Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Review (Nintendo Switch)

No review code used, I purchased the game myself.

Are you a Zelda fan and have you tried out the demo for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity? If not and you want to know more you can check out Paige’s thoughts on the demo. After playing the demo myself I knew I was going to buy the game when it was released. That is exactly what I did, so let’s have a look at what the game holds in store for fans of the franchise.

Hyrule Warriors Age Of Calamity. LadiesGamers — Link in action

A Musou Game

This is the second instalment in the Hyrule Warriors franchise, a Musou game (which means, a beat-em-up, hack and slash game) where players face huge hordes of enemies at once. If you think of Dynasty Warriors, but with Zelda characters and Zelda enemies rather than other enemies, you’ll have the right idea.

So a Warriors game solely based on The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. With the characters, locations, the story and the strategic hack ‘n slash action of the Warriors franchise. It’s set 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild, meaning fans can finally see how the events discussed in Link’s most recent adventure went down.

Calamity Ganon is Causing Trouble Again

In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Calamity Ganon is on the verge of rising again! Link and his fellow warriors scramble to do what they can to prevent the resurrection. Princess Zelda sets out to find the four Champions, of the Goron, Ruto, Zora, and Gerudo races who can pilot the gigantic Divine Beasts. And Link is tasked with defending Princess Zelda as she gathers the champions. The story is fed to you between segments where Link and his companion warriors send wave after wave of enemies to their deaths. And It does fill in a few of Breath of the Wild’s gaps from the storyline.

Familiar Hyrule Map

You’ll fight through battles scattered across Hyrule’s map. Battles that are both large set pieces with multiple stages that advance the plot and smaller side missions that help build up your characters and resources. If you have played BOTW you’ll feel right at home since it all takes place on the same Hyrule map. Though this time it’s filled with hoards of enemies and side missions to do. Not only are there dozens of side missions, but there are shops and character upgrades to unlock with the spoils you collect during battles.

Inflict Light and Heavy Attacks

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity sticks to the light and heavy attack combos you’d expect from a Warriors game. But it also adds an abundance of other ways to dispatch your foes along with them. Using the power of the Sheikah Slate, you can unleash all the abilities you remember from Breath of the Wild on a cool-down timer.

You can fling remote bombs at the hordes of enemies or find a metal box and use Magnesis to swing the metal box into the rampaging hordes. There’s Stasis, which keeps enemies stationary so you can send them careering off into the yonder. And finally, you can use Cryonis to summon ice to stop an enemy charge, or even freeze them if they’re standing in a body of water.

In among the hordes of weaker enemies, there is usually a stronger enemy that requires stronger hits to take them down. After inflicting enough damage on theses enemies, a hexagon Weak Point Meter appears and you can go to town on them. Using combos you can pound the meter down to get a Weak Point attack and if your lucky and done enough damage you can finish them off. You can dodge oncoming attacks with perfect timing and counter with a time-slowing flurry attack.

Play as Other Characters

You will also get to play as other characters besides Link. Such as Impa, Zelda and all the guardians, each with their own weapons. For example, Zelda uses the Shiekah Slate you can call up more specific versions of each of the different Runes. Her attacks use a variety of Remote Bombs, Magnesis, Stasis, and Cryonis. Even her normal combo has her pull up a metal box in Magnesis, create a Cryonis platform that shatters, and lash out at enemies with Stasis chains.

The Divine Beasts Vah Medoh, Vah Ruta, Vah Rudinia and Vah Naboris all make an appearance. This time you’ll get to wield their mighty power, wiping out groups of enemies with laser blasts. Like each champion, each Divine Beast operates differently. They can be a little awkward to control, however, I had a blast when I was wiping out the groups of enemies using the Divine Beasts.

Instant Swap between Characters

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity moves through a series of chapters in each battle, each with a different set of objectives and enemies that make the pace pretty fast. You’ll be using strategy to direct the other characters around the map and have to think quickly to plug holes. You can directly control one character at a time but can swap between four instantly, using the D-pad. The ones that you’re not controlling you can give commands to. Such as, if a particular area is about to fall while you’re busy tackling another urgent objective. Using the map you can direct one or all three of the other heroes to hold the line and protect the area until you’re able to personally focus on it.

Costumes to Unlock and More

Between the story missions, you can try out the side battles. These are mainly single objectives for a particular character and consist of small battles which you get loot and rewards from. Costumes are unlocked as you progress the game and food items collected during battles can be used to cook with. Food in turn gives you perks which you can select based on the location and enemies you expect to encounter. Weapon crafting at the blacksmith allows you to forge weapons together to improve their stats. Koroks are back as well, so you can spend some time hunting for them as well.

There is certainly plenty to keep you busy between killing the hordes of enemies and the side missions. Fans of BOTW should feel right at home in the surroundings of Hyrule which looks and sounds like the Hyrule from BOTW. I loved BOTW and I’ve played the previous Warrior games too. I’m enjoying my visit back to the world of Hyrule immensely and seeing all the characters again from the game. And letting loose in the battles with a decent weapon that doesn’t break!

Visuals and Controls

There is no denying the fact that the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity demo had a frame rate issues and while the full game is better they haven’t disappeared completely. It can be noticeable when there is a mass of enemies on screen and a lot going on, but it is a vast improvement on the demo. Personally, it doesn’t bother me as there is so much going on that I’m concentrating on killing enemies and having so much fun.

Controls work like a dream, responsive and intuitive which is all any gamer wants from a control system. As for the music, voice acting and sounds effects, again these are familiar to those of us that have played BOTW. All the usual sound effects and voice acting with, mostly, the same actors from the BOTW are recreated in the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. This may turn out to be another soundtrack I get hooked on as I did with BOTW.

Conclusion

While a sequel is in the works for BOTW there is no clear release date as yet. If you’re hankering after a Zelda fix, Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity delivers great storytelling and provides an exciting new adventure. It is an addictive fighting game and offers enough space to experiment with different characters.

As for Musou fans who haven’t played BOTW, try out the demo before you decide to buy. Since your save file is carried over to the game from the demo you have nothing to lose if you do decide to buy.

After playing Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity I’ve got an urge to play BOTW again. I’m sure like a lot of gamers who have played Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity they are feeling exactly the same way!

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up