Have you ever had a day where you wished you could play a mash-up of games that you particularly enjoy? Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have the game for you! Hyrule Warriors is a mixture of the ever-popular Legend of Zelda series and the beat ‘em up version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dynasty Warriors. And it plays exactly as you might imagine it, Dynasty Warriors with a Legend of Zelda skin on it.
Considering the repetitive nature of the Warriors series, can a dose of Zelda make this game worth a purchase? Hit the jump to learn more!
Context
Some spoilers may be contained in this article. You’ve been warned!
The Legend of Zelda is almost synonymous with Nintendo. In fact, it is maybe as iconic as Nintendo’s very own mascot Mario. The Zelda series is beloved by Nintendo fans and non-Nintendo fans alike. In fact, if you were to look up Nintendo’s new figurine line, Amiibo, you’d find out that Link, the lead character of the Zelda series is the top selling figurine. Mind you, these figurines aren’t even out yet and Link is still the top selling one.
Figurines aside, Zelda is a force to be reckoned with and is geared towards a wide audience, whereas the Warriors series is focused towards a much smaller niche market. Combining the two franchises is like combining “Breaking Bad” with BBC’s “Sherlock,” with Benedict Cumberbatch trying to catch the elusive Heisenberg. (I really want this show now. Make it happen, internet!) My point is, the two franchises have a distinct style, and might not mash up well with one another.
As with any title in the Warriors franchise, Hyrule Warriors uses a simplistic control scheme that consists of regular attacks, combo attacks, special moves, and dodge rolls all mapped to the YXBA buttons. In addition to those buttons, there’s the L button for targeting, ZL for blocking, R for unleashing your focus energy, and ZR for using your sub-weapon. Speaking of which, to select a sub-weapon you could either cycle through them with the D-pad by hitting left or right. Or just by touching the screen on the gamepad to select which sub-weapon you’d want to use.
Luckily, Hyrule Warriors mixes the best parts of its sources. There’s a Zelda storyline and Zelda staples like sub-weapons (bombs, a bow with arrows, boomerang, hookshot), empty bottles that could be filled with a fairy or potion to restore health, and hordes of bad guys to defeat in the Warriors games. Of course this doesn’t all translate to a perfect game, there are some problems with Hyrule Warriors. But overall it’s a delightful experience.
What I liked:
This game bleeds nostalgia. I’ve been a fan of the Zelda series since I played my first Zelda game (Link’s Awakening), and because of that I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Link and his many adventures to rescue or aid Zelda. And though I haven’t played every Zelda game out there, I do admit that the series has become a bit iterative over time. Although, to be fair, the same could be said about the Warriors series as well.
Putting these two together probably shouldn’t work as well as it does, but the second I saw the first trailer for Hyrule Warriors I was on board.
Getting a chance to see characters like Impa and Midna make a return is something that made the heart of my inner child smile. Mostly because Twilight Princess was and still is my overall favorite Zelda game of all time, but also because this was the first time characters from different Zelda games got to meet each other. Granted the game mostly focuses on the Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, but it does throw a shout-out to the original Legend of Zelda in the form of “Adventure Mode”.
In “adventure mode,” you’re presented with a map based off of the original Legend of Zelda map and broken down into tiles. Each time you choose a tile you are dropped into an area and are tasked with various objectives to complete before your 8-bit character avatar can proceed to a new tile on the map.
This mode is where the real challenges lie. Each tile’s mission has certain restrictions that range from only using a character that has water-based attacks like Impa. Or you have to defeat 300 enemies in a certain amount of time. It’s a really fun mode to jump into after you’ve completed the story for Hyrule Warriors. And the best part is that you can unlock playable characters and new weapons for certain characters in this mode. So it really wouldn’t hurt to play “adventure mode” concurrently with the “story mode.”
And of course, once you beat “adventure mode” and “story mode,” you could also go on to “free mode.” This mode is basically your chance to run around as whatever character you want, complete objectives and defeat a bunch of dudes for funsies. There are no real consequences in this mode as it is purely just for enjoying the combat, characters, and environments. You don’t even have to worry about a story.
Speaking of story, did I mention that this game actually has a really good story even when you consider the kind of game Hyrule Warriors is? Because it’s actually great. It starts off fairly quickly but you’re left with no questions about it. Everything is pretty straightforward. An evil army comes to attack Hyrule, and Zelda (Xena?), the warrior Princess, commands the armies of Hyrule to fight back. Impa is Zelda’s first lieutenant and Link is a random soldier who is destined to be the legendary hero. You meet a good sorceress who informs you about a bad sorceress who is the one that’s attacking with an evil army. Dimensions get fused together, you meet old friends from past Zelda games, somebody gets betrayed, and so on. The point is, the story is fun and is great for the game you’re playing.
Another thing that’s great is the soundtrack, which mostly consists of remixed versions of classic Zelda themes. And since this is a Warriors game at heart, the music is either orchestrated or made into a rock song. So while you’re defeating moblins, you can be jamming out to a rock version of “Saria’s Song,” or a sweet remix of the “Gerudo Valley Theme.”
What I didn’t like
Unfortunately, not everything is perfect about Hyrule Warriors.
First and foremost, after about four hours of playing the game in one sitting, I started to become very weary of the repetitive combat. At the beginning of the game, your unlocked characters have severely limited access to extended combos. So this would often result in using the same combo over and over again because it was the most effective. Of course, you could always use the other ones but then you’d find yourself fighting in a particular area a lot longer than you would have if you used the better one.
Of course, this is only compounded by the fact that in order to unlock longer combos, you have to fight more bad guys. This means you have to continually use the same tired combo against specific enemies that could drop the materials necessary to upgrade your character. But you can only access the upgrades after you’ve beaten the level that you’re on.
And having to collect randomly dropped items to upgrade a particular character might be one of the most annoying things ever. Say your favorite character is Link and you want to upgrade him. You’d have to collect certain scales from a certain enemy, but unfortunately you don’t fight that kind of enemy in the level you’re currently fighting in so you’d have to deal with another round of using your un-upgraded Link on a level that does have that enemy on it.
As I got further into the game, I began to enjoy the combat more and more as I began to unlock longer combos for my characters. And I was having a fantastic time with every character I had unlocked up until that point.
But then I had to play Fi, from Skyward Sword. I’ve never been a huge fan of Skyward Sword to begin with, I understood that it was the swansong of the original Wii, so of course it had to make every use of the Wiimote’s motion controls. But in the end I felt it was just too gimmicky of a control scheme. (On a side-note, I enjoyed the story at least.) Anyway I’m not sure what it is, but I really did not like the time I spent playing as Fi.
(Granted, I didn’t like her as a character in Skyward Sword either.)
Now this one might be a weird thing to say, but I love playing games on hard difficulty levels. So with every new mission I unlocked in the story mode, I threw it onto hard mode on my initial play-through of the game. And it turns out that even though I put the game on hard mode, it still felt really easy. Now I realize that might just stem from my above complaint of being forced to use the most effective combo possible in every situation. But even when I fought generals, characters that are stronger than normal minions and captains, the battles devolved into the same scenarios every time. I’d approach the general, he or she would attack, I would dodge and attack them while they were off guard.
And not once did I lose a fight against a general! Mind you, even as you’re fighting a general, there are still lesser enemies still crowding around you and they were still super ineffective. I understand that this is just how the Warriors games are, but I would love for there to be harder difficulties available right from the get go.
Speaking of ridiculously easy fights, there are a handful of boss fights in this game and they are just one big joke. There are four bosses that you’ll encounter during the course of the story mode, and they are all easily taken out once you acquire a specific sub-weapon. In this instance, the game feels like a Zelda game again. You find a particular sub-weapon in a particular level and you use said weapon to defeat the boss. Granted you’re always treated to satisfying finishing moves against the bosses but that in no way makes up for how frustratingly easy those fights are.
Conclusion
There is plenty to love in Hyrule Warriors, and there is also plenty to hate. But the the good greatly outweighs the bad. It was fantastic playing through a different type of Zelda game for a change. Though Hyrule Warriors still succumbs to some of the problems that standard Zelda games encounter, it’s still a Warriors game at it’s heart with a sweet Zelda veneer. And with Nintendo’s new policy on downloadable content, it seems that we’ll be getting more playable characters and costumes. So once you beat the game there’s still something to look forward to.
Ultimately, Hyrule Warriors proves to be a love letter from to all Zelda fans as it not only acknowledges the infamous Zelda timeline, but it also reunites us with some old friends. And though the game is clearly not perfect, or canon for that matter, it’s a fun side-story that gives Zelda fans a little something different from what they’re used to.
Hyrule Warriors is out now for the Nintendo Wii U. Are you going to get it? Do already own it? Tell us how you feel in the comments section!
