The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom It's a fun experience from start to finish, but it can be even more fun to go back to the beginning to do it all over again. Zelda the games have always had a good replayability, especially in the rich worlds that remain a joy to explore even after the first playthrough. Although Echoes of Wisdom goes back to the basics of the series from top to bottom in some ways, it's not traditional Zelda game in general, and the way it does things differently can make it even more replayable than the…
Author: Ben Brosofsky
There's no shortage of Nintendo franchises that could appear on the Nintendo Switch 2but one in particular is perfectly poised for a comeback. While the successor to the Nintendo Switch has yet to be officially announced, there is good reason to believe it will arrive in 2025, leaving plenty of room for speculation about what its launch year will be like. Although I would bet more money on a new 3D Mario game as a systems seller, a lot of assumptions come into play when thinking about releases that aren't as predictable. Nintendo has a habit of leaving great IPs…
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the newest entry in the ever-popular FPS franchise, picking up the Black ops Subseries that has been sitting since the 2020 release of Black Ops Cold War. The Black ops Games are moving to the 1990s for the first time with this installment, picking up after the end of the Cold War during a time of global instability. As always, the game will focus on the more shadowy side of the conflict, telling its own fictional story interconnected with real-world events. Black Ops 6 is sticking to a lot of tried-and-true elements of…
The imminent launch of 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide could provide a powerful new tool for Dungeons and Dragons DMs, but it's not the only interesting product on the horizon. 2024 was a busy year for D&D until now, with new core rulebooks being released amid a flurry of celebrations for the game's 50th anniversary. In addition to the onslaught of official releases of D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast, each year also brings its fair share of third-party D&D products, which can sometimes be even more exciting. Even in a sea of new features, it's not always easy to find…
Fight in Dungeons and Dragons can be a lot of fun, but a lot of it depends on having the right weapon, and 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide just turned a traditionally disappointing option into a memorable option. While some players clamor for magical items simply to boost stats, many seek them out because of the ways they can spice up combat. Basic weapons can still be fun as long as they're effective, but when they don't live up to their potential in flavor or impact, it's hard not to be disappointed. DnDIt's 2024 Player Handbook sought to solve this problem…
THE Pokémon the series has struggled to find its footing in recent years, but the best place to look for inspiration might actually be The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Like a classic Zelda adventure that stars the Princess as the protagonist, Echoes of Wisdom isn't much like Nintendo's creature-collecting series, although the focus on elemental weaknesses bears a slight resemblance. Your position within the Zelda the franchise in general is particularly interesting, however, and creating a Pokémon a game in a similar direction could help the series deliver a strong experience. It is inevitable, to some extent, that…
The new Dungeons and Dragons The Bastion system is a major selling point of 2024 Dungeon Master's Guidebut there are many reasonable concerns about the concept. As a specific structure for players to build and maintain bases, Bastions give the party something to be proud of at home, even when they're out adventuring. While not an entirely new concept, anything similar to a Bastion previously had to be handled with campaign or homebrew-specific rules rather than any kind of universal ruleset. Bastions first appeared in Unearthed Arcana game test for DnDof the 2024 rules revisions, but unlike class changes that…
It may take a while for a new Animal crossing the title hits stores, but a game that has just been released and received an enthusiastic reception could be the perfect alternative. While Nintendo franchises tend to spawn countless imitators, there's not much that's been recaptured Animal crossingunique brand of charm. The recent popularity of the cozy game genre certainly bears some similarities, but Animal crossing it's much more than just cozy, and the appeal of its atmosphere, aesthetics, and memorable social interaction is hard to find elsewhere. Even the official Animal crossing games have an uphill battle and Animal…
Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3 is full of choices, but there is a junction point that happens on an exceptionally large scale. After finishing the party's business in the Emerald Grove and the nearby Goblin Camp, it's finally time to head to a new area, and two paths offer divergent methods of beginning the journey toward the city of Baldur's Gate. The Mountain Pass and the Underdark seem threatening in their own ways, but both the risks and rewards of adopting either approach are ultimately radically different. Mountain Pass, true to its name, is an overland approach that takes…
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom draws a lot of inspiration from both old and new Zelda games, and one item that's finally returning has been missing from the series for far too long. Reusing and remixing ideas from past games has always been a staple of the series, and it's not uncommon for concepts that don't appear for a while to eventually find a home again. Since this is the first completely new top-down game in over a decade, it's no surprise that Echo of Wisdom revives a lot of dormant material. What does The Legend of Zelda:…