It doesn’t take a keen eye to see that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Build off of these Link’s Awakening Remake from five years ago, but whether it’s an improvement over its predecessor may be a more contentious point. Like the original Link’s AwakeningThe remake showcases the Seldom Formula at its best, delivering classic grand dungeon and puzzle design while exploring its own setting and tone. I already love Echoes of wisdom More, however, and something that didn’t really click for me Link’s Awakening is actually part of what’s winning me over this time around.
From my perspective, the Link’s Awakening Remake faces an uphill battle from the start, as bringing an 8-bit game back to life is never an easy task. Finding a way to replace classic pixel art isn’t easy, and remasters that make the attempt often fall flat with artwork that looks cheap and silly compared to what came before. to his credit, The shiny 3D modeling of the Link’s Awakening Remake is superbBut I would still make the argument that the simplistic, arguably unattractive style of the original game is the better way to play.
The new art style of Link’s Awakening doesn’t quite fit
Exceptionally charming graphics are not as evocative
Seldom Games can often feel like familiar comfort food, however Link’s Awakening is weird, and it’s always been a defining part of his identity. While the defining influences for the Seldom series as a whole are classic fantasy and Shigeru Miyamoto’s own childhood explorations, Link’s Awakening Took some of its cues from Twin Peaks. There’s something about the dream-like island setting that isn’t quite right, and The sparse visual style of the game gives the weird a chance to settle in the mind and growFilling in the gaps where the pixels falter.
The Link’s Awakening Remake doesn’t overwrite any of this, but at least for me, it makes it hard to get sucked into that reality. On paper, the way the art is translated to 3D is exceptionally faithful, from trees that keep their same squat proportions to miniature houses that are bigger on the inside. The effects of the conversion can be best described with one word, though – cute. Fantastic, wonderfully cute, no matter how much fog may drift through a forest. And that’s just not what I want to get out of Link’s Awakening.
I don’t mean to disparage this approach, as I think it’s quite nice to look at, and it easily puts most other remasters of classic games to shame. This is just evidence of the struggle of re-interpreting older graphics, where the imagination has the task of constructing something more vividly real from a simple pattern. A more controversial example can be found in the remastered GTA TrilogyWhere cartoon renditions of PS2 characters fall closely in line with their original look but fail to evoke the convincing figures that the older low-poly models.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the perfect application
A toy box style for a toy box game
Echoes of wisdomCo-developed by the Link’s Awakening Remake studio Grezzo, carries on the same charming aesthetic. This time, however, I found myself completely loving it, and it wasn’t because of any significant overhaul. The context is the key. while making Link’s Awakening Bright and plasticky didn’t do any favors to its atmosphere of restlessness, This style makes perfect sense Echoes of wisdomWhich feels more like a rummage through an overstuffed toy box Like a venture into the strange unknown.
Take, for example, the trees, which are again lined in uniform, squat rows. On the Game Boy, this was an inherent limitation, and the Link’s Awakening Remake rendering it faithfully did not convey a feeling of being lost in the woods in the same way as the original game or anything like Ocarina of Time Can. in Echoes of wisdomHowever, trees are a common platform surface like anything else, and Zelda can jump between bounded areas by simply building a few steps to the treetops and going on over.
The modular nature of this style also works exceptionally well when it comes to echoes. With its roots in the sprite-based layout of Link’s AwakeningIndividual items fit neatly into blocksAnd the clearly defined difference between a table that takes up one square and a bed that takes up two is one of the main foundations of using echoes. The angled top-down perspective, meanwhile, adds a layer of verticality that a fully two-dimensional top-down game can’t support, opening up a much wider array of possibilities for traversal, puzzles and combat.
Echoes of Wisdom delivers on Zelda’s visual evolution
It has been a long time coming
I am also happy that Echoes of wisdom Is not resting on the laurels of the Link’s Awakening RemakeCarving out enough of its own visual identity despite the obvious similarities. Entering random buildings and homes is a huge point of appeal for me in any game that allows it, and I especially love it Echoes of wisdoms interiors. From the classic simplicity of Link’s own home to Zora houses that have diving spots under wooden slats, it’s an exception. Level of thought and charm packed into every corner.
In some ways, Echoes of wisdoms visual payoff feels like a long time coming. The franchise has been using 3D rendering for the top-down games ever since The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass For the DS, and I was never quite sold on this approach as a follow-up to the top of Seldom Pixel art. A link between worlds Is a fantastic game that, like Echoes of wisdomMakes great use of perspective, but his world too often looks bland compared to the burst of detail at the seams of the pixel art in The sexual cup.
Matching the gorgeous visual style of the Link’s Awakening Remake with a game that perfectly suits it in tone and gameplay delivers the whole packageAnd I, for one, am completely satisfied with the results. Although I would like to see more Seldom Games with rich, evocative atmospheres in the future, Echoes of wisdom Is not going for what, and his approach makes sense according to his goals. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a smart evolution of a great remake that I never liked, and it somehow feels like the experience that the style was always made for.