For the first time in 38 years, a mainline "Legend of Zelda" game finally stars Zelda as the primary protagonist. Instead of wielding a sword and shield as Link, players will instead use a magical friend named "Tri" that can summon objects and creatures to fight baddies and solve puzzles in creative ways.

While this top-down installment doesn't reach quite the same level of enthusiasm from reviewers that last year's 3D open world "Tears of the Kingdom" received, this might actually show us the path to a better future for the franchise. We needn't reject the old school "Zelda" concepts; we can simply modernize them.

For example, IGN explains how many of Zelda's new powers effectively replace the level-exclusive items of old:

I get that the echo system may sound far too quirky to be considered anything but an experimental spinoff of the traditional sword and shield combat we've seen in pretty much every 2D "Zelda" since the original in 1986, but the reason it's able to stay so distinctly "Zelda" is because many of these echoes essentially act as classic key items.

You may not have a hookshot, but that floating floor tile you'll only find in a certain cave can suddenly let you clear large pits in a similar way; there's no shovel this time, but a little mole friend will happily dig up secrets for you; and "Skyward Sword's" Gust Bellows isn't back, but holding a Wind Cannon above your head will clear away piles of sand just as well.

More importantly, classic dungeons have returned after being pared back significantly to rather bland experiences in "Breath of the Wild" and "Tears of the Kingdom." Shack News even notes that modern features like fast travel make these retro elements much easier to traverse:

Dungeons are truly back in "The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom." Top-down "Zelda" dungeons with treasure chests, keys, a big key and all new puzzles that are enhanced by Tri's powers. Most dungeons feature a mini-boss followed by a big bad. Every dungeon comes with a map that players can find, and the best possible quality of life update has to be the introduction of waypoints.

Sure, "Zelda" games have had fast travel for a while, but where "Echoes of Wisdom" really won me over is the implementation of waypoints inside of dungeons. Backtracking is a common pain point for some players out there, and being able to still enjoy the misdirection of a classic top-down "Zelda" dungeon with waypoints is a major game changer for this series.

In every meaningful way, this installment feels like the lessons learned with the modern "Zelda" games have been back-ported to the original style of the series — a thrilling promise for longtime fans. As it turns out, we can have more structured tasks without giving up any of the creative problem solving from the newer games.

Hopefully, this clever melding of old and new can positively impact the next major 3D open world installment with more of the original concepts merged with the wildly popular modern take on the series. We don't need to revert back to the old ways fully, but we can definitely learn from them.

"The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom" is available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.

[Image: Nintendo]