Upon its release, Breath of the Wild went on to become one of the most beloved Zelda entries to date. It managed to revitalize the series and bring in more new players than ever before. Hyrule Warriors, which came a few years prior, brought with it one of themost unique spin-offs for the seriesby combining Zelda characters with Warriors gameplay. While many had hoped and anticipated a sequel to the spin-off, what we instead got revealed to us was a prequel taking place in the world ofBreath of the Wild100 years prior to the main events. Now it stands apart of two iconic milestones for many fans, so just how well does it do its job?
During the events of Breath of the Wild players became witness to a variety of flashbacks as Link regained his memory of the past. This was the insight that would explain the many characters as the story continued such as the deceased Champions that Link was friends with. Age of Calamity puts players in the role of those characters as they form their party and set fourth to begin their fight against Calamity Ganon. The story interestingly begins with an egg-like guardian traveling back in time after seeing the events of the future unfolding before it. After making its way back it seeks out Zelda to try and warn her of the oncoming events in hopes it can be stopped.
Much like other Warriors titles, the main combat revolves around light and heavy attacks. The combos between them lead to different attacks to take down swarms of enemies and the occasional boss. Where Age of Calamity differs from the original Hyrule Warriors is by incorporating many aspects from Breath of the Wild. The most prominent is that every character has access to the Sheikah Slate in order to use its four main abilities. These allow characters to attack enemies in a variety of different ways such as freezing them with stasis or throwing bombs their direction. Some bosses require this in order to reveal their weak point and an indicator with a flashing icon will appear above them when it’s time to be used. There are no elemental specific weapons, but each character has access to elemental rods that can send down flames, ice or electricity in order to stun or defeat foes. These are limited in usage, however, and require defeating wizrobes in order to refill its usage over time. Each character also has their own special ability which plays into their attacks. These are generally integral to their combos such as Impa’s ability to create temporary shadow clones which makes her attacks significantly more powerful. Learning how each of them work isn’t always clear right away, but fortunately they will click into place with a little practice.
In addition to the main assortment of the party there are also certain missions which make use of the divine beasts under the control of their champions. Despite being large and relatively slow, these missions make for a fun break as the divine beasts can wipe out monsters in the blink of an eye. Each one has a main attack but also with them a variety of more powerful moves. Divine beasts are generally used to help clear out enemies to the others on the ground can keep moving, but they’re a nice break from the regular combat that changes up the strategy and having to fight in an entirely different way. These do tend to be farther between in usage which works in their favor as one after the other might grow tedious, but it’s a unique way to see how the divine beasts were actually meant to be used before they simply became giant, walking terrors.
Outside of combat players will find themselves looking at the iconic map of Breath of the Wild. This is where missions and side modes are accepted. After every story mission more side activities will be unlocked. There are a few different kinds of things to do here aside from selecting the next story mission. Side missions challenge players to defeat monsters in different ways such as on a time limit, with certain characters or without taking damage. Stores can be unlocked by supplying them with certain items found in missions which opens up the opportunity to buy rare or harder to find materials. Character icons that appear on the overworld map are where the playable crew can upgrade their abilities by obtaining certain kinds of materials. This includes increasing combos or hearts in order to add to gameplay throughout the story. Each area of the map also has its own ranking which is increased by helping that territory and after a certain threshold has been met a reward of items is given from the inhabitants for helping make things better. Although most of this is side content, it’s addictive to do especially as the rewards can be great in addition to having ways to play shorter missions in order to grind.
Warriors titles are grind-heavy, especially for those who enjoy playing to full completion. Age of Calamity is no different, but offers a great variety of ways to make things much easier in the long run. One of the first big helpful things that can be unlocked is the item locator. Using this on an objective that needs items will tell players exactly where said item can be found, be it from a mission or simply purchased from the shop. This includes individual items as well, which can be searched for at any point regardless if they’re needed or not. Returning from the previous Hyrule Warriors is the armory and character level areas, where players can increase their weapon strength or level up their allies using extra rupees. Koroks appear throughout the maps of Age of Calamity and further in players will unlock the ability to see how many are in each stage so they can tell if they have them all or not. After beating the story players also unlock helpful areas that trade more common items for rarer ones, helping again with the grind that will last a good while afterwards.
The visuals look straight out of Breath of the Wild and are one of the most-endearing elements of Age of Calamity. Seeing Link put into a more fast-paced combat, in addition to all his allies, is a great treat. Not to mention the return of the iconic enemies, in addition to new variants to offer a new challenge for players to take on. The soundtrack is lovely, including great remixes in addition to great new songs that help pump up the combat. What’s great is these songs can also be listened to at any time from the main menu so people can enjoy listening to their favorite. The framerate for the most part is stable across the board, but there are a few stages that can stumble when lots of enemies are on the screen. Multiplayer, however, probably should not have been included in this adventure. The framerate and visual quality drop immensely making it almost unbearably slow at times. It’s only meant for a pair of friends who want to suffer together and nothing else.
Closing Comments:
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a welcome surprise that gives players a brand new way to enjoy their time in Breath of the Wild’s Hyrule with fun, fast-paced gameplay. It takes the good of the original and remixes it for an adventure that won’t soon be forgotten. The story gives more life to characters that we didn’t have before in Breath of the Wild while also offering an entirely new perspective on events from many years in the past. Anyone looking for a story that’s been shaken up or just looking to scratch that itch for more fast-paced gameplay with Zelda over the cover will enjoy their time with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch
