Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has done something that most Musou games haven’t done before, and that is to truly expand the limits of the genre. Each Dynasty Warriors game and its spin-offs are standard hack-and-slash affairs at this point, with each game even boiling down to the same conclusion of historical events.
The crossovers that Koei Tecmo’s Musou games have been making in the past few years saw some variation, though they still mostly functioned as Dynasty Warriors with an anime skin, evident with games like Dynasty Warriors: Gundam and One Piece: Pirate Warriors.
Thankfully, when the franchise crosses over with other video games, some mechanics and features are brought over as well, to varying results. The first Hyrule Warriors game served as a major celebration of the entire Zelda franchise, with each release on the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch adding more and more content.
The first Hyrule Warriors added giant bosses from the series, appearing on the field to wreak havoc and can only be defeated through the use of special items. There was also an extra mode that was a recreation of the very first Zelda’s in-game map, though gameplay still mostly relegated to defeating a certain amount of enemies and such.
The next two gaming crossovers was pretty interesting since they were both JRPG franchises, namely with Fire Emblem and Persona 5. Fire Emblem Warriors stuck true to the franchise by allowing players to issue tactical commands to NPCs and even used the weapon affinity system that allowed for the exploitation of the strengths and weaknesses of a character’s weapon. With Fire Emblem already being a series about war, this crossover was a natural fit and allowed players to really get into the action unlike anything before.
Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, on the other hand, still has not received a proper English-localisation just yet. But from what we can see from the game’s initial gameplay reveals, it successfully incorporates the Persona summoning system, on top of adding other elements to the hack-and-slash gameplay, like light platforming and stealth mechanics.
This brings us to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, a prequel to one of the most groundbreaking games in the Zelda series and the game that put the Nintendo Switch on the map, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This game has the heavy burden of depicting the downfall of Zelda and her Champions, with Gannon winning the war one hundred years ago.
And what a war it is, with the recently released demo showing off the forces of Hyrule and its allies fighting with all their might against Gannon’s ghastly forces. Players will get to experience first-hand how Zelda controls in battle, Link’s true might, and play as the other heroes fighting the same cause.
While the demo only allows players to try out two storyline missions and a handful of sidequests, it is more than enough to show off all the adaptations they have taken from Breath of the Wild’s physics-based gameplay and fused it with the Musou formula.
Players are able to use the Sheikah Slate to the fullest extent, being able to freeze enemies in place mid-combo, or use Magnesis to hurl giant metal boxes against them. The best part is, different characters will utilise the Sheikah Slate differently too.
For example, Link will use the Bomb like he does in Breath of the Wild, while Impa will manifest it as bomb barrels that will vacuum nearby enemies into its center, and Zelda is able to use the bomb remotely.
The way that the elemental rods react to the world is also intact, with players being able to start a fire around them or cast lightning on a metal object to cause a chain-reaction around them. It really makes sure that all the skills that players have accrued in Breath of the Wild is usable in Age of Calamity as well.
Lastly, the addition of the Flurry Rush in Age of Calamity really emphasises forward-thinking and taking things more defensively, instead of encouraging the players to blindly hack and slash their way across the battlefield.
Overall, we can’t wait for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and it is definitely a game that Nintendo Switch owners can’t miss out on when it releases on November 20.
