Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom – much better than The Wand Of Gamelon (Nintendo) Princess Zelda is finally the star of the franchise that's named after her, in a charming new action adventure with a clever new puzzle twist – The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom. It's often seemed as if the worst thing about The Legend Of Zelda is..
. Zelda herself. Princess Zelda's role has changed over the years, and from game to game, but despite getting more screentime than usual in Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom her characterisation in those games has been that of an ineffectual wimp – not helped by some unbearably whiny voice-acting.
Strangely, she had a lot more to do, and was far less reliant on Link, in much older titles such as Ocarina Of Time and The Wind Waker. As such, it's one of the few failings of the modern games that the series' titular character somehow now has less agency and chutzpah than Princess Peach. To be fair, the nature of single-player video games makes it difficult to give supporting characters meaningful roles but that makes this, the first Nintendo-made title to feature Zelda as the protagonist (don't ask about the non-Nintendo ones), all the more welcome.
Not just because the character deserves the attention – or even that the co-director is a woman – but because Echoes Of Wisdom is a unique and interesting title in its own right. Since Zelda games aren't exactly known for their storytelling, you'll be unsurprised to find out that this does not .