Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity by developers
Koei
Tecmo,
Omega Force and publisher
Nintendo
of America—
Nintendo
Switch Preview written by
Pierre-Yves
from a Nintendo eShop Demo.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
If there are two series that will spark a heated debate as to which
one is best, one is Final Fantasy, which I streamed Final Fantasy IV
(THE BEST ONE) for Extra Life 2020, and the other is the Legend of
Zelda. Having originally started with the Legend of Zelda II, I would
later fall in love with a total of three titles. A Link to the Past,
Twilight Princess, and Hyrule Warriors which while not a core title,
merged all of the timelines into one making everything truly canon to
the timeline theories which were also published not that long back in
the Hyrule Historia.
Instead of making a follow up to the 2014 Hyrule Warriors, Omega
Force and Tecmo Koei have instead done something that a lot of fans
have probably been wanting just as much as the sequel to Breath of
the Wild, and that would be the prequel of the events one-hundred
years prior. Starting off with a bang in the last moments before
Calamity Ganon wins, a tiny guardian stored within Hyrule Castle
wakes up and sends itself to the past in order to warn and
potentially save Princess Zelda and her father’s kingdom. Falling
into the hands of Link who was at the time no more than a soldier of
the kingdom clearly not wearing a helmet to stand out, his and
Zelda’s fates would soon become intertwined as they always do.
From a story perspective there’s a lot that we are going to be in a
treat for as other than some flashbacks or mentions, a lot of what
happens was up for grabs while turning it into a gameplay experience.
With events starting off before everything happens, before Calamity
Ganon is even a thought, a horde of monsters brings Link and Impa
together as Link is helping defend the kingdom. Link and Impa’s
meeting alongside the small guardian start to really set the tone for
the adventure while also showing that there’s more than just
gameplay in some of these rather stellar looking cutscnes.
From the get go two things were abundantly clear. The combat and the
mechanics are solid and they’ve revamped the characters for their
Breath of the Wild counterparts from the original Hyrule Warriors
which were specifically designed for that adventure. The second is
that I’m really unsure of how well the graphical representation
handles itself. The original was clear, crisp and highly detailed
while Age of Calamity is using the more cell shaded style of Breath
of the Wild and I don’t think it’s doing the action as much
justice as it should and that’s after spending time with it on a
standard LED, a 4K QLED and in handheld mode.
My issues with the graphics aside, and combat felt rather smooth with
the three characters that the demo currently allows you access to.
Link, Impa and Zelda all handle rather differently with Link being
our sword wielding beast on the field, Impa using ninjutsu like
abilities and Zelda very much relying on the powers of the slate for
some rather wild attacks. Following more in line with the Dynasty
Warriors style of mechanics, basic attacks are all mapped to “X”
and then after a certain number of presses you can use “Y” to
unleash a character specific ability.
Where things start to get a bit interesting is in the use of
abilities that a lot of us have used while exploring a post-war era
version of Hyrule set one-hundred years later. Getting access to the
slate, Link can use bombs, freeze enemies and the water they are
standing in, and even without it Link can take up to the air with his
glider before coming back down on his enemies. Keeping partially in
line with the semi-RPG elements of leveling up to become more
powerful, there are a few changes this time around which could either
be really nice down the line or a complete pain depending on how they
are implemented.
Set out on the world map through accessing the slate between
missions, there are several points on the map that all serve as
different functions. Some require handing over materials in order to
unlock merchants who will in turn sell you ingredients that you can
use to cook food and adjust your character’s stats in battle.
Others are challenges that must be completed in order to unlock new
abilities for your characters such as an extra “X” attack or
adding in a new “Y” ability. These are no longer gained through
leveling up so it could go either way as the demo only has two stages
and a few challenges clocking in around the hour-ish mark depending
on the amount of effort you wanted to put in.
Now I think it’s clear that if we are putting out a preview today,
we didn’t get a copy for review, BUT, with it having come out today
you can be sure as hell that this is what I’m basically going to be
playing this weekend. As a Musou fan there’s honestly plenty to
look forward to especially with the unlocking of abilities through
trials instead of leveling up as well as what other kinds of
challenges that can be set forth with the mechanics coming over from
Breath of the Wild.
Summary
So to top it off, my only real concern is how polished the story is
going to be as we all know how it has to end though using the first
two missions and what’s already available I think it should go
alright but only time will tell on that one. So check back soon for
our full review of this latest Musou title that once again takes to
the Hyrulian lands of The Legend of Zelda.
Score: N/A
Side Note: The save data of the demo version currently
available is transferable into the main title upon launch.
