The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Nintendo Switch, £49.99)
Verdict: The stuff of legend
Finally, the Legend of Zelda really is the Legend of Zelda. For decades, we’ve been used to playing these games as the indomitable Link, adventuring through a fantasy kingdom to save Princess Zelda from one danger or another. But now, in Echoes of Wisdom, it’s Zelda who gets to embark on the adventure – and she must save the kingdom herself.
The Apocalypse is purple in this one. Large purple chasms have appeared everywhere, sucking Zelda’s friends in and spitting out monsters. It’s up to our heroine, with the help of a small, friendly ghost thing, to close the rifts and restore peace.
But how? Zelda doesn’t really like combat, so she uses the magical “echoes” of the game’s title: summoned versions of things she encounters in the world. Swish! A table will appear for her to stand on and reach higher areas. Swoosh! A bed for her to rest on. Shazam! A monster that has to fight for her.
Echoes of Wisdom, it is Zelda who gets to do the adventures – and she has to save the kingdom herself
It’s up to our heroine, with the help of a small, friendly ghost thing, to close the rifts and restore peace
Zelda doesn’t really like combat, so she uses the magical ‘echoes’ of the game’s title
It turns the entire realm into some sort of puzzle room. You’ll constantly have to figure out which combination of items will best help Zelda progress.
And it’s great that there is often more than one answer. It may look like a more cartoonish, old-school form of Zelda, but Echoes of Wisdom at least has some of the freewheeling experimental nature of 2017’s Breath of the Wild and 2023’s Tears of the Kingdom.
But just like these masterpieces, it can also be a bit clumsy at times. There are so many items to remember and switch between that sometimes it feels like you’re sorting as much as you are playing. Until you, Zelda and the ghost thing conquer yet another delightful puzzle – and feel like total legends.
EA FC 25 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Switch, £69.99)
Verdict: marginal gain
Another year, another FIFA. Sorry, I should have remembered that it’s been called EA FC since last year, after the good people at Electronic Arts parted ways with the dubious people at football’s world governing body.
And last year it seemed like the name was the only thing that changed. Far from representing the dawn of a new era, EA FC 24 was essentially just the same old FIFA game.
Which meant that prior to the release of this latest incarnation, EA FC 25, I was feeling quite jaded. Would this game do something – anything – to revolutionize one of gaming’s most complacent (yet lucrative) franchises?
And the answer? Hmm, not really.
Far from representing the dawn of a new era, EA FC 24 was essentially just the same old FIFA game
A charitable interpretation is that EA has improved the basics of this football game over the past year
There are certainly some welcome additions in EA FC 25, starting with the new ‘Rush’ mode and the fast-paced, rules-bending five-on-five matches, and continuing with the (crazily named) FC IQ feature that allows more refined, player-by-player tactical configurations. I even found myself enjoying the redesigned post-match highlight editing screen.
But all of this is an iteration rather than an innovation, and most of it should have been done years ago. Finally, for example, weather conditions can make a significant difference to the game on the field. Wow!
A charitable interpretation is that EA has improved the basics of this football game over the past year. But my own sense of charity depends rather on what happens next.
Will EA FC 26 be more of the same old, same old? Or will the good folks at Electronic Arts prove their worth by innovating as they (sometimes) did during the FIFA years, like that time when they introduced the delightful soap opera-esque ‘The Journey’ mode? The beautiful game deserves more.