Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - Nintendo Switch

Absolutely great game! If you loved hyrule warriors or breath of the wild, then I highly suggest age of calamity. One thing buyers must be aware of is that this isn't a zelda game, this is a warriors game with breath of the wild as its theme. It is a hack and slash game. That being said, age of calamity fits right in as a "prequel ". There are way more cutscenes in age of calamity then there is in breath of the wild so you really get to know the characters more. Lots of things from breath of the wild was put into age of calamity like cooking. U can cook a meal right before a mission or side mission which will give you buffs, or there are side requests for Kilton for example (well lead to believe it's Kilton) where he requests specific monster parts, you unlock the outfits you get in breath of the wild like the warm doublet ,and you can donate parts that will open up the dye shop, from there u can dye your outfits. The outfits are strictly aesthetic which is nice. These are just some small examples. Over all, if you are ok with playing a hack and slash that ties in with breath of the wild then definitely get this game. If you are on the fence about it then I suggest watching the first mission on YouTube and see if it is something you will like. The first couple of missions may seem bland but it is there to more teach you how to play and then it really opens up. The combat is very smooth and very satisfying, using your runes, elemental rods and apples are very simple and easy, getting to choose and upgrade your personal favorite weapons from the black Smith is fun, grinding to get specific parts or to level up specific characters are ACTUALLY FUN! Grinding is generally never fun in a game but in age of calamity it truly is fun and totally optional. Age of calamity still has the same vibe of hyrule warriors but everything as a whole is DRASTICALLY improved upon. Having Nintendo be involved with the development of age of calamity compared to Nintendo not being involved with development of hyrule warriors is blantly obvious. Having Nintendo involved with age of calamity really shows with the story and cut scenes. I believe there is something like a total of 2 hours worth of cutscenes compared to breath of the wild total amount of like 30 minutes (that is just the memories which is what you mainly watch in breath of the wild) to 100% age of calamity takes roughly 50 plus hours. I have 78 hours worth of gameplay right now in age of calamity . To 100% breath of the wild is 100 plus hours but u have to take in account for just traveling. You get plenty of hours and tons of replayability with korok seed hunting, farming, challenges etc. Id give this game a 8/10 compared to my personal 9/10 for breath of the wild. Again, this is all just my personal opinion so take that with a grain of salt. Once again, I suggest either watching some videos on some of the levels (without cut scenes to avoid spoilers) or play the free demo that is on the Nintendo Eshop but just keep in mind that it is the first couple main missions and couple side missions and that the game drastically opens up after what you play in the demo. The demo is there to give you an idea of how the game is played. It is very important to remember this isn't a legend of zelda game but a hyrule warriors game. Age of calamity is an official prequel and cannon according to Nintendo. If you feel as though you will never get age of calamity or can't afford it, then definitely watch a full playthrough. If you get the game, keeping in mind it's a warriors game, the play style is hack and slash, then you will over all enjoy your time with the game.

First off, if you haven't played Hyrule Warriors, try the demo before you get this game. While the storyline for this game is pure Zelda (is cannon even), the fact is that this is a Warriors game- which is basically a beat 'em up against hordes of baddies. The director felt that, ultimately, that style of gameplay made more sense than Zelda's normal exploration/puzzler type of game because, well, this is a story about a war between masses of bad guys and a few heroes and, how can you have a game about war between masses of bad guys against a few heroes without having those massive amounts of bad guys getting sliced down by those heroes? Alright, so while artistically it makes sense, (and is admittedly a gutsy decision!) it is still VERY DIFFERENT from the normal Zelda games and I think this is why both the director and Koei Techmo put out the demo so far in advance of the game's release- so folks could give it a try and find out for themselves if they liked it. All that being said, I refuse to critique this as a Zelda game. Oh sure, the *story* is Zelda but the *gameplay* is a Warriors game. It's a Hyrule Warriors game and, that is how I am going to critique it. The original Hyrule Warriors is a fun romp. It's the best fanfic I have ever encountered and, despite it's flaws, the love of the Zelda series is positively dripping from every detail. It's also fun as heck. It has easy to pick up gameplay that, if you actually bother to give it a chance, can actually get pretty in depth if you're of a mind. Pretty much, just like any beat em up. Age of Calamity is more serious in tone, of course but it also has a bit more polish than the OG Hyrule Warriors. The menus are much better laid out making the progression far easier to get through and, let's face it, the storyline is good for what it is- the sad prequel to BotW. So, imho, this is a good game but, yes, *do* try the demo first because, let's be honest here- not every Warriors fan is into Zelda and I rather doubt that every Zelda fan is going to have fun with this weirdly specific beat em up style of play. That being said, you never know until youtry and, it's not they didn't make it easy for us to try.

It uses Botw as the base for this Hyrule warriors but it's not a sequel to the original

Let me begin this review by stating that I have played both Fire Emblem Warriors and Hyrule Definite edition. Each had their own flaws and moments of success. If you have played either of these games and enjoyed them, I would highly recommend this. If you're still uncertain, TRY THE DEMO FIRST! It gives you more than enough of an idea of what the gameplay is like while giving you bits of the story. I loved the demo. It was fun, different, and had me completing all of the missions before I even touched the full release. The combat system is different from other warrior games, and yet the items and combat system is familiar to that of BOTW. While the gameplay can get repetitive (which is no shocker considering the type of game this is), the unique build for each character more than makes up for it. Unlike BOTW, this game is much more linear. You don't get to go off climbing mountains and do have map borders. Again, no shocker considering the type of game this is. You follow the story from point a to point b, so on and so forth. This didn't bother me much because this game was not advertised to be open-world like BOTW. For those who claimed it was a disappointment because of this, you clearly did not see the many trailers or gameplay. If you bought this game thinking it was meant to be open world, without doing your research first, that is your own fault and not the games! As for the story, I cannot give much away due to spoilers and for the simple fact that I have not yet completed it. The story is... for a lack of a better word, different. It's what I expected, but at the same time it is not. It has taken turns I had not taken into consideration and was pleasantly surprised with the options presented before me. TLDR; If you're looking for something to pass the time, I would recommend this game. It's nothing like BOTW's open world, but it was never meant to be like that. The story lines up with the story of BOTW to a point, but I cannot go much father than that as I have not completed it. It's a fun and exciting game, and I totally recommend it!

I been playing super hard on this game almost daily and Im on a collect quest now/ last chapter. It was never advertise to be a "traditional Zelda game." It was advertise as a prequel to the story of Breath of the Wild and the touches of a Musou game/ Hyrule Warriors. I have a place in my heart for Musou games way before they started the Hyrule Warriors Series, and I love every minute of it. My first Musou game was Dynasty Warriors 3 on the PS2. And I am a Zelda Fan, and Ive been going conventions as Fi for a long time! But Calamity puts a ton of new twist that Really ties the bow for the Breath of the wild series. There is the signature string of combo for each enemy, tons of enemies you have to barrel through, and "forts" you have to take over. But what I love about it, is the game secrets. You don't need it, but it may help on your quest to remember certain things about breath of the wild. Like aiming for the head for extra damage, Hinoxes deal extra damage to the counter by shooting in the eye, Mipha heals, the better weapons come later in the game, etc. There is even a good illusion of choice with each character having their own way of using the Shekiah slate, and replacing the r2 button with their own special attack. The only bad is that the game doesn't explain fully about the seal system, and Im still a bit confused for certain thing. I advise looking up a guide without spoiling yourself to know which seals are the best because fusing certain things, and while you can undo the damage later, it just a little annoying when you don't realize certain things and you have to work alot to undo it later. Like I didn't know the Fusion % EXp was to really boost the exp or when fusing something all the way, you get a hidden seal. But then again, I'm super nooby when it comes to RPG elements and math lol and I was just stupid and did the highest numbers lol. While I got use to the game map system, I found it as a User interface a little messy. I felt it was a bit awkward searching around the map for my missions and I found it was just better to use the menus they had that weren't on the map. And some muso game, get grindy, but so far it was decent progression until I'm at my current chapter. I don't know if there any other mission post game yet, but I consider just post game to be grindy. Ive missed korok seeds, and because of how I fused certain things, Im grinding to get the seal to track Korok seeds to kind of 100% the game. They aren't as hard as breath of the wild thankfully as you only have 100+ of them and they are only in the main missions but you can search them in the side mission I think. But as said at this moment Im hunting the chest and Korok seeds I missed. I'm also grinding for better weapons but its tough of course. I feel also we need better Ai for the characters, and not sure how to balance that out. While the NP are good at going automatically going to the location by themselves, they don't lower the gauge or do much. It weird when you control the character they have all the weapons you have, but then when they attack, they can't break 100% the enemies . I remember even dynasty warrior had NP who would lower the enemies health while you take over other forts. It a hard conundrum for the gameplay and its probably not achievable for the switch as it barely can handle a hug enemies playing attack all at once, and Musou is designed to just barrel enemies. I'm not sure how I would upgrade other than to change that character can at least do something. I mean they attack but it doesn't help much. And this is probably where the switch need next gen graphics to handle the amount of animations playing on the screen. I'm not saying Switch should be the next PS4, but with the amount of production and animations it need, I feel some of the ram and memory should be upgraded. Still overall, I am very much enjoying the game for what they try to produced. If anything the cut scenes will flush back to BOTW where Link tries to remember these moments. Even if its not a traditional game, it has love and care for the lore of the series.

This game is just fantastic. Looks like Breath of the Wild, from art-style, to same voice talent. The story alone is worth the price of buying this game. I will play BREATH OF THE WILD again on hard mode because of this great game. The game is similar to BOTW battle sequences. It's like playing boss battles constantly! It's all about leveling up! This game is far from a "button masher" Playing on normal is much easier than hard level. However, as you get deeper into the game, knowing which buttons to press, where to be standing when you attack, is key. And, the game is HUGE. Yes, if you play through the story mode, you can complete in around 25 hours. However, there is over 100 hours more content to do here (challenges, puzzles, exploration, just like BOTW!) The learning curve takes a little time, though, stay with it and you will be battling in a way that feels grandiose, amazing! Love this game! And if it's still on sale for $49.99 (as it was at the time of this writing), steal it! It will be worth $50 as a collectors item years from now!

A distinctly non-traditional Zelda game, and yet wholly satisfying. I finished this last night and I have to say I'm glad I went in with no preconceptions on what to expect. If you have ANY intent in playing this game, then don't read further as I intend to share some potential spoilers. First off, there are no dungeons or puzzles in this game--so right there it veers off the traditional explore & solve style of the franchise. However, that's not a bad thing. If you've played BotW (and I STRONGLY suggest you play up until you would face off with Ganon), then this game will make perfect sense as to why those elements do not exist. In terms of story, this takes place in the original time of the first fight against Calamity Ganon, so 100yrs before BotW's timeline. The obvious catch there is that you KNOW all of the main characters died trying to save Hyrule, which is how folks expected this game to go down. It does not end as you think it does. Much like Ocarina, there is a time travel component which makes this game it's own standalone branch from BotW and the rest of the series. It totally fits and works well as a major source of fan service, allowing you to play as various favorite characters from the entire BotW era. I'll try not to spoil much more than that as the game makes use of numerous cutscenes to advance the story and they did a great job of rounding out the personal interactions and history between the "Champions" we only glimpsed in flashbacks or recovered memories in BotW. All I can say is that this is more like Serious Sam in that you will face off against hoards of enemies, and as you level up your character with weapons and combos it becomes satisfying to wipe out a whole area with a massive special move or take down a monstrous foe. The game play combines several actions from the BotW into single button-presses, which makes fighting much easier. There is no exploration component but you do get to pick which mini-missions you want to take on for experience and materials for upgrades. In the end, it was so satisfying to take my selected team into the final battle. Switching off between Link, Zelda, Impa, and King Rhoam to kick Ganon's ass was cathartic after all the past games where they've been dead or missing from action by the time you get to that point. And given the propensity for Nintendo to recycle game play mechanics in later games, I very much hope they continue this idea of character switching into BotW:2 whenever it may come out. I could very much see playing as either Link or Zelda for their own storylines, and seeing how their interactions with NPC's and main characters evolve the story.

Prior to Covid, unless it was poker, you wouldn’t find me gaming. But not being able to work makes one go insane so I picked up a switch and animal crossing in March. Fast forward hundreds of hours of play later and I got bored. Hyrule warriors has been amazing for an inexperienced gamer. It’s completely different from the game play I’ve seen from BoTW and that’s the appeal for me. It’s a prequel so it makes sense to set it up differently. But there is definitely strategy involved in addition to the copious button mashing (which lets be honest, is just fun.) It’s fun and for me, that’s all that matters. It’s stunning visually and has fairly convenient save points and super convenient pausing abilities like all switch games so I can play and still do stuff around the house. Not everyone who games is a gamer but we need games too. Thanks Nintendo! I think this is the absolute perfect first Zelda game to play and I just got lucky on timing!