The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom isn’t an especially challenging game overall, but its difficulty isn’t quite consistent across the board. By design, Echoes of Wisdom is meant to be broken, and many puzzles that could be roadblocks with fewer resources at hand can quickly be solved by throwing enough echoes at them. Even the combat ends up feeling less threatening than usual due to the surplus of ways to restore hearts, not to mention a lineup of useful accessories that can reduce damage or apply a number of other benefits.
Unsurprisingly, Echoes of Wisdom is at its hardest in scenarios that don’t leave the same room for improvisation. The hardest boss battle, for example, is probably a fight with a classic foe found after completing the first few areas of the game, mostly because he doesn’t have glaring weaknesses and Zelda hasn’t yet acquired many game-breaking echoes. Even that is straightforward compared to the game’s true toughest challenge, however, which hides its devious nature behind a task that sounds like nothing more than light entertainment.
The Short Flag Race Course Is Zelda’s Toughest Trial
Precision Racing Trumps Combat & Puzzles
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s Hyrule Ranch is home to several important pieces of side content in the game, and the ranch’s final offering is a series of Flag Races that test Zelda’s ability to run her newly-acquired horse around a track. Three different course lengths have their own flags to collect and obstacles to avoid, and each features a basic time to beat and a more intense goal that offers a bonus reward. The first race unlocked is the Short Course, but mastering it turns out to be way harder than the Middle and Long Courses.
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The problem with the Short Course is that it takes place on a tight racetrack with no real leeway for major shortcuts, and the 17-second threshold to get a special reward requires precise timing that isn’t necessary to achieve the records set forth on the other courses. It’s just barely possible to manage by dodging each obstacle perfectly and dashing at the right times, but the better way to manage it is to grab some obstacles and move them out of the way with Bind. Even this strategy can be tough, and getting it just right could require repeated runs.
Zelda’s Time Is Better Spent Elsewhere In Echoes Of Wisdom
A Mediocre Reward Isn’t Appropriate For The Challenge
Ideally, Zelda would receive a considerable bounty for managing the Short Course in 17 seconds, but what she gets isn’t all that special. The reward for perfecting the Short Course in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a bundle of three Might Crystals, the material used to upgrade Zelda’s swordfighter form. It’s not a terrible offering, and many side activities provide less, but it’s also a drop in the bucket in a game with a total of 150 Might Crystals to be found.
After beating
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
, the map adds a counter of how many Pieces of Heart, Might Crystals, and Stamps are left to find.
That wouldn’t be a big deal if the real reward came from mastering every Flag Race course on Hyrule Ranch, but sadly, no such offering exists. Getting the best times on the other courses is still worthwhile, as Zelda can get a Heart Piece from the Middle Course and a Charging Horn from the Long Course. The former is a more meaningful upgrade material than a few Might Crystals, and the latter is an accessory that lets her deal more damage to enemies while galloping on her horse.
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The progression of the courses and rewards ultimately makes it feel like the Short Course wasn’t intended to be the hardest one, but considering how easy shortcuts are to find or create in the others, there’s no doubt that it is. It can still be a fun trial to take on, and doing it simply for the thrill of accomplishment might provide a bigger dopamine hit than the lesser challenges found elsewhere in Echoes of Wisdom. For those looking to get rewards, however, other The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom trials provide a better return on investment.
Strange rifts are tearing Hyrule apart, and with Link missing, it’s up to Princess Zelda to save the kingdom. Armed with the Tri Rod and aided by a mysterious fairy, she must solve puzzles, create environmental “echoes,” and battle enemies while navigating new regions and uncovering hidden secrets.
- Released
- September 26, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo , Grezzo
