THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: ECHOES OF WISDOM: THE PRINCESS TAKES THE WHEEL
8.5 of 10 bananas. Zelda finally leads her own game, and instead of a sword she copies beds, tables, and monsters to solve every problem. Clever, charming, and full of freedom, but the echo menu gets clumsy and a few overpowered echoes make it too easy.
By the Alpha. Switch cartridge listing. Updated Oct 26 2026.
Honest note: This is not a fresh hands-on playtest. I built this verdict from launch reviews, critic consensus, update history, and what is known about the game today. If I put real hours in on stream, I will update the score and say so.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (Grezzo and Nintendo, released September 26 2024), and it also runs on Switch 2. The Amazon button is the Switch cartridge listing, 56.00 dollars at my Oct 26 check, sold and shipped by a third-party seller named DealTavern USA, against a 59.99 dollar regular price on Nintendo's site. The listing photo shows a European box with a PEGI rating. Switch games are not region locked, but check the seller and the box before you pay.
Get The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom for Switch on AmazonSit with me a moment. For thirty eight years the troop shouted the wrong name at the screen. Zelda was the princess you rescued. In Echoes of Wisdom, Link is the one who vanishes, and the princess picks up a strange rod and walks out the door.
What It Wants To Be
Rifts are swallowing Hyrule, and Link is gone. Zelda teams up with a small fairy-like creature named Tri and its Tri Rod, which lets her copy objects and monsters she has seen and summon them as echoes. A bed becomes a step, a water block becomes a ladder, a Moblin becomes your bodyguard. It is a top-down Zelda in the toy-like style of the Link's Awakening remake, with dungeons, a big overworld, and a short-lived swordfighter form for when echoes are not enough.
What Works
The echo system is the idea, and it is a good one. Almost every puzzle has more than one answer, and the game rewards players who try something silly. Critics agreed: it holds an 85 on Metacritic from more than 120 reviews. Players agreed with their wallets too. Nintendo reported 2.58 million copies sold in its first five days and 4.09 million by March 31 2025. The art is lovely, and the dungeons are some of Grezzo's best.
What Breaks
Listen well. Once you know a handful of strong echoes, you can stack beds or spam one monster and skip the thinking, so the challenge drains away. Scrolling a long echo list to find the right one gets tedious, even with sorting. The frame rate dips in busy areas on the original Switch, a common complaint from reviewers. Veterans who want hard combat will find it soft.
Who Should Play
Play it if you love puzzle-heavy Zelda, if you have a young ape ready for a first Zelda, or if you want a game that lets you be clever your own way. Skip it if you want sword combat front and center; Tears of the Kingdom is the bigger meal.
STRENGTHS
- Echo system makes every puzzle playful
- Zelda finally leads
- Charming toy-box art
- Strong dungeons
HONEST COSTS
- Easy once you find strong echoes
- Clumsy echo menu
- Frame rate dips
- Third-party seller at my check
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