Analysis | Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity makes good use of the style and the franchise

All about

This is a somewhat unusual story of joining forces, and this applies to both the plot of the game itself and the circumstances of its development. That of the world The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild it is vast and full of elements, everyone already knows. It still seems curious, however, that this expansion is coming from hands other than Nintendo, while she herself is also working on a sequel to this universe that has enchanted and continues to attract attention to this day.

While the mythic sequence does not arrive, the new look at this iteration of the kingdom of Princess Zelda is given by Tecmo Koei, along with Omega Force, with yet another chapter of her unusual but successful series. Hyrule Warriors. Instead of the airs of spin-off of the original, however, Age of Calamity it portrays the character’s efforts to avoid a destruction that, as we all know, is inevitable.

The choice of style musou, so popular in Japan and still with little traction in the West, is unusual; but also completely suitable for a war and disaster scenario. This could be the title that introduces the genre to a whole new group of players, who will see how fun it is to attack hordes and more hordes of enemies that are thrown onto the scene, while the defeated enemy counter attack quickly hits the house. of the many hundreds.

Who knows names like Dynasty Warriors, by Tecmo Koei and great inspirer of Hyrule Warriors, or Sengoku Basara, from Capcom, you will feel at home. Others have a necessary introduction to the style, which is easily comparable to the recognized one hack and slash, but with some peculiarities such as larger scenarios (or even open world) and the use of different characters at the same time.

It’s a presentation that fits the text, but not the game itself, ever since Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity makes a point of being simple. After video clips introductory that compares the terror of the future calamity with a pre-combat tension in the past, the user is thrown into the arena and can now face the hordes of enemies, feeling fully capable as he does so.

Even before the game indicates it, through tutorials and simple on-screen indicators, the user realizes that he is already offering combos and using Link’s strong, weak and combined attacks in different ways – the first playable character of nearly two dozen which are presented during the adventure. It’s impressive how different they are, as well as the very creative use of the powers seen in Breath of the Wild.

The soldier and old acquaintance, of course, is best suited for the outspoken frank, using his trusty sword and shield like a skateboard, throwing enemies everywhere with extreme rapidity. Impa, on the other hand, is fast and can attack using copies of herself that increase the surface of damage, while Zelda shows her strength using the powers brought from the future by a miniGuardian, who wishes to contribute so that the calamity from which she came is not a repeat. .

Repetition and good ideas

Although Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity having the next button press as combat essence, there’s a little more to enjoy here. Style musou it allows variations of blows and, in order not to make things monotonous and go beyond the simple exchange between characters, it also provides enemies with different degrees of strength and weakness, which require attention and opportunism from the player. OR squeeze button it can guarantee victory, of course, but doing it with powers and attacking at the right time is equally satisfying, if not more so, thanks to the animations shown and the sense of triumph in doing so.

The shots of fresh air are found, for example, in the battles against the scene bosses. While the Guardians brought from the future are more unbearable than ever, battles against the heroes before securing their help in controlling the Divine Beasts guarantee some of the best moments of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, as well as a necessary change of style pushers the rest of the game. In these moments, the game begins to require a deep understanding of the mechanics presented so far, mainly in its higher difficulties.

Such elements, as well as the release of new characters in virtually every phase, come to remove a sense of repetition, as virtually all phases of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity involve the same actions. You will always face enemies and run to a certain point on the map, and so on, until you win a chapter and move on to the next.

Here is a big criticism of the map, sometimes confusing and with narrow passages that can lead the player on wrong paths. In the portable mode of the Switch this complication becomes even greater, but even on television the user will hit a lot, especially in the phases that have verticality and ascents or descents. The use of the scenario, however, is not very inventive and, as it will always be in a rush towards a goal, we will always take the longest path, without alternatives.

It’s not as if the Omega Force title was monotonous, but it clearly isn’t a title geared towards long gambling marathons. It’s about 12 hours of experience that involves this kind of somewhat repetitive mission, but with some different elements, and a good dose of cooling which, as fans of the genre often say, is also one of the central elements of musous in addition to the game mechanics themselves.

Beat, beat and beat

In this sense, a separate note is worth. Although Age of Calamity they portray a moment of tension and also have a plot, a contact from video clips inspired and with a beautiful look at the characters we know differently Breath of the Wild, his great motto is almost uncompromising fun and the pleasure of overwhelming large numbers of enemies using the powers of the characters.

This, of course, has its setbacks on the Switch, with a fair share of frame rate dips per second and scenarios building up before the player’s eyes. The console is doing its best to deliver the fast-paced action and huge amount of elements such a title requires, and it even manages to do so, despite the platform’s graphical limitations being quite evident.

The most important time to make it happen is in the transition between video clips and the gameplay itself, with a drastic reduction in visual effects, resolution and, above all, the beauty of character models and opponents. We have an exchange clearly in front of our eyes and, given the limitations, Omega Force has been able to do a good job, even if the necessary concessions are very evident.

Despite the graphic set, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity it lives up to its predecessor and even to itself Breath of the Wild, with the style that proves to be more and more suitable for each phase. The feeling is really of war, no matter how much we know the outcome of all this fighting, which doesn’t make the journey any less satisfying.

From Breath of the Wild, we knew this world would have so much more to present, and now we have the first concrete example of this. More than a starter for the sequence, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity it is an important episode in this wonderful mythical world and it can also end up serving as a door for many musicians to a less prestigious genre in this part of the world.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was released on November 20, 2020, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. To the Canaltech, the game has been analyzed in a digital copy kindly provided by Nintendo.