Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Critic Reviews

I do think that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will mean more to people who have played Breath of the Wild, and that's fine. For Zelda fans, there's no way they haven't played it anyway. For Musou fans coming to Age of Calamity from that angle, the sell's a little harder. The narrative that it weaves are great. The presentation is impeccable, and each and every one of the characters are fun to play with. It's just that where the original Hyrule Warriors felt like a love letter to the history and heritage of Zelda, Age of Calamity is more immediate, and that's just a little less of a celebration, though with the tradeoff being it actually contributes to the lore. For me, that's a worthwhile tradeoff, and I didn't even have the assumed knowledge going in.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, even with its technical issues, offers an extraordinary experience. The game takes us to this prequel full of twists, surprises, hope and sadness thanks to a plot and gameplay hardly surpassed by any other Zelda title.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a breath of fresh air compared to other Warrior installments and is worth playing if you loved Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The story, characters, and music are the best I’ve seen out of a Nintendo Warriors game in a long while. Even though the AI is severely lacking and multiplayer could use some improvements, it still is not enough to drag the game down from being the best Nintendo Warriors installment I’ve ever seen.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a masterpiece that you have to experience: a powerful adventure if you enjoyed The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild... Although you'll have to put up with its poor graphics.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a treat for both Warriors fans and those who adore The Legend of Zelda series. It may not have the puzzles of a traditional Zelda game, but it packs in an obscene amount of action to make up for it. Throw in a story that will have you gripped as well as the usual Zelda charm, and you have a game that will keep you glued to the screen for tens of hours.

Take a cornucopia of familiar Hyrule lands, add an absolutely fantastic soundtrack to each of them, and let a collection of amazing characters loose to tell a great story on the battlefield and off, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a game no Zelda or Musou fan should pass up.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a joy to see out 2020 while we wait for the next Zelda.

Age of Calamity is, for all intents and purposes, a prequel to Breath of the Wild. It might be a spin-off in a separate genre, but it’s clearly a labour of love, and the result is a thoroughly enjoyable romp through one of the most interesting periods of Hyrule. If the first game was a love letter to the Zelda series, this not only improves on this concept in every way, but stands as one of the best Zelda games, period.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity offers a welcome trip back to a world I’ve clocked hundreds of hours in. Its hugely varied roster of characters, solid combat mechanics, fun progression and clever adaptation of Breath of the Wild’s vision of Hyrule is a joy to play and discover. While there are some missed characterisation opportunities, Age of Calamity is still a blast from start to finish.

Where Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition had once offered a healthy dose of fan service, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity delivers meaningful storytelling and a worthy prequel expansion to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that is an absolute triumph which masterfully integrates its characters, world and gameplay systems.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has overcome the seemingly insurmountable task of respecting the IPs that it was based upon whilst also carving its own identity. It’s original, it’s inspired, and it’s a Game Of The Year contender.

It teems with little story beats I’m not allowed to talk about that will make long-time Zelda fans reel with excitement, and its fast-paced, punchy combat is brilliantly belligerent. I haven’t gotten into the art much, because you probably know from the trailer that it looks like Breath of the Wild, but for what it’s worth: it’s gorgeous. It gives voice and agency to a variety of excellent characters who deserved them, and I think its narrative is shaped with a sense of finesse that, on close consideration, is quite endemic to Zelda as a series. It’s just a shame that it’s held back by the only hardware it’s playable on, both in terms of input controllers and screen resolution.

The gameplay is addictive and offers us enough space to experiment. It may be the simplest and simplest Warriors of the entire genre, but it is accessible and will be liked by many people. Nintendo and Koei Tecmo have managed to create a great game to say goodbye to 2020.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a heck of a Warriors game and a fantastic love letter to Breath of the Wild and Zelda in general. Maybe Age of Calamity is a stop-gap to tide fans over until Breath of the Wild 2, but no effort was spared in making it a quality game.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a surprisingly deep pseudo-prequel to one of this generation's greatest games. A compelling story, fluid combat, and an interesting world will do more than enough to tide fans over until Breath of the Wild 2.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is an incredibly successfully follow-up to Hyrule Warriors, and in my opinion, it's the best Warriors title to date. It may lack the sheer unbelievable amount of content that Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition has, but what's available plays excellently enough that I didn't mind one bit. The only thing holding it back is the inconsistent frame rate and the innate repetitive nature of a Warriors game. If you liked Hyrule Warriors, Warriors games, or Breath of the Wild, then Age of Calamity is a must-have.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a true piece of art and very well done in a way that we can understand the relationships between the Zelda family, the champions and Link in facing this war against Calamity Ganon. Even those who are not familiar with the genre, I believe that this game is an invitation and takes the Warriors franchise to another level easily.

Every Breath of the Wild Fan should play this and, like myself, will love all the similarities to that specific game while even enjoying the enriched Warriors-like-gameplay.

Checking off the seemingly endless number of quests and challenges on the world map is just as satisfying as scrubbing out all the waves of red representing enemies on each level’s mini-map, and I found myself unwilling to set the game down even when the going got rough. Thankfully, all you really need going into Age of Calamity is a love of cleaving through armies and the patience to see its more monotonous segments through to their end. So long as you know what you’re getting into, it’s far more exhilarating than sluggish — and prior knowledge of Breath of the Wild isn’t among the necessities.

For me, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity succeeds on two separate fronts. This is a prequel with the narrative heft required for a game in the Zelda franchise. But, this is also a Musou/Warriors game that twists that formula into something unique and engaging. What emerges from this strange union is an experience unlike either set of source material. This is a final product content to carve a small slice out of a massive pie. Even if your interest is strictly in Zelda games or Warriors titles, you owe it to yourself to give this game a shot. You're certain to be quite pleasantly surprised by what Age of Calamity has to offer.