Title: Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Omega Force/Team Ninja
Publisher: Nintendo (NA and EU)/Koei Tecmo (JP)
Release Date: March 18th, 2018 (NA)
ROM File Size: 12.9GB
Hyrule Warriors is a crossover between the Zelda series, and the Dynasty Warriors series created by Koei. More specifically, it’s a Dynasty Warriors game, but with the theme of The Legend of Zelda. Dynasty Warriors is a series that features what can be called a 1 vs 1000 kind of game. You play as a general, and you hack and slash your way through MANY soldiers in bunches and such. Hyrule Warriors is no different in this regard. Is the game a hack, or does it slash its way into your heart? Let’s find out!
The beginning of the first mission with Link in his BOTW outfit.
Hyrule Warriors was originally released for Wii U back in 2014 and featured many familiar Zelda characters and landscapes from across the entire franchise. Soon after it got a 3DS port called Hyrule Warriors Legends which added more characters, missions, and locations. The characters of which were also released for the Wii U version (for a price, but with a code in the 3DS box, you could get them on Wii U for free). Fast forward to 2018 and the Wii U version was brought to the Switch, but now with ALL of the additional content of the 3DS version.
The game features characters from multiple games in the Zelda franchise as said. They include Link (GASP), Zelda, Shiek, Impa, Ganondorf, Toon Link, Skull Kid, Fi, Durunia, Ghirahim, etc. Plus a few all-new characters; Lana, Cia, and the female-Link-like character with the adorable name; Linkle! There’s a lot of characters to choose from and each have their own weapons of choice with various play-styles and special attacks.
Wait a minute…
The gameplay is your typical hack and slash kind of fare. You run around, hit the Y button repeatedly to attack enemies (of which there can be seemingly a hundred at once). You have special abilities that activate with other buttons, such as the X button for Link to use his famous spin attack. The A button unleashes a powerful super move that clears a big chunk of enemies in the way and is different depending on the character. Link for instance does a massive spin attack in a straight line in the direction he’s facing, while Impa will do a giant slash across a large area horizontally. This attack uses energy you gain by defeating enemies until a bar is filled which then empties upon activation.
There are quote a few modes to play in. The main story mode (called Legend Mode) has you going through missions one at a time with specific characters as you try to defeat Cia, the new villain debuting in the game. There’s also an adventure mode where you select missions in 8-bit maps inspired by the original The Legend of Zelda on the NES. These missions have goodies to earn such as weapons and heart containers for characters, as well as item cards that are used to find new rewards in missions by completing a puzzle on the mission select screen. One example is using a candle to burn a specific bush that will reveal a new A Rank reward that gives you a heart container for Link if you get an A rank while playing as Link.
Lana collecting a Piece of Heart.
Weapons are a very important element in the game, not just due to, you know, needing to use them, but also because you can unlock new ones of various ranks and passive abilities. For example, Link’s default weapon can have zero stars, or up to five. Each star beefs the strength up I think by 8? Each weapon can have up to four slots that can be filled with passive abilities. Some include boosting your attack’s elemental damage, earning you more rupees (money), earn you more experience points (there’s a level-up system), and also finding weapons with higher stars and/or more slots.
Another thing to mention is the amiibo system. Every day you can scan five of any amiibo and get a random item. Examples include one of three rupee quantities (1/5,000/50,000), currently unlocked weapons, and pick-up items. Pick-up items are stuff you earn from beating any enemy that aren’t typical grunts. These enemies always have health bars so it’s easy to spot them. These items are used to craft badges that permanently boost your character or granting them more benefits, like giving them more special attack bars, making enemy weak spots easier to drain (this allows a powerful attack to occur), better defences against elements, etc.
Well, this is awkward.
There’s also a My Fairy mode. This needs some explaining. First, to even unlock this mode, you have to break one of the brown jars in a keep (square areas on maps) in a mission in Adventure Mode, and if you’re lucky, you’ll find a fairy in a glass jar. Grab it and the mode unlocks. This seems to only be found in missions that show a fairy as a reward. Now, the mode itself is essentially a virtual pet of sorts where you take care of a fairy (supposedly you can get more) by feeding it food, give it different cloths, and give it different abilities that all help you in battle. When missions begin, after you select your character’s weapon, you can select your fairy to bring with you. Fairies can be activated by clicking the right stick when the green gauge is full and you’ll do a special move that kills enemies, but also get additional effects depending on the element of the fairy. One example is that a Light element fairy will heal near by allies.
Visually it’s a bit mixed. On one hand it runs in 1080p docked and runs most of the time in 60fps. On the other hand, there are some changes from the Wii U original, such as in the first map area. In the original it’s fairly cloudy and gloomy. In the Switch version, it’s pretty clear and bright. The issue is that when cutscenes play, they look just like the Wii U version’s, but now with brighter lighting, but without clearing the clouds, if that makes sense.
Here she comes to save the day! Linkle is on her way!
Audio-wise I like it. There’s no dialogue in battles and cutscenes but the characters do make grunts and whatnot, all in Japanese and they sound perfectly fine! You get used to reading the text during fights. There IS however an English narrator who tells you the gist of things when each mission begins in a more portrait-style cutscene and when some missions end. She does a really good job in my opinion. Hell, there are cutscenes where the characters are depicted in a VERY Wind Waker-esc style, most commonly in Linkle’s missions that show her story.
All in all there’s a HUGE amount of content and I’ve had an absolute blast playing it. This is my first ever Warriors/Musou game and I’m super excited to play more, with Fire Emblem Warriors and Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition on Switch being in my sights when I’m able to get those. There’s so much bang for your buck. If you love Zelda and/or Dynasty Warriors, I’m positive you’ll love this game!
You’ll Love:
+ The combat is very satisfying with lots of variety from different characters and weapons.
+ Lots of characters from across many Zelda games from Ocarina, to Skyward Sword, to Twilight Princess, etc.
+ Music is great. There are a number of remixes from past Zelda games as you’d expect.
+ Collecting new weapons and new characters is very fun.
+ Runs in 1080p and mostly at 60fps.
+ The badge system gives you lots of incentive to collect items from fallen enemies.
+ Adventure Mode is PACKED with missions and unlockables.
+ I really like the new characters like Linkle and Lana.
+ Has screenshot support.
You’ll Hate:
– Framerate is a bit iffy at times. Not awful, but it could be smoother.
– Some inconsistencies with the Wii U original in terms of visual style as explained above.
– Would be nice if certain amiibo would get you items more often vs. just anything. Some give you literally one weapon (like Wolf Link only gives you the Cursed Shackle for Midna from each use).
– There’s some confusion on how to do things. Took me awhile just to find out how to unlock My Fairy mode. Plus I don’t even know how to get more fairies, they don’t get added when collecting them in missions.
– Has no video capture support bizarrely.
Score: 8.5/10