Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

[Nester the Lark]

Yes! Yes! Yes!



Coming November 20.

...I get the feeling this video was originally recorded for a Nintendo Direct.

EDIT:

The stand-alone version of the trailer teases another update on September 26.

[nocturnal YL]

I just looked away for half an hour and we've got this announcement!? Whoa.

Pre-apocalyptic Hyrule is a nice idea. It achieves multiple things once, both telling the story 100 years ago and works around the fact that the world in BotW is a mostly dead one.

EDIT — Actually, now that I think of it, does this mean the story is already doomed, with the heroes destined to lose? Are we going to witness the downfall of the Champions?

[Leon]

This is really cool. It shows that Nintendo has a lot of faith in KT if they're being allowed to create a prequel to the most successful game in the franchise.

[Nester the Lark]

Nintendo announced that the amiibo of the four champions are being restocked, so that suggests that the game will have some amiibo functionality. (Please let me scan in Wolf Link!)

Also, the ladle and pot lid will be a bonus for pre-ordering the digital version, and may be available for purchase as DLC later, so there will likely be other DLC, as well. The original Hyrule Warriors on Wii U had amazing post-launch support (even if, ultimately, it ended up with less content than later re-releases), so hopefully it'll be a season pass like that.

Sept 8, 2020 9:50:22 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

Actually, now that I think of it, does this mean the story is already doomed, with the heroes destined to lose? Are we going to witness the downfall of the Champions?

It's kind of like Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country. As a prequel, it could only end one way, and while it was devestating, it was also hopeful. It's one of the most memorable and emotional game endings I've experienced in recent years. I can see Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity being something like that.

Sept 8, 2020 12:39:34 GMT -5 Leon said:

This is really cool. It shows that Nintendo has a lot of faith in KT if they're being allowed to create a prequel to the most successful game in the franchise.

It also means that a Hyrule Warriors game will be a canon part of the Zelda time line. Not many spin-offs achieve that.

[Nester the Lark]

New trailer from TGS Online:



So, people who played Breath of the Wild on Switch will get a free DLC item. Those of us who played on Wii U... nothing.

And what about all these stupid amiibo I have? Do they do anything? (Probably not.)

Grumpiness aside, young Impa!

[Nester the Lark]

New teaser trailer featuring young Robbie and young/older Purah.



I hope this means they're playable. I really want Robbie to have some kind of air guitar move.

And Purah looks like she might be the Lana of the game: a little off tone, but still a fun character.

[Nester the Lark]

Here's the Treehouse Live coverage.



+ Weapons don't break!
+ Clothing options!
- Koroks...

[Nester the Lark]

Another short trailer:



This one doesn't seem to reveal anything too exciting. Hestu is back, and we can hear some of the new voice acting.

I assume the same voice cast from Breath of the Wild is coming back.

[Nester the Lark]

So, I finished the demo. It's a bit short with only two main missions and one side mission. There are three playable characters: Link, Impa, and Zelda. There are also four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard.

The thing that stood out to me was that Link basically has the same combos as in the original Hyrule Warriors, so it instantly felt familiar. I like that something carried over.

Anyway, I guess I have three weeks to play those three missions over and over, and grind Link, Zelda, and Impa to max level.

[Nester the Lark]

Unfortunately, the game seems to have leaked early. (This seems to be a normal thing now.) And even though the game hasn't officially launched, Nintendo has released a launch trailer:



On a side note, I'll be interested to see how the time travel aspect plays out. Seems like it could be a creative twist to telling a prequel story.

[Leon]

I have to say, I find the character movesets a lot more fun than in the previous game. Some characters I dreaded using like Fi or Agitha, but so far all the characters I've unlocked are really fun.

[Nester the Lark]

Finally got my copy delivered, but haven't gotten started on it yet.

Based on the demo, tho, I enjoyed playing as Zelda more than I thought I would. It was a little awkward at first because she fights using only the Sheikah Slate (don't know if she has any other weapons in this game), but once I got used to it, I found it to be really fun in that wacky Hyrule Warriors kind of way.

[Nester the Lark]

So, I've been playing a lot of Age of Calamity this past week. This is the only other Warriors game I've played since the first Hyrule Warriors. While I was really looking forward to playing it, I was concerned that it wouldn't have the same appeal for me as the original. One of the things I loved about the original was the Smash Bros-like mishmash of Zelda elements from across the entire series. Obviously, I didn't expect that to be the case with Age of Calamity being themed only after Breath of the Wild. Also, the lack of the original's expansive adventure modes made me wonder if the content would be limited.

But I've been quite hooked on the game, nevertheless. There certainly doesn't seem to be a lack of content, and if the theme feels somewhat limited, it's more the fault of Breath of Wild than Age of Calamity (specifically in terms of enemy variety). I've been playing through the game methodically, doing all the side content before moving on with the story.

I'm impressed how Nintendo kept most of the story a secret beyond the initial stages of the game. I've been trying to avoid spoilers, although a few things have slipped by. It's gone off in some interesting directions, and also feels a little like fan fiction (in a good way). I'm looking forward to finding out if/how the story will even fit into Breath of the Wild when all's said and done.

I will say, though, I don't really care for the parts where you play as the divine beasts. I understand that they add some gameplay variety, but I just don't find them that much fun.

I'm also disappointed that I can't unlock the legacy Link costumes with my amiibo like I could in Breath of the Wild. I don't see any reason why every costume from BotW (yes, even Rex's salvager suit) can't also be available in AoC, but maybe it will be DLC. (And yes, I know about [spoilers], since it appears on the map. Also, it was carelessly used as a YouTube thumbnail.)

Anyway, these are my impressions so far. It's been great to revisit the world of Breath of the Wild in a new context.

[Nester the Lark]

I've now finished the main story. I actually really enjoyed it, and it really kept me engaged. It was quite a contrast to the minimal storytelling in Breath of the Wild, but it was great to see all the characters get more of a chance to shine. It was really satisfying.

I also want to say that the music in this game is really phenomenal. The soundtrack for the original Hyrule Warriors never really stood out to me. The music in Breath of the Wild is very low-key, but it's really pretty and works for the atmosphere of the game. Age of Calamity manages to capture the feel of Breath of the Wild's music, but embellishes it into something much fuller and more substantial. It's easily one of the best Zelda soundtracks I've heard in quite a while, if not ever. I absolutely love it!

[EDIT: Just noticed that Kumi Tanioka, of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles fame, was one of the game's composers! The others I'm not familiar with, though.]

I'll be working on post-game content now.

[Nester the Lark]

I finished all the post-game content a few days ago. Been replaying the story missions on the hardest difficulty (and with blood moons, when possible).

But how about a little spoiler talk?

Story spoilers for end-of-game, but not post-game, content:

SPOILER: Click to show

So, this game seems to represent an alternate timeline, since it subverts the events prior to Breath of the Wild, and goes off in its own direction. I've seen some people disappointed with that, but I didn't have a problem with it because multiple timelines already exists in the Zelda series. This is just the first game to overtly acknowledge it, as well as the first to have characters from one timeline cross over into another.

I've also seen people say that the game isn't canon because it's an alternate timeline, but I don't think that's the case either. Age of Calamity doesn't retcon Breath of the Wild because the Champions' successors (Riju, Sidon, Teba, and Yunobo) go back to their own future (in their own timeline) at the end.

It does make me wonder if there will be any acknowledgement of Age of Calamity in the the sequel to Breath of the Wild from the Champions' successors.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story in Age of Calamity. I think it's one of the stronger narratives in the Zelda series (helped in no small part by all the fully-voiced cutscenes).