In “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom,” players have a rare opportunity to explore the kingdom of Hyrule as Princess Zelda, with special powers given by her mysterious companion, Tri. With Link missing and dangerous interdimensional rifts opening across Hyrule, it’s up to Zelda to save the day. 

While previous “Legend of Zelda” titles were expansive and open-ended, “Echoes” is a callback to the format of older games in the series, with linear dungeons, upgrades, a fixed perspective and limited map—combined with the open-ended freedom of recent titles thanks to the game’s central mechanic. It’s a pretty nice change of pace. 

Zelda makes “echoes” of various objects and creatures to help with combat and puzzle-solving. There is a vast number of echoes to collect, so each problem has dozens of solutions. It’s cool, it’s original, it’s cute, but it can also be frustrating. For one thing, there are too many echoes. It’s impossible to remember what each one does and be ready to call them up for the perfect situation, which can lead to a lot of confusion on the occasion that there is only one or two correct solutions to a puzzle. Also, you do get to wield a sword and shield, but only for short spurts at a time. Making it a limited ability is annoying. Sometimes I just want to swing a sword. 

I appreciated that “Echoes” is different from “Tears of the Kingdom.” I mean, Zelda is always Zelda, but it’s still different. It’s encouraging to see Nintendo continue to experiment with the format of a staple series like “Legend of Zelda” when it seems like entertainment is just made to be a safe bet rather than anything new and interesting. More franchises and game studios should follow this example—and “Echoes” also proves that turning to the past for inspiration can be a good idea. 

The world of Hyrule is a gamer’s comfort food. You know what to expect, and it’s always going to hit the spot, even if it’s not always the greatest thing since sliced bread. “Echoes of Wisdom” tries new things with mixed success, but just being a “Legend of Zelda” game at its core makes it a decent game by default.