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[Komatsu]

Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Nintendo
Director: Ryouta Matsushita
Producers:
Yosuke Hayashi
Masaki Furusawa
Series:
The Legend of Zelda
Dynasty Warriors
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release: November 20th, 2020
Genre: Hack and slash
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer

Age of Calamity is set 100 years before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The story depicts the Great Calamity, a great war previously alluded to in Breath of the Wild between the armies of Hyrule and the forces of Calamity Ganon that resulted in the collapse of the kingdom. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

The gameplay is seemingly similar to Hyrule Warriors's which is itself a based on Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors series of video games, in which characters fight large armies of enemies and generals on a battlefield, with the the setting and characters originating from The Legend of Zelda series, specifically from Breath of the Wild. As such, it is set to be much more combat-intensive that most Zelda games, with hordes of enemies on the screen at once.

The player controls multiple characters throughout the game including Link, Zelda, Mipha, Urbosa, Revali, Daruk, and Impa through the story, with the player being able to switch characters on the fly depending on the scenario. Most of the hordes of enemies are based on weaker enemies, like Bokoblins and Yiga Clan clansmen, with stronger enemies like Guardian (Breath of the Wild), Lynels and Yiga Blademasters appear as stronger single units. Larger versions of Bokoblins acting as captains have also been seen.

Characters also fight alongside regular Soldiers and other playable characters, and the game will alert if an ally requires assistance. The game also features multiple locations throughout Breath of the Wild's Hyrule Kingdom that function as battlefields, including the Akkala Citadel Ruins, Hyrule Field and the Lanayru region. The player will also be able to use many abilities seen in Breath of the Wild such as Magnesis, Cryonis, Stasis and Remote Bombs. The player will also be able to use multiple elemental rods, such as the Fire Rod, Ice Rod, and Lightning Rod.

The game features local simultaneous multiplayer co-op, allowing players to split up to complete objectives and cover more ground more effectively. [SOURCE: ZELDA WIKI]

​

 

[Komatsu]

Saving this for future use.

 

[Danjin44]

Really nice OT! I recently replayed the demo again in harder difficulty, I’m not much fan of DW games but this game was surprisingly fun.

 

[Poppyseed]

Worst thing about this game is the 20-25fps frame rate. Feels bad, man. Feels like the title was designed around a Switch Pro that Nintendo never released due to pandemic-induced demand.

 

[Komatsu]

Worst thing about this game is the 20-25fps frame rate. Feels bad, man. Feels like the title was designed around a Switch Pro that Nintendo never released due to pandemic-induced demand.

Interestingly enough it does run a bit better on my Mariko Switch than on my trusty 2017 launch model.

 

[ExpandKong]

Friendly reminder that the game is out in the wild and spoilers are everywhere STAY VIGILANT

Worst thing about this game is the 20-25fps frame rate. Feels bad, man. Feels like the title was designed around a Switch Pro that Nintendo never released due to pandemic-induced demand.

That didn’t take long

 

[Poppyseed]

Friendly reminder that the game is out in the wild and spoilers are everywhere STAY VIGILANT



That didn’t take long

Because it’s a big deal. This game deserves glorious 60fps. At the minimum it deserves actual 30fps and native res. It delivers none of these things.

 

[WhiskeyDiver]

I have purposely kept myself away from spoilers and details about HW 2 including what weapons characters use. One thing that I did love a lot about the first Hyrule Warriors was how much of a hyperactive killing machine Zelda was with a Rapier. It was a really refreshing change of pace considering we're tasked with saving her 99% of the time. When I first started playing with her, I went, "Oh...great. She's using a Rapier." After some leveling, combo potential increase and stat gains, she turns into a mach 3 hyperactive LAWNMOWEROBLITERATOR that just snorted a 20 kilo mound of pure cocaine in one typhoon of a snort.

So I hope that, you know, they just copy paste her moveset, weapon, and speed from HW1 and I can enjoy my cocaine I mean enjoy playing a coke fueled blood lusted killing machine Zelda again.

 

[Danjin44]

Worst thing about this game is the 20-25fps frame rate. Feels bad, man. Feels like the title was designed around a Switch Pro that Nintendo never released due to pandemic-induced demand.

I played the demo twice but I'm not getting this FPS problem you guys keep talking about.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Friendly reminder that the game is out in the wild and spoilers are everywhere STAY VIGILANT

Would spoilers from a warriors game ruin it?


Rhetorical question.

 

[ExpandKong]

Would spoilers from a warriors game ruin it?


Rhetorical question.

Eh the people on GameFAQs got pissed anyway lol

 

[Wings 嫩翼翻せ]

Have this pre-ordered and super excited for it to get in. Got the Japanese version too, so you know it’s for real (CHAA—)!

 

[darth.shrimp]

Friday can't come soon enough!

In the meantime... I'll have to purposefully avoid this thread or the gamefaqs forum, it seems people have already started streaming the game so I'm sure the internet is full of spoilers.

 

[Poppyseed]

I played the demo twice but I'm not getting this FPS problem you guys keep talking about.

Yes, yes you are. You just don’t notice (which is great for you!).

 

[Ogbert]

Any news on an adventure mode?

 

[VN1X]

I hope shopto delivers on time. Haven't played the demo (heard bad things about the framerate) but I'm still very excited to get my hands on this. I loved Hyrule Warriors (it was my first Musou game even!) so I'm hoping this will be more of the same.

 

[Lethal01]

Would spoilers from a warriors game ruin it?


Rhetorical question.

Absolutely. Tons of people are only interested in this game because of the story.

 

[Lethal01]

Because it’s a big deal. This game deserves glorious 60fps. At the minimum it deserves actual 30fps and native res. It delivers none of these things.

Meh, 60fps is something I think looks fantastic when I'm not actually playing but during actual gameplay I barely notice if the FPS drops to 25. I happy the decided to prioritize maintain it's current visuals.

 

[darth.shrimp]

I just realized I'd better stay away from youtube for the next couple of days, too. Some people don't care about obvious spoilers in their videos' thumbnails...

 

[Nikana]

Yo I need this game fam. Cant wait for the weekend.

 

[StormCell]

When do we get to see some reviews?

 

[Walter Matthau]

edit

 

[darth.shrimp]

There's more than a couple reviews that complain that it's, well... a musou. I don't really pay attention to those, although the rest of their arguments may make sense, it's like asking me to review a FIFA game (which would amount to "looks nice, but it's football, boooring").

Also Komatsu could you add the release trailer to the OP?

 

[AJUMP23]

I am on the fence with this one.

 

[Shaqazooloo]

Already have it preloaded and I unsubscribed to people playing the full game early. Can't wait for Friday to arrive.

 

[Soodanim]

I don't have a Switch, but I definitely got my money's worth with the first game and the season pass. A was annoyed that they included Amiibo-only characters, so let's hope that's not a thing this time round.

 

[QuantumZebra]

A prequel to BotW??? Shit. I haven't beaten it yet.

Gonna beat this then play BotW.

 

[StormCell]

9/10



8/10





6/10 for both


Currently 79 on metacritic (50 reviews): https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity

Sums up my feelings on this pretty well. I'm a sucker for the BotW theme. The graphics are pretty nice. It has the right look and feel, but under the hood it's still a musou. If that style of play with absurd numbers of baddies isn't your style, then steer clear.

 

[noise36]

Really enjoyed playing botw with my young son but can't decide if I should get this or not. i.e it's nothing like botw is it

 

[Nikana]

Looking forward to playing Way too much of this the next few days.

 

[VN1X]

I think my copy should arrive next week, hopefully. Still very much looking forward to it and some of those reviews that mention "ItS A muSOU GamE anD NOt aNYthinG LiKe BOTw " are fuckin' dumb.

 

[Nikana]

Dying to be playing right now. This day is gonna go slow.

 

[Bit_Reactor]

Played the hell out of the demo so my Link is kinda OP, but loving what I have so far.

The music fits seamlessly with BOTW's and escalates a few of the best themes. Revali's theme especially with the Dragon Roost Isle undertones was a treat while slapping his feathered face. Some of the music is just god tier arrangements of the original BOTW.

I thought Link would be super boring to play but his weapon styles give him lots of fun shit to do. Loving Greatsword which revolves around a mechanic of sacrificing health for more damage.

It works essentially like this: If you use ZR to do a powered up attack, you take "temporary" damage which makes your heart WHITE instead or red or empty. You can use X at anytime to "eat" to restore that temp damage but if you get hit while it's temped, you lose it. It creates a fun risk reward system and you can even chain it by using up a ton of hearts, and then using your special musou attack where he eats before doing it, which also fills back up your temporary hearts. It's very fun and probably my favorite style for him so far.

Maps are all pretty solidly designed so far, moreso than the HW1 maps I feel. Lots of pathways and interesting things to discover, loving cutting down trees and grass to find things just like BOTW so it's basically an extension of my habits from the original game.

Not loving Daruk's gameplay or Revali's yet, but most of the others are great with Impa still feeling pretty op when you get her clones up and running. It really does feel like just returning to BOTW in a lot of aspects, and while I've spoiled myself on a few of the plot twists out of curiosity, am pleasantly surprised by some of the quiet moments we're getting.

I will say it's a bummer they changed a lot of the lore of BOTW for sake of the gameplay, but without spoilers I'll say it really doesn't seem to matter in the grand scheme of things after the egg got involved.

So far having a blast and hating being at work not being able to play it right now

 

[Nixonomics]

The first one is my favorite musou game. Been doing a pretty heavy media blackout for this one since I knew I'd pick it up when it released. Excited to try it out!

 

[Bit_Reactor]

The first one is my favorite musou game. Been doing a pretty heavy media blackout for this one since I knew I'd pick it up when it released. Excited to try it out!

Same, my favorite is HW1 and I go back to the switch copy I have often.

I see this one as less of a standard Musou and more of an extension of BOTW in a different skin personally, but you'll probably love it too.

I'm still waiting to see if I love it more than HW1, so far it's a maybe, just because of the sheer range of features and content HW1 offered by the end of its run time. We'll see what post release stuff they do here.

 

[blackjon24]

I'm more tempted to buy the original over this.

Higher framerate
Celebration of all of zelda not just breath of the wild (honestly didn't really care much for that game's story)
Better cast
More content filled

Am i wrong on this?

 

[flibbertyjibbert]

story discussion:

Spoiler

I hate the time travelling retcon schtick. This is the third major game in a year thats had shitty time travel antics change a well established plot for no reason. Every writer who does this should be shot out of a cannon into the sun

This could have been a really dark,weighty and awesome story, leading into botw showing link getting put in stasis. Instead we get wacky robot sidekick and forced happy ending. Arrrrrrrrrgh

 

[Komatsu]

Also Komatsu could you add the release trailer to the OP?

Done!

 

[PhoenixTank]

Also on the fence here. The demo's framerate did turn me off a little, but it isn't exactly required for this sort of game. BoTW was my jam, though... and I do want... but do I need?

Friendly reminder that the game is out in the wild and spoilers are everywhere STAY VIGILANT

I hear Ganon wins in the end.

 

[-Arcadia-]

I'm more tempted to buy the original over this.

Higher framerate
Celebration of all of zelda not just breath of the wild (honestly didn't really much for that games story)
Better cast
More content filled

Am i wrong on this?

Then what are you asking us for? Lol. You answered your own question. The latest and greatest isn’t necessarily the game with the most personal appeal. Go get what seems most fun to you. I can personally vouch for the original, having enjoyed it so, so much, over hundreds of hours.

For the thread at large, I can’t jump in just yet, but I’m really enjoying/looking forward to reading all your impressions. As above, I have a lot of love for this spin-off series, lol, and this looks like so much fun + the whole BotW prequel thing.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Then what are you asking us for? Lol.

Cadia why are you here dunking at fools? We need you back at the Nintendo Shill and Chill thread ASAP.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Cadia why are you here dunking at fools? We need you back at the Nintendo Shill and Chill thread ASAP.

I know. I just don’t have anything to say, until Nintendo does something, lol. Hopefully soon, with the new year + Mario + maybe the Switch Pro? Will try to join in, tho.

 

[Komatsu]

It does run like absolute ass on the Lite, and a fair bit better on a Mariko Switch. But it is leaps and bounds better than the first one - the plot is interesting, time travel notwithstanding.

 

[Lionel Richie]

I know. I just don’t have anything to say, until Nintendo does something, lol. Hopefully soon, with the new year + Mario + maybe the Switch Pro? Will try to join in, tho.

Come in, we're talking Black Friday deals and I'm still waiting to see which first party game I'll nab from the eshop.

 

[-Arcadia-]

It does run like absolute ass on the Lite, and a fair bit better on a Mariko Switch. But it is leaps and bounds better than the first one - the plot is interesting, time travel notwithstanding.

Lite is actually Mariko, isn’t it? I’d be surprised to see them performing differently.

 

[Komatsu]

Lite is actually Mariko, isn’t it? I’d be surprised to see them performing differently.

Yep, they both run on a Tegra X1+, but only one of them gets to enjoy the superior clocks we get when docking the Switch.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

The demo was pretty fun, but man, art style aside it was fugly and ran like shit, so I'm probably going to pass until there's a Switch Pro or something.

 

[Komatsu]

The demo was pretty fun, but man, art style aside it was fugly and ran like shit, so I'm probably going to pass until there's a Switch Pro or something.

The game is gorgeous, what are you on about. It does run like crap though.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

The game is gorgeous, what are you on about. It does run like crap though.

The art style is fantastic, but it had some weird graphical issues and horrible LOD pop-in on top of running like garbage despite the environment being rather barren. I only tried it in handheld mode to be fair.

 

[-Arcadia-]

This isn’t really a spoiler, as it’s in the first scene, and obvious at that, but it has massive consequences for the story.

Spoiler

Shocked to see the mini-Guardian has time-travelled back from the Calamity, with knowledge of it, to warn everyone. This knocks the whole story, and BotW, well off it’s trajectory, and it looks like things are already beginning to change.

I have no idea where this is going, but the ramifications could be huge.