As I played through the first two dungeons of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, I came to a strange realization. Though this game obviously reminds me of 2D Zeldas from years past, with the added systemic playfulness of recent 3D entries, the minute-to-minute gameplay actually has me thinking about something completely unrelated to Link's adventures. Of all things, it's reminding me of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Vampire Survivors.
Fighting Back Without Pressing A Button
If you didn't play the smash-hit "Bullet Heaven" game when it launched in 2022, the basics are fairly simple. You play as a vampire hunter fighting hordes of undead monsters. The catch is that you can't control when you attack your enemies, and have no direct control over your character's combat choices at all. All you can do is move, evading their attacks and waiting for your passive abilities to trigger. It's a game about managing cooldowns, and somehow developer Poncle Limited made that extre𒈔mely compelling.
In Echoes of Wisdom, Zelda is similarly passive in combat. In her basic form, she ca♕n't attack with melee or magic, and she can't even roll or dodge. All she can do is walk around, sum♛moning echoes of creatures or objects she's encountered to help her. The only way to directly attack your enemies in this form is to summon vases or rocks and chuck them at your opponent's head. That's inefficient so, instead, you call up echoes of enemies you've previously defeated to fight on your behalf. As you encounter stronger and stronger opponents, you get stronger and stronger summons. But, while they're out there attacking your current enemies, all you can do is avoid attacks.
Zelda can take on a more active role, but only for very brief windows. When you switch into Swordfighter Form, she essentially gains Link's traditional melee-focused skillset. It's really satisfying to land some whacks on your opponents,ꦑ but Swordfighter Form only lasts for as long as your energy meter, and then you're back to manipulating furniture. Zܫelda is a fascinating player character because she has a ton of flexibility through her echoes, but can't so much as shake a stick herself.
Zelda Lets Her Summons Fight For Her In Echoes Of Wisdom
The Vampire Survivors comparison hit me during an encounter Zelda has with a Link lookalike in the Gerudo Desert dungeon. This evil Link shoots arrows at you and, if you defeat him once, he summons two additional copies. When there are three Links, all attempting to shoot you, you just have to run. It's hectic, and navigating the multitude of projectiles feels like threading a needle while your hands are shaking. It isn't a wildly difficult fight — I beat it on the first try — but❀ it does ask you to do something quite different th🤡an most Zelda games that came before.
Zelda games typically task Link with some basic pattern recognition. When the boss does this, you do that. But, in Echoes of Wisdom, that dance becomes much more hectic as the variables massively increase. If it's just you against your enemies, that's one thing. But there are dozens and dozens of objects and creat🐟ures you can introduce to any given combat encounter and, likewise, many ways that your opponents can react to their presence in the fight.
Vampire Survivors runs often feel the same way. The attacks and buffs at your disposal vary wildly from run to run, and🤪 the game throws enemies at you in random configurations. All you can do, like Zelda in Echoes of Wisdom, is run and hope the abilities you collect put up a good fight.
🔯 E📖choes of Wisdom Should Have Been Super Zelda Maker
I want🗹 to make 🌞my mark on Hyrule like never before.
