While it’s true that we sometimes put “too much emphasis” on review scores, especially when “critical opinion” and “fan opinion” can range wildly, it is important to note that when a good game comes out, and it gets good review scores…we trust them. When The Legend of Zelda Echoes Of Wisdom was announced, many wondered what it would be like, and then, as details came out and the game’s creativity was shown, many felt that this could be one of the best and “most fresh” entries the series had seen in a while. Sure enough, the review embargo dropped today, and the game has an 86 score on Metacritic.
For some context, the last entry that the team at Grezzo made for Switch, Link’s Awakening, got an 87 on Metacritic, and it sold incredibly well. So, things are off to a great start here. But that also raises the question of what these reviewers are saying about the title.
At the time of this writing, nearly 80 reviews have been posted for the title, and over 70 of them are positive, while the rest are “mixed.” That being said, the game got multiple perfect scores from places like Dexerto and Siliconera, citing how the game advances the “classic Zelda games” and gives Princess Zelda a perfect first adventure for her to go on.
Many reviews praised the “creative nature” of the world and its Echoes, stating that it feels like the 3D open-world titles that did spectacularly for the Switch, yet are in the top-down world that the classic titles were made in. It’s a “perfect compromise” and they loved how it turned out.
As for some of the “mixed scores,” you have to wonder what some of them were thinking when they wrote their reviews. Including one review from The Guardian that said that it was “hard work” learning how not to be active in a fight, which is odd to say because the point of the Echoes is to be “active while taking a back seat.”
Either way, it’s clear that the vast majority of gamers enjoyed Zelda’s first outing as a protagonist, and many feel this is the “new standard” for these kinds of titles within the franchise. Nintendo will definitely have this in mind when they shift over to Switch 2, as they’ll want as many great games made by great teams as possible.
You can watch the launch trailer for The Legend of Zelda Echoes Of Wisdom below.
