Shacknews Best Nintendo Switch Game of 2024 - The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

After Nintendo dazzled the gaming world with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the last thing anybody expected to see was another Zelda game so soon. After all, Tears of the Kingdom was hyped for almost five years. If another entry in the franchise was coming, it had to be a long way down the road. Instead, it turned out that Nintendo secretly had another game in the works the whole time. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom did indeed release in 2024, blowing fans away in a different way and becoming the best game to release on Nintendo's handheld hybrid console.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was different for a variety of reasons. This isn't another adventure with the green tunic-clad hero saving the kingdom again. This time, players actually got to step into the shoes of the Princess of Hyrule for the first time ever. As one might imagine, Zelda can't approach her adventure the same way that Link would, at least not exactly. She isn't the valiant swordsman that he is. Instead of fighting with courage, she instead fights with wisdom.

The idea that Zelda can use her wand to create copies of nearly anything in the world is ingenious. It allows for open-ended approaches to exploration, combat, and puzzles, giving fans the kind of freedom that's usually offered in a more open-world entry to the franchise like Breath of the Wild or the aforementioned Tears of the Kingdom. One person might defeat a boss with Sea Urchins, another might use Moblins, and others might just hurl rocks at them. The ample space for experimentation makes this unlike most traditional Zelda titles.

It wouldn't be a Zelda game without a vast world to explore and Hyrule proves just as engaging as ever. The echo mechanic makes exploration a blast, letting players use their heads to explore whatever area they want. There are few, if any, restrictions or rules in place. This is evidenced through the game's dungeons. If a dungeon's floor crumbles, sends Zelda to the basement, and instructs her to fight her way back up, a player can simply warp to the entrance and cross the chasm with a bunch of old beds.

The denizens of Hyrule needing help are the icing on the cake. Side quests are here to keep players entertained well beyond the main story, giving Echoes of Wisdom even more hours of entertainment than fans could have ever expected. Those are among the reasons why The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom stands out as the Shacknews Best Nintendo Switch Game of 2024.

Be sure to read over the rest of the Shacknews Awards in our Year of the Games: 2024 feature.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?