From Keza McDonald’s review for the Guardian:

The main difference between Link and Zelda is that Zelda can’t fight. Instead, with a magical staff, she can summon material “echoes” of real objects from thin air – which could be anything from a cut of meat to distract monsters, to crates and tables to construct towers and staircases. When you come across the usual Zelda selection of deceptively mild-looking monsters, you can simply conjure a spear-wielding Moblin or a few bats into existence to dispatch them for you. Or, failing that, you can manifest a pot and throw it at whatever’s menacing you.

I did get used to Echoes of Wisdom’s new way of doing things as time went by – but I didn’t love it. There’s lots to like about it; particularly the painfully cute toylike aesthetic, which makes Hyrule feel a bit like like a giant Polly Pocket, and Zelda’s adorable horse. It’s a good game, and its mishmash of intersecting ideas does bring something new to Zelda. But I hope that the next time we play as Zelda, it feels more empowering.

So it sounds like this is the type of game that appeals to sickos that liked playing summoner necro in Diablo 2 (i’m one of those sickos). Except obviously it works better than that bc the entire game is built around it.