Stop. I see that look on your face. You’re getting excited for a new Zelda game, aren’t you? Well wipe that smile off yer face, ye spineless dastard. This ain’t your typical namby-pamby stroll through Hyrule. This is Hyrule Warriors, and if you’re not prepared to wallop bokoblins by the dozen and shed more blood than every previous Zelda combined, then maybe this isn’t the game for you. We do allow scarves, however, because scarves are retro-cool. Nothing says “tough guy” like a flowing blue scarf.
Gamers have known about Hyrule Warriors for nearly a year now, and during that time Nintendo has taken every opportunity to build hype and excitement for its bizarre Koei Tecmo-developed Zelda offshoot. There was even an awesome fan event and get-together at PAX Prime, with feel-good vibes so strong I almost forgot that Hyrule Warriors isn’t actually a new mainline Zelda game. After all, what could be better than a gathering of fans passionate about one of gaming’s most beloved franchises? After PAX I was drunk on Zelda-love, but when I came home and booted up my review copy of Hyrule Warriors, I sobered up real quick. It’s not a bad game by any means. But it doesn’t feel all that much like Zelda.
The differences in gameplay are no surprise, and both Eiji Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto have been upfront since the beginning about what Hyrule Warriors is: the gameplay of Dynasty Warriors, in the world of Zelda. It’s almost funny in a way; when you look at the games Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja have worked on in the past, the strengths and weaknesses are pretty consistent. Awesome pre-rendered movies, amazingly high-poly character models, adrenaline-fueled nonstop action — check. What about glitchy AI, weird recurring bugs, and horrendously blurry background textures? Yup, all accounted for. Houston, we can confirm. This is indeed a Team Ninja project.
I’ll start with the good stuff, and the truth is that once you adjust to KT’s slightly sterilized version of Hyrule, there’s still a whole lot to like. If you haven’t played a Dynasty Warriors game before, the premise is reasonably easy to understand. Levels are comprised of massive battle scenarios, each containing individual missions, bosses, items, foes, and objectives. Each fight has its own conditions for victory, and winning usually requires both defending your Allied Base and either defeating a particular enemy or preventing a particular ally from retreating. In the Eldin Caves scenario, for example, it is required that Link assist and defend Impa, defeat the “scorching berserker” Volga, and lead Hyrulean forces to victory. Actually, the ultimate goal of every fight is to seize enough enemy forts and keeps to ensure a Hyrulean win (thus progressing the game’s story), and the sooner you realize this, the quicker you’ll adapt.
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The first few scenarios I played left me feeling a bit bewildered at times, and between missions I’d often just wander, aimlessly slaying enemy hordes as I waited for the game’s next obvious direction. Over time, I began to understand the mechanics that determine the ebb and flow of battle, and suddenly I went from having nothing to do between missions to having way too much on my plate. Any scrap of downtime can be used to advance your strategy, be it seizing the keeps and smaller outposts around your base to ensure its safety when a mission pulls you away, or visiting already-claimed territories to max out your health and magic meters. Each keep has a health meter that when depleted triggers the appearance of a boss; once taken out, the keep turns blue on the map and becomes Hyrulean property. Of course, territories can be gained and lost repeatedly throughout battle, and it’s this almost RTS-like management of troops, keeps, and ally well being that I enjoyed the most in Hyrule Warriors. In a strange twist, the most immersive aspects of this Zelda game are the extremely “gamey” mechanics that comprise it. Regardless of which character you choose, you can’t help but role play commander, and doing so is incredibly enjoyable.
Enough dirty details, though — let’s talk combat. If you’ve watched YouTube videos, you might think that Hyrule Warriors’ combat is a load of shallow hack n’ slashing, and I can’t exactly prove you wrong if you feel that way. Each character has two weapon types to choose from, and each of these types have two separate sets of button combos for executing melee maneuvers. These sets are identical across all characters, and though I thought this might be limiting at first, I soon realized that it’s absolutely the right call. As such, you can hop into battle with each character you unlock and become effective immediately. If you want to actually strategize and choose your attacks with care, you’ll need to begin memorizing.
Regardless of how in-depth you decide to go, there are overarching strategies that apply to all enemies you’ll eventually face, and mastering them is the key to success. Different foes expose their weaknesses at different points in their attack cycle, and if you can learn to reliably trigger said weakness, a circular meter appears. Hammer an enemy’s weakness and deplete the meter, and he’ll often be dispatched in one fell swoop, albeit an inanely absurd and over-the-top one. Personally I’m a fan of these, and no matter how many times I witness it, I’ve yet to tire of Midna balling her hair into a giant fist and clobbering Zant in the face. It would never happen so brazenly in an actual Zelda game, and that’s precisely why it’s so amazing. If you’re familiar with Twilight Princess’s story, then you’ll appreciate that it’s also quite poetic.
Unfortunately, awesome KOs aren’t the only Hyrule Warriors quirks that wouldn’t appear in a Nintendo-made Zelda, and despite the positives I’ve listed thus far, the game is ridden with strange (and sometimes continuously occurring) issues. Take the Hyrulean soldiers who accompany you for nearly every fight. With the exception of captains who operate more like fellow warriors (Impa, Sheik and your other companions are actually quite competent on their own), Link’s infantry have a nasty habit of standing around and doing absolutely nothing. It’s not just when there are no foes around, either. This happens during boss battles. About halfway through a fierce and trying encounter with Gohma, I realized that I was quite literally the only one actually fighting the monster. Hundreds of Hyrulean soldiers surrounded me, but they were simply dawdling or standing in a motionless attack pose. It wasn’t a glitch, but rather a reflection of how the game consistently operates, and once noticed such things unfortunately cannot be unseen. I found this incredibly distracting and immersion-breaking throughout the course of the game, and the reason for soldiers behaving in such a way remains a mystery. Once a boss is felled and objectives change, the motionless manakins spring back to life and begin commuting across the field as planned, but by then the damage is already done.
Similarly, I encountered a number of bugs that–though not game-breaking in any way–proved rather distracting and unfortunate. In multiple instances I would open a chest, only to have the classic item-discovery theme abruptly cut off and replaced with silence. In another case, a massive spire that was meant to be destroyed as part of a mission inexplicably vanished in an odd array of flickering pixelation. Despite the fact that character models look fantastic, the game suffers from a consistent lack of polish elsewhere, including blurry environment textures and odd behaviors of certain enemies. When I defeated Midna while playing as Lana (the Twilight Princess resists before joining you), a conversation ensued between the two characters. Text boxes with portraits indicated that dialogue was occurring, but when I looked to the battlefield, Midna lay face down in the dirt, lifeless. I don’t mean to nitpick, but it felt odd chatting with a character who resembled a lifeless corpse when I knew she was alive and well. I can’t even begin to guess whether or not this is a glitch of a lack of effort, but either way I found it irksome.
Alas, like the Hero of Time himself, Hyrule Warriors finds a way to rise above its flaws, and by the time I completed the single player campaign I couldn’t help but feel pleased. The plot is incredibly goofy, but is adorned by gorgeous pre-rendered cutscenes the likes of which Zelda has never come close to in the past — at least from a technical standpoint. Additionally, the wackiness of the narrative makes for a great excuse to tour the locales of Zelda’s most famous entries, including the Twilight Realm, Skyloft, Death Mountain, and more. If you’re somebody who is new to the series, Hyrule Warriors simulates an odd form of Zelda window-shopping. Take a quick tour of Hyrule’s multidimensional history, see what you find interesting, and select from a library of superb games from there. Nearly every Zelda can be played on either Wii U or 3DS, so the odds of this happening for some players are actually pretty high.
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The last thing I ought to touch on is Hyrule Warriors’ impressively massive roster, and though each character’s in-game representation doesn’t necessarily capture the Zelda magic attached to him or her in the first place, I was thoroughly impressed by the variety and uniqueness of special moves when switching between warriors. Oddly enough, I found myself using Link the least; the character referred to as Link here just doesn’t feel like somebody who would actually become the chosen hero. Shockingly, the character I enjoyed playing most was the Koei Tecmo original Lana, a white sorceress closely tied to main antagonist Cia. Her Deku wand is a joy to whack against the skulls of enemies, while the pages of her magical tomes swirl like frenzied origami as she casts various spells and offensive enchantments. Everyone will have his own favorite fighter, and I found Midna and Fi to be awesome runners-up for the title. Regardless, Hyrule Warriors’ roster is stacked with great options, and the variety it provides is probably its biggest strength. And yes, if you’re wondering, playing as Ganondorf feels incredibly invigorating. It’s best if you discover and enjoy that for yourself.
As the first entirely new Zelda for Wii U, Hyrule Warriors doesn’t appeal to your emotions. It won’t make you laugh or cry like Zelda titles so often do, nor will it give you that warm rush of proud accomplishment when you do something right. It is a singular game in the series’ repertoire, though, and if you’ve ever found yourself wishing Nintendo would lighten up a bit and give fans something to play while waiting for the next game, your wish has been doubly and triply granted here. There are extra modes too, including Free Mode, Challenge Mode, and Adventure Mode, all of which offer up unique experiences. The latter’s 8-bit charm proves to be an especially fun (if limited) diversion, and if nothing else demonstrates that KT and Team Ninja did their homework. This game truly was made by Zelda fans.
Series producer Eiji Aonuma stated in an interview that Hyrule Warriors is akin to Marvel’s The Avengers, and I think it’s a fantastic comparison. If we’re honest, there is no clever explanation for why Zelda’s all-stars have all appeared in one game, and the mildly interesting narrative does little to change that. Instead, treat this as something designed purely to entertain. Pre-Hyrule Warriors, I didn’t go around discussing how cool it would be if Midna and Ghirahim could face off in an epic battle of cross-dimensional proportions. It felt too nerdy. Hyrule Warriors not only approves such fantasies but champions them, and for better or worse, you won’t have to imagine the results any longer. I don’t know about you, but that’s a premise I can absolutely get behind.
Griffin Vacheron is an Associate Editor for CraveOnline. You can follow him on Twitter @novacav.
Copy provided by publisher. Hyrule Warriors is exclusive to Wii U.
