summoning and dispelling.

 

[Hookshot]

Didn't find the story too intrusive. Yeah for a seasoned player learning about the races and regions for the 100th time is annoying but this game will be someone's first Zelda so they have to learn it.

Pretty much done with the game now. I need 1 heart piece that I might go get and to do the rest of the dojo but I really dislike the limited echo missions, but only because of time limits and the finnicky nature of the echoes you use.

Aldric I used the Darknuts early on as they could take hits from everything.

 

[Branded]

So how's the performance then? I had to stop playing Age of Calamity as it got so bad and I'm still holding off on continuing that or even starting my TOTK playthrough in hopes that the Switch 2 will fix things.

 

[Emedan]

"wind pillars"

Hold a flying echo when jumping through them

So how's the performance then? I had to stop playing Age of Calamity as it got so bad and I'm still holding off on continuing that or even starting my TOTK playthrough in hopes that the Switch 2 will fix things.

You can't be that sensitive. It's fine, okey? Jesus, you're all princesses or what?

 

[Branded]

Hold a flying echo when jumping through them



You can't be that sensitive. It's fine, okey? Jesus, you're all princesses or what?

I mean if the performance hovers around the magical cinematic fps of a whopping twentyfour then sure, call me sensitive.

Anyway let's refrain from ad hominems 'cause I'm just trying to get an answer and don't want to derail this thread by going into a back and forth with someone.

 

[onnextflix5]

Just spent the last few hours re-hacking my other Switch and all that shit, and now I'm playing the game with the CPU/GPU/Memory overclocked, and it runs SUPER well. Damn near a solid 60.

I'm still near the beginning, so I haven't gotten to the main map yet, but the intro in that hyrule town never dipped once, whereas it was mostly 30 on my non-hacked unit.

It's such a shame, but it also shows that the game will likely run flawlessly on Switch 2 without any sort of patch.

Since its on a double buffer vsync, it can only run at 30fps or 60fps, nothing in between lol, if it drops a single frame it drops straight to 30fps, so there is no near 60fps in this game my friend.

 

[Dacvak]

Since its on a double buffer vsync, it can only run at 30fps or 60fps, nothing in between lol, if it drops a single frame it drops straight to 30fps, so there is no near 60fps in this game my friend.

Yep. On my vanilla switch it's mostly 30 in the overworld, with bouts of 60 if I stop moving. On my hacked switch, it mostly stays 60, except for areas where there's a lot going on, especially water effect, where it intermittently drops to 30.

 

[Danjin44]

Ganging up on the boss with Link power and big silver armor echo feels brutal….for the boss.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Game is magic.

I'm totally sucked in and having a blast solving puzzles in silly ways and winning battles with weird objects and monsters.

But I have to wonder if it was the right choice to give Zelda temporary sword buffs. I know they must be worried it doesn't feel like a Zelda game without a sword, but it kinda feels like they're undermining their own gameplay premise of improvising with echoes.

 

[Salmonboy]

Stopped playing due to the frame rate issues. This is NOT ok. For me, the game is almost broken, and should be patched ASAP.

 

[Hookshot]

Is there a difference in performance with normal switches and oleds or am I just not a sensitive Sally? Because very briefly around the first little village was the only time I noticed it chugging. I've 90% the game and it certainly wasn't "broken" like I'm seeing all over the internet not just in the post above.

 

[Robb]

Man, this game really makes me appreciate BotW/TotK.. I just keep running in to situation after situation where the game won't let me progress due to not having activated some very specific story sequence.

I guess it's unfair to compare it to the 3D titles, but it just seemed they took so much inspiration from those in this. I kind of find it difficult not to.

Is there a difference in performance with normal switches and oleds or am I just not a sensitive Sally?

The latter I'd assume. I'm playing on a launch day Switch and I wouldn't rank the game as unplayable by any means.

But there are noticeable slowdowns for sure and it's definitely not running as well as I'd expect a first party Nintendo game to run.

 

[Hookshot]

the game won't let me progress due to not having activated some very specific story sequence.

There was 1 point where I got in to a cave and it clearly looked like there was more to it but noting was there until I did some side quests. But I didn't go exploring until after the first few story beats as I knew something like that was likely.

 

[Robb]

There was 1 point where I got in to a cave and it clearly looked like there was more to it but noting was there until I did some side quests. But I didn't go exploring until after the first few story beats as I knew something like that was likely.

Yeah I kind of went all over the place after the first temple. I had most of the map and save points by then already.

So, for example,

Spoiler

when the Yeti told me his brother was at the top of the mountain I just teleported to the top of the mountain.

… But then I had to head back to the bottom and do everything I had done previously, only now the NPC had appeared in specific places that I had to activate.

It's like the game allows you to go everywhere, but it's not designed for you to go everywhere.

 

[BlackTron]

Is there a difference in performance with normal switches and oleds or am I just not a sensitive Sally? Because very briefly around the first little village was the only time I noticed it chugging. I've 90% the game and it certainly wasn't "broken" like I'm seeing all over the internet not just in the post above.

FYI the OLED has the same hardware inside as a normal Switch has now, vanilla Switch got a v2 update with the same chip (Mariko). I think there was a very subtle difference in TOTK on v2, but the difference gets pretty big if you unlock the newer chip, they wanted it to perform like v1.

 

[Exentryk]

Finished three areas so far and it has been enjoyable. The water Zora area was nice and beautiful.

It doesn't get as crazy with the gameplay since the game is light on the rpg side. Still, going to new areas and getting new echoes is always exciting. Also Cat Zelda!

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Spoiler Ending, But....

did they just go full on Lovecraft with this game?

 

[MacReady13]

Loving this game so much. 3 temples in and game is brilliant! Loving now taking my time getting as much pick ups as I can. Going to devour this nice and slowly.

 

[DragoonKain]

I've found the game could be better with the quest markers. A few times the markers are in places that aren't near where I'm supposed to go and the NPCs didn't make clear where exactly I'm supposed to go. And other times in puzzle rooms they don't seem to give much of a hint at all so I just try random shit until it works.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

What timeline does this game take place in?

 

[Danjin44]

And other times in puzzle rooms they don't seem to give much of a hint at all so I just try random shit until it works.

To me that's the best part in my opinion, you need experiment with your echos and bind abilities, heck even found clever solution that was different than what game wanted me to do.

 

[Robb]

I've found the game could be better with the quest markers.

Haven't really had much of a problem with the markers but I've encountered a handful of quests that felt kind of cheap where you're supposed to get the NPC some item and they 'can sense' that the echo isn't 'the real thing' just as an excuse so that you actually have to go fetch the 'real' item..

Feels kind of silly that they couldn't come up with something better than that.

 

[Hookshot]

What timeline does this game take place in?

Spoiler: Spoilers for a couple of games

It's clearly after Alttp. And possibly connected to Albw if it was the final boss that had destroyed Lorule due to the lack of tri to stop him.

 

[DragoonKain]

To me that's the best part in my opinion, you need experiment with your echos and bind abilities, heck even found clever solution that was different than what game wanted me to do.

I like it for most of the puzzles. For one of them though it required an echo that I killed in a previous room for the first time and that I didn't acquire(at least I didn't think I did because I didn't go over to it and hit ZR) I accidentally left the room first and when I went back, the remnants of the echo were gone. So I had no idea what to do. Turns out, the game just gave me the echo anyway even without officially "acquiring" it. I just didn't know, so I wandered around that area having no idea wtf I was supposed to do for like an hour. Until I Youtube'd it and I was like wait, I don't have this echo and turns out I just did somehow.

Also there was one room with switches where I needed to press them at the same time and didn't realize that, I thought I needed to put specific echoes on them so I cycled through so many echoes until I realized it.

But most of them are fun. I like figuring out what ones to use to navigate. The water block echo has become my most used one. You can use it to traverse almost any high place.

 

[darth.shrimp]

What were you guys most used echoes at the end of your playthrough? Mine were:

Spoiler

Water block: self explanatory. Best traversal echo in the game and can even be used in combat.

Ignizol: melts ice, burns down grass and spider webs, provides light in dark areas, can keep you warm in cold weather, can be spammed to easily get rid of ice and plant enemies. Don't think any other echo can do as much as this little guy.

Lizalfos lv3: by the time you reach the midgame this should be your go to option in combat. Can fight underwater, can fight flying enemies, immune to fire, high DPS if you summon and dispell him repeatedly. He's only surpassed by another overpowered combat echo and even then he's still superior in certain situations.

Octorok: spamming them in early game was my safest combat option. They form a meatshield of sort and have surprisingly high fire rate which can overwhelm weaker enemies.

Cloud: almost water block tier. Only downside is it requires a bit more skill since you have to position them properly and can't stay still for too long or else they disappear but outside of that they're completely broken.

Trampoline: another early game favorite, made obsolete by the water blocks.

Zirro: another easily spammable combat echo that can clean up entire rooms with what is essentially carpet bombing. Very fun.

Bombfish: basically the classic bomb item, even when I unlocked actual bombs I still prefered to use these.

Flying tile: the third most broken traversal tool. Can traverse huge horizontal distances, avoid environmental hazards and even gives a bit of height.

Buzz blob: best underwater combat option, made short work of the lv3 Lizalfos by simply spamming them.

Boulder: blocks certain attacks, can be used in puzzle solving and traversal. Simple and effective.

Lynel: trivializes most combat encounters.

Fire Octo: see Octorok.

Beds: all of them, first for traversal then to heal everywhere.

Club Boarblin lv2: best early game combat echo, since it attacks immediately after being summoned you can do the same trick as with the Lizalfos lv3 and get solid DPS with constant summoning and dispelling.

I've only played for a few hours (I only completed the first dungeon and am exploring around before heading to the next quest markers) but so far I'm using the humble Wolfos for most of the fights. Can't deal with armoured targets, but otherwise really strong against everything I've fought.

 

[Exentryk]

This tile is pretty nifty:

 

[Robb]

Finished the game recently. Some positives/negatives from the top of my head:

(+)
-Fantastic OST
-Artstyle is not at all as bad as I thought initially, not as toylike as I'd imagined
-Stillworld is fantastic and a lot of fun, love the platforming, also love all of the 2D sections in this
-Real dungeons is a huge plus, although I still wish they'd fleshed out some of them even more
-Overworld is super fun to explore and get around in
-Doesn't feel very much like a Zelda game when playing which I'd consider a success (would've been a bit boring if Zelda played just like Link)
-Love seeing a return of hearth pieces and all the other classic stuff
-Loads of callbacks to past entries in the franchise which was a lot of fun to see

(-)
-Combat is not as fun as previous entries making the bosses a bit of a letdown
-I had some bugs along the way, but nothing game breaking
-The Echo menu system is quite bothersome and slows things down a lot, could've been streamlined and implemented better I feel
-The game lets you go everywhere but isn't designed with that in mind
-The smoothie stuff felt kind of useless, I barely touched that stuff
-I don't understand why Zelda is a silent protagonist, would've been fun to see her have lines in this (although kudos for them actually providing a explanation as to why Link is silent in this one)
-Some quests feel kind of cheap where the NPC need "the real thing" instead of the echo
-Performance is pretty dreadful, not unplayable, but very bad


8/10 I think is fair, will re-play this again on "Switch 2" for sure. Hope they continue to try out different things in the 2D series, and I hope they bring some of the things in this back into the 3D games *cough* dungeons *cough*.

Top 5 most used echoes by the end of the game:
Water Block
Old Bed
Cloud
Ignizol
Crawltula