Phew, done. All that remains now is a huge map full of side quests to clear, and I’m happy to say I’m not touching any of it. What started as an enjoyable enough game grew into sheer tedium with a grind that even exceeds my love for a good grind fest. There isn’t enough variation or interesting content to keep me plugging away at post-game content.

Even though there is a large slate of characters to choose from, there’s not enough there that provides any real substance beyond a few combat novelties. The gameplay does the bare minimum to justify itself, and maybe not even that. By the end the game drags its heel through enemy after enemy that can be best described as lacking difficulty yet making it up for it via ridiculous health pools. Nothing is hard to kill, they are all just absolutely mind numbingly long and repetitive fights. The game literally forces you to repeat fights during the final chapter by pulling out the blood moon to resurrect annoying enemies you just killed

By the end of the game the map looks like a dog’s breakfast made up of icons. It’s an absolute mess that lacks any semblance of a user friendly UI. Have a look for yourself at this travesty that ruins the simple brilliance of BotW’s map:

It’s a joyless mass of joyless missions that lack depth and provide only a thankless grind.

Yet I enjoyed the story. I quite liked experiencing the alternative background events of the Calamity War. It’s nice to experience a version of the BotW history and take away more interactions between the principle characters. If anything it’s mostly worth it for every moment involving these two:

I don’t hate Age of Calamity, and I even had fun for a time but I have certainly learned that I don’t enjoy musou. I’m glad I played Age of Calamity, if for the story alone. Ok also maybe because I got to play as Impa and Urbosa which was fantastic. But I’m not sad to put this experience behind me and to move on to better things.

This was a game I've had for a while but never stuck with until recently- and I'm glad I did! Probably the biggest reason I stuck with it this time was because my son and I could play together- I had no idea it had split-screen coop until I was messing around in the menu. Even though the game ran noticeably worse with the screen split in half, the way we could work together made the game much more engaging than when I was just playing it on my own.

While this isn't a game that I would want to play for 100 hours, I really enjoyed the time I did have with the game. The characters were very unique in their gameplay styles, making the pretty repetitive main gameplay more interesting. The other really fun parts came from playing as the Divine Beasts and just destroying thousands of troops at a time! The Divine Beasts were also pretty varied and felt slow but strong to play. I think the number of missions in the main quest was just about perfect.

The main thing that I really didn't like was the mini-map upgrade system. Throughout the game, you collected items that you could use to unlock more powerful moves, more health, better weapons and cooking, or several other possibilities. The way that it was visually displayed on the map made it quickly overwhelming as the game went along, as the entire map was just full of dots that showed different things that could be upgraded. Beating one level to have 10 more dots added to the map was discouraging to say the least. It may make someone who's more of a completionist happy, but it just made me feel more overwhelmed as the game went along.

All said, recommending this game is a no-brainer if you can play it coop and especially if you like Dynasty Warriors and Zelda. Maybe soon I'll actually be ready to be BoTW :)

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is one of the most exciting Zelda experiences I can think of. That said, it does have its own set of issues that make it hard for me to want to revisit it anytime soon. But I would still recommend it to people who are into Breath of the Wild and Zelda as a whole.

Age of Calamity is the second game in Nintendo's sub-series in the Zelda franchise known as Hyrule Warriors. These spin-offs are based off the Dynasty Warriors series in terms of gameplay and structure. But it's just plopped into the Zelda Universe. The first Hyrule Warriors game was nothing more than a Dynasty Warriors clone with a bunch of Zelda references from across the series. However, Age of Calamity is set in Breath of the Wild. So it's a lot more condensed that way.

I'm not going to spoil the story because it's best to go into it blind. But it's important to know that the game is a prequel to Breath of the Wild. It takes place 100 years before the events of the game and it tells the story of the Calamity and how the events that led to Breath of the Wild happened.... Kinda... (I'll let you figure it out for those who haven't played it)

The music is among the best I've ever heard in a Zelda game. No joke. The soundtrack is absolutely incredible and something I'd listen to casually. The presentation and overall look of the game is great. I know a lot of if not all of the assets from Breath of the Wild are carried over. But It still looks great.

Now with gameplay. It's great. Each of the 16 playable characters are unique and fun to play as. (Especially Urbosa and Mipha). It's very satisfying to tear your way through enemies. However... It unfortunately gets very repetitive. The story is well written and performed in my opinion. But that and the gameplay kind of drags on for too long. I enjoyed both the story and gameplay all the way through. But the pacing of the game isn't the best and it eventually becomes numbing to play. I don't feel like revisiting it anytime soon which is a shame

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has a very grand story with fantastic music, moments, presentation, and gameplay. However, the game overstays its welcome and becomes very tiring to play after a while. That said, it is definitely worth the price and a game any Zelda fan should play. Just don't be surprised if the game begins to be a bit taxing

3/5

Would Recommend

I have enjoyed other dynasty games in the past, so I knew beforehand that I would not dislike this game. And I was right. At first glance, it is a button masher in a BOTW skin and on a second view it still is. There is definitely an audience for this game. I know of a couple of friends that enjoyed BOTW but would have liked it more with more focus on the combat system. And that is probably what this game does best: focus on the combat avoiding the inventory management part of BOTW. Here you just pick a weapon and start swinging. And while different, it actually gave me more insight on different things I could have done better I some BOTW fights or against certain enemies.

It is a grindfest, though, so be aware of that. There is a certain point in which you just know no more new enemies will appear and you will be right. More challenging scenarios after that will contemplate more enemies or less time to defeat everything.

Story wise, it was good but not great. It's not that the strengths of BOTW were in its story or plot, so it does not feel like an outsider.

I think it is not a game for everyone, but a game for some. And it was a game for me.

Zelda Calamity Warriors (Nintendo Switch)

Opening Act: 6/10

The opening sequence introduces several of the main characters including Link, Zelda (who most might be familiar with from this game’s predecessor Zelda Breath of the Wild (BOTW). The game’s side-kick, a mini-guardian is also introduced: this little guy is there to help the team but doesn’t communicate much (it blobs and bleeps and tries to help out like R2-D2 from Star Wars). Shortly after the game jumps into action as Link needs to jump into action to defend Hyrule from Gannon’s minions. The opening is strong because it’s brief and jumps into the fun action. Many players might have already played Breath of the Wild and don’t need a hook to get the gist of what is going on. But if players didn’t play Breath of the Wild they might find the “hook” to get the player interested a bit weak since the game’s setting builds off of BOTW.

Gameplay Loop: 6/10

The primary gameplay loop is to use link and/or companions to do beat-em-up on Gannon’s minions, then to rinse and repeat. Enemies have different fighting patterns. Link and allies have different fighting styles which changes things up, and each have access to magic-effects that are used to exploit some of the tougher enemies weaknesses.

Completing main missions advances the story, but there are several side-mission/battles to either test one’s skills, recruit new characters, collect items, and more. Since missions are all chosen from a large map-like grid of Hyrule, you can easily track progress and if interested sink extra time into being a completionist of all the content.

Battles themselves have a few main hooks. 1) beating up weak mobs / clearing the masses 2) you may find off the beaten path treasure chests or breakables, and also hidden koroks! 3) mini-bosses are strong mobs that can’t be easily killed without wearing down enemies “break gage” enabling you to do critical hit moves on them. Overall, you’ll learn most of the mechanics after a few missions. Playing as only link actually can get boring after a while which is a great reason to switch your main character since almost all main missions allow multiple party members.

Hand and Friendliness: 3/10

The main controller inputs in the game are fighting moves/combos. There is a huge variety of moves, they look good, and it’s fun. However, the maps teem with many enemies, some of which are tough, and so controller inputs are highly repetitive. In addition the main buttons but also shoulder buttons and camera panning is all required. Since a large number of inputs are required, repetitively, and with a need for rapid input, ~ it means you might feel some hand strain. I preferred to only do a few missions a day and break it up. The good news is that unlike challenging platformers, at least if you mess up your inputs the game is pretty forgiving.

Story: 6/10

The story is an homage to Zelda BOTW. The setting takes place in the “History” of BOTW, and reintroduces characters from those games. Players will find the story most interesting if they are fans of BOTW. The story on it’s own is amusing and straight forward, but it’s the Zelda game background and stories that make the storyline itself notable.

Sound: 7/10

The soundtrack draws on existing Zelda music IP and sound effects, and is very suitable for the game setting.

Overall Experience: 6/10 = Recommended (Worth the time)

The game has nice cut scenes, fun gameplay, and a memorable story, and many players will enjoy it. In addition the game has an easy mode AND allows players to entirely skip side quests, which don’t have any significant story add-ons. This means players can stay focused on the main mission, and also power through the story and game to get the full story experience if that is what they are looking for. I played the game for ~20 hours, I think many players could go on easy mode and complete it in less than 7-8 hours. Lastly, if you are a Zelda fan and also like Zelda lore, and learning more about the characters from Breath of the Wild, then this will also offer a lot of enjoyment for you.

1. The game doesn’t function
5. You may like it better than me
6. Recommended (Worth the time)
7. Highly Recommended (Fun)
8. Must-play (Fun plus unique)
9. Game-changing for the genre/Legendary/Enshrined
10. It feels like the 1st play through of A favorite game…

I did enjoy this game just not as much as I'd hoped to. It does wonderful service to Breath of the Wild and its characters but I also found it wanting in some places. Beat Em Ups are fine, I won't pretend they're my favorite but I still enjoy them from time to time.

Positives:

• Lots of character interactions from BOTW characters with voice acting.
• Plenty of missions and content.
• A diverse cast of characters gameplay wise, most of the characters play differently from one another.
• Easy to pick up and play with some of the smaller side missions.
• The art is enjoyable and if you liked BOTW you should appreciate this.

Negatives:

• Repetitive levels and gameplay.
• Weird camera angles during combat.
• Sometimes during a fight the terrain would stop you from moving or dodging. (This may be a negative of incorporating BOTW stuff so faithfully since I expect to be able to dodge or move over it)
• Performance issues. (I played this on the original switch and I often got frame drops which made the two issues above even more glaring)

Final Thoughts: If you want additional Zelda, Dynasty Warriors, or other Beat Em Up content you may enjoy. If you are looking forward to something that is "canon" to the Zelda story this is not it. Overall I did enjoy it but it took me a long time IRL to finish the game despite beating it with some side content, upgrades, etc. in between 25-30 hours (thanks Switch profile). I may return to the game, but probably in short bursts since the gameplay can get repetitive to me.