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Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity |OT| Calamity Dynasty

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Finally made it to chapter 7, I've been farming stages like mad and trying to do most of the side-quests before moving forward with the story at all times.

Of course, that means that I'm like 20 levels above the suggested level. But I'm having a really good time with this game, I'll probably finish it tomorrow.
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
I actually wonder how much content is in the game. The original HW could go for a hundred hours (?), and that was before the DLC.

Hours aren’t the measure of a game, but I’m curious to see how they handle that. Will some kind of Adventure mode open? Or will the existing map be populated with a bunch of new, non-story missions?
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I actually wonder how much content is in the game. The original HW could go for a hundred hours (?), and that was before the DLC.

Hours aren’t the measure of a game, but I’m curious to see how they handle that. Will some kind of Adventure mode open? Or will the existing map be populated with a bunch of new, non-story missions?
I feel like this game is going to have less filler than the original Hyrule Warriors. Most of the content in that game (when it released on the Wii U) was added in updates / DLC. If I recall, the game originally shipped with just the single adventure mode and campaign mode, and like half the characters that made their way to the Switch remaster were DLC characters or characters from the 3DS version of the game. The hundreds of hours of the original were mostly taken up by the game's adventure mode(s) but they got to be extremely repetitive really quickly.

This game actually adds a lot of optional stuff in the later chapters as you get more characters to the point that I've played this for about 40 hours now and it's starting to get repetitive.

That being said, I imagine that they'll be adding DLC to this game as it's sold gangbusters.
 

Astral Dog

Member
I actually wonder how much content is in the game. The original HW could go for a hundred hours (?), and that was before the DLC.

Hours aren’t the measure of a game, but I’m curious to see how they handle that. Will some kind of Adventure mode open? Or will the existing map be populated with a bunch of new, non-story missions?
Imo, you will get tired of the repetitiveness before coming close to finish the main plot.
For some reason i remember enjoying the first Hyrule Warriors more, this started strong but then its like, i already know how all enemies attack early on.kill more but they have X or Y element. Sidequest are all the same but with an annoying timer (if you are playing on hard, you realize they give you too little time, even if you are overleveled its not actually harder just more annoying because of the timer)


The non moblin bosses are the highlight.
 

sleepnaught

Member
So, I've never played a Warriors game before and haven't followed the development of this game. I tried the demo and, to my surprise, I really enjoyed it. So, the story is suppose to be a prequel to BotW itself? I thought I read something crazy like it was set in some alternate timeline or something weird like that. Can anyone confirm?(hope that's not a spoiler).
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
Eh. The thing about the original HW, is yes, all that content could become repetitive, but you’d take a break, play other games, and still have tons of new stuff to play when you came back. It was a game that could last you years. All the different Adventure Mode themes and ideas were quite fun as well.

So, I've never played a Warriors game before and haven't followed the development of this game. I tried the demo and, to my surprise, I really enjoyed it. So, the story is suppose to be a prequel to BotW itself? I thought I read something crazy like it was set in some alternate timeline or something weird like that. Can anyone confirm?(hope that's not a spoiler).

It’s not a spoiler. It diverts from the very first scene, with a time-traveling mini Guardian that has knowledge of what happens. I don’t know to what extent things will change, but people should be aware going in that it’s not a 1:1 retelling.
 

sleepnaught

Member
Eh. The thing about the original HW, is yes, all that content could become repetitive, but you’d take a break, play other games, and still have tons of new stuff to play when you came back. It was a game that could last you years. All the different Adventure Mode themes and ideas were quite fun as well.



It’s not a spoiler. It diverts from the very first scene, with a time-traveling mini Guardian that has knowledge of what happens. I don’t know to what extent things will change, but people should be aware going in that it’s not a 1:1 retelling.
I see, that sounds pretty lame. Hope that it's self contained and doesnt end up mudding up the story once BotW2 lands.
 
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I don't mind the Alternate Universe approach one bit if that means I can play as motherfucking Sidon.

Also, I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, but datamining has found unused voice lines for Purah, Robbie, Astor and Sooga; it's pretty safe to assume they'll be added, either as paid DLC or as a free update like Cia, Wizzro and Volga were.
There are also a few weapons in the files that apparently cannot be obtained in the game: the Ancient Shortsword, Bladesaw and Spear. They cound work wel for an "Ancient" DLC pack with Purah and Robbie I guess?
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
Hyrule Warriors is one of the few games where I want them to DLC me out of every dollar I have, because I know it’ll be amazing content, and great bang for the buck.

I stop short of assuming we’ll get anything, but ancient weaponry would be an awesome DLC add. I guess they would do something new with it, like a whole fighting style, rather than just skin the existing weapons styles, or it’d be in the game already.
 
Beat the story last night. Pretty decent game and a nice alternate take on BotW's past. But a prequel it is not.

In any case, since I've been diligently clearing out the map of anything before each mission, it seems I'm actually rather close to 100% already, so I guess I'll be 100%'ing this after all.
 

Shaqazooloo

Member
Just beat the game, I enjoyed what I played and plan to comeback to it when I get the chance to finish up some post game stuff.

This was way better than the first Hyrule Warriors imo, every character felt unique and fun in their own way. My top 5 favorite characters from what i've played are:

1. Mipha
2. Teba
3. Riju
4. Revali
5. Zelda (Bow of Light)

I don't know why but I guess I really like bow users.

As for the plot and stuff I'm ok with it because we got some pretty hype scenes, I just wish Nintendo were straight forward with what it was going to be. Honestly, I blame Koei Tecmo, they're desire to have a big roster probably won over Nintendo's desire to make a true prequel.
 
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ExpandKong

Banned
Finished the plot a couple days ago, been doing postgame stuff since then. Thoughts:
  • Gameplay is great and much better than the first Hyrule Warriors. Part of it is every character feeling really unique, part of it is the elemental rods and slate abilities being so easy to use on the fly. In the first game, certain enemies had weaknesses to certain items (hookshot, bow, bombs, etc) but because of the way selecting items in that game worked, I for one couldn't exploit them regularly at all. You get the tiny prompt over their head showing the item, then you have to use the dpad to scroll through all your items until you get it (no slowdown while you scroll), and by then it's too late. Similar sort of system here, but handled way better with the shoulder button hotkeys + slowdown while you select. Much less frustrating, much more dynamic.
  • Love the presentation and the focus on Breath of the Wild, everything feels very cohesive here. First game was kind of all over the place. By design, of course, but still this one just feels better.
  • Potential DLC thoughts: as everything here so thoroughly banks on Breath of the Wild, I feel like they'll continue that trend and have a Master Mode as DLC. What that would entail here I don't know, gold enemy variants maybe (haven't seen any of those yet), a remixed campaign, bonus missions, etc. As far as characters, I think it's safe to say that Astor, Harbinger, Sooga, Purah and Robbie are all shoo-ins (even before you take a glance at all the datamined info), though if any of them are added as free updates versus paid DLC is up in the air I guess.
Story spoilers follow, click at your own risk I be spoiling everything.

I really liked it. I feel like, in spite of the time travel shenanigans that happen in the very first cutscene, it still does a pretty good job of telling BotW's pre-Calamity story up to a certain point, and that point of course is when the Champions' descendants come flying through portals just in time to stop the blight Ganons from killing their ancestors.

Though it is hilarious to see Riju hit Thunderblight Ganon in the face with a fucking seal while heroic music plays.

And then from there it diverges greatly from the events that led to BotW, which, you know what? I'm fine with that. It goes crazy and allows for some awesome setpieces and epic battles and I kind of loved it. In the Air and Lightning mission, where you're racing up a mountain in the pounding rain while Vah Medoh flies overhead trailing smoke...framerate hiccups be damned, that was some good stuff.

I saw a Kotaku headline on Facebook a few days ago that said something like "Age of Calamity Refuses to Acknowledge Breath of the Wild's Darkness." I didn't click the link to read the article because if I want to hear a Kotaku writer's opinion I'll wait six months and ask them myself in the drive-thru at Taco Bell, but it's true. But hey, guess what? There's already a game that acknowledges Breath of the Wild's darkness and it's Breath of the Wild. So who gives a shit?

I still have three characters to unlock and tons of side missions to finish, so I'll be playing this for a while yet even before the inevitable DLC hits.

I dig it. Probably won't have as much content as Hyrule Warriors DE on the Switch but that's fine, there's still a load here to do and honestly I like all of it more thanks to the gameplay changes and the presentation's cohesiveness.
 

Shaqazooloo

Member
Interview with the developers:


Were there any elements that you wanted to avoid?

Aonuma:
Considering Hyrule Warriors focuses more on battling, I wanted Koei Tecmo to portray this title as more of a Musou game. I also wanted them to have fun without being too conscious of Breath of the Wild’s framework. So I told the Zelda team supervising the game to look at it from that perspective.

Matsushita: Indeed. Instead of avoiding things, he constantly told us to do more during the project. (Laughs) So our team tackled these challenges head-on. For instance, Link throws four remote bombs in a row and with the last one like, “One more for good measure.” And being able to destroy Bokoblin bases like that is one way we delivered.

How was it working with Koei Tecmo?

Aonuma
: We were surprised by the amount of love they had for Breath of the Wild to start. When I was talking with Fujibayashi, the supervisor lead who was also the director for Breath of the Wild, we discussed how well Koei Tecmo understood all the important bits. They managed to create the game according to the plans we initially requested. If I talk about it any further, I’ll go into spoiler territory. So I want the player to give the game a go and experience it firsthand.

However, during the early stages of development, we did place too much emphasis on valuing Breath of the Wild’s world. Maybe because we had too much love for the game. This made it hard for us to tell the unique stories in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity regarding what happened 100 years ago. Though I do remember being surprised by the abundance of game content and story, which grew more and more each time we met to discuss.

Matsushita: Thank you for the compliment. It was a very valuable experience for us to feel the deep affection that the Zelda team had for Breath of the Wild. We’ve been able to work with a team with such exceptional skills for creating games for the entire world to enjoy.

How did you feel when you asked to depict a slice of Breath of the Wild’s overall story as a Musou game?

Matsushita
: We thought it was a great opportunity to be able to work with such a legendary game. We were excited not only to create a game based on Breath of the Wild but to create stories for 100 years ago. However, I did feel a big responsibility afterward, which honestly worried me a bit. Because Breath of the Wild is about Link, the player, getting back his memories from 100 years ago by himself. So the world of 100 years past should be in the best condition for the player in terms of gameplay. In portraying this, we wanted to make sure that this story from 100 years ago allows every single Breath of the Wild fan to reflect on their own memories and be able to experience both new and nostalgic feelings.

Was the game developed in cooperation with Team Ninja and Omega Force like the previous Hyrule Warriors?

Matsushita
: This time around, Omega Force primarily worked on it. Luckily for us, the team had some Zelda fans and staff members who were involved in the previous Hyrule Warriors from the initial stages of development. This allowed us to share a lot of passion and heart during development.

Hayashi: Although the development team was largely different, they did a great job of keeping the important aspects from Hyrule Warriors while incorporating improvements, too.

We were amazed by not only the graphics but also the little details like fonts, UI, and sound effects that were based on Breath of the Wild. How much emphasis went into studying Breath of the Wild?

Matsushita
: We did receive reference material from the Zelda team, but we also had a lot of hardcore fans of Breath of the Wild on the CG team. That made it easier, considering they had all played through the game a lot. It was funny how everyone had the “Wild” set of armor*. (Laughs) We called the process of checking what happened in Breath of the Wild “Pinpoint Scouting”. It was easy to do using anyone’s save file as they all had progressed tremendously.

*Editor’s note: Players obtain the classic Hero’s Clothes or “Wild” set of armor by beating all 120 shrines in the main game.

Was it challenging to secure the resources needed to make the Musou action while recreating the unique graphics of Breath of the Wild at the same time?

Matsushita
: Despite having help from the Zelda team and having expertise and skills from making Musou games, it was certainly a challenge – both in terms of technology and creation. We got a lot of help from the supervisors on important factors, and gradually we managed to get close to the Breath of the Wild world with their feedback. We worked hard and tried to make other teams say it was unfair that we had the visuals given directly to us from Breath of the Wild!”

How heavily did the Zelda team supervise you during development?

Matsushita
: We had a lot of supervision in regards to the story and the characters to retain the Breath of the Wild feeling. On the other hand, they allowed us to make a lot of decisions when it came to the action. There were still some exceptions with moves; they were carefully scrutinized if it involved lore. For instance, Mipha jumps into the air by doing a dolphin kick which creates water flow around her. We received a lot of feedback for her to swim elegantly as a princess of the Zora. Even minute details such as how the bank in the swimming curve should be at more of an angle. At the same time, they never criticized her flying in the air in the first place. Also, every character has their own unique action in the game. So when developing those, we received plenty of feedback like, “It would be more fun if you do it like this.” Or, “If you did it like this, it would make the character more appealing!” All of this improved the game rather than restricting it, so we were able to improve the overall quality of the game.

How did you make the story?

Matsushita
: We proposed the framework of the story after putting together all of the necessary elements. They looked at it from the very start of the development and helped with the final touches. This ensured that the world of the past was new and refreshing, keeping things balanced. As a side-note, it was interesting to hear from them all the little details about characters and the world itself. It was hard to contain my excitement as a Breath of the Wild fan myself. I felt it would look extremely unprofessional to show my excitement like that, so I tried not to (Laughs).

Hayashi: To add on, one of the things we wanted to improve from the last Hyrule Warriors was the story. I won’t explain it in detail due to spoilers, but we think this story will be more enjoyable for those who love the lore in The Legend of Zelda series.

It was easy for us to imagine how Link and the Champions would fight, but we were amazed by how ninja-like Impa was, and how Zelda fought with the Sheikah Slate. How did you come up with these ideas?

Matsushita
Zelda gave us a lot of trouble until the end. She was never intended to be a princess who fights, so it was hard to decide on the actions typical for Musou games. But seeing that she is a character with a sense of duty, we felt that she’d take action using the Sheikah Slate.

In regards to Impa, it was rather easy and the process went smoothly. When looking at the first three characters in the game, it’s a perfect fit: Link is the traditional warrior, Zelda uses magical moves, and Impa uses tricky attacks like a ninja.

Were there any difficulties when incorporating elements of Breath of the Wild such as cooking and parasailing?

Matsushita:
Considering that Breath of the Wild is Link’s solo adventure, this game places emphasis on cooperating with other characters. All we had to do was make these elements unique. This applies to cooking and parasailing as well. Four characters can fight together, so it’s only natural for them to eat or sail together, too. The challenge came when considering how a particular character eats or flies. Overall, we incorporated things that were hard to imagine in the first place. We’d really like players to experience these aspects for themselves.

The Musou series is renowned for action that plays out on vast, open battlefields, so it was surprising to see how much exploring is open to players inside buildings as well. Were you trying to evoke a similar feeling of exploration to the original Breath of the Wild?
Matsushita
: The game is a story about war where players are often dropped right in the middle of the action, so the aim was never for players to explore in any great detail. That being said, Age of Calamity is set in the BotW universe and brings to life many of its iconic locations as they looked 100 years prior. Our goal was to make sure each location could accommodate Musou-style action but being a game based on BotW, I think it’s important to make exploration an attractive part of the experience as well. For those players with the urge to explore, we’ve prepared some rewards throughout the game.
Weapons use a crafting system in Age of Calamity. Did you feel it would be a better fit for a Musou title compared to the Breath of the Wild system?
Matsushita
: Gameplay elements like collecting weapons, weapon degradation, and weather effects are what made Breath of the Wild an enjoyable survival adventure. Age of Calamity is a different type of game, so we decided it would be better to omit those elements.

One interesting part of the game is how each character interacts differently with the Sheikah Slate. Was it difficult to give every character something unique?
Matsushita
: It was actually pretty smooth. The Breath of the Wild characters are all very distinct and their fighting styles have strong personalities, so giving them something unique was quite straightforward. For example, in response to Revali using Stasis, we’d say, “Of course he’d use it like this!” And we had the team bounce ideas off of each other on his actions. Everybody had tons of suggestions. (Laughs)

Fighting normal enemies in this game is in line with other Musou titles, but boss fights seem to revolve more around evading and counter-attacking. Is this to mirror the original game?
Matsushita
: Lock-on and Perfect Dodge are systems lifted straight from Breath of the Wild, and making use of those abilities with characters other than Link was a first, which is why we decided to introduce those aspects into our battle system. On top of these abilities, players can make use of the Sheikah Slate and environmental elements to help take on strong foes. Breath of the Wild is a game where Link has to take on the entire world, and there are an infinite variety of ways to do so, not just through fighting. That said, the stories in Age of Calamity are focused on war. Reacting to your surroundings while playing is something that really draws out the spirit of the original game. As an example, you can clear the game without successfully dodging enemy attacks once. So even if you don’t consider yourself well-versed in action games, we’d love for you to give this game a try.
Hayashi: I think the action in the game does a good job of fusing elements of both the previous Hyrule Warriors and Breath of the Wild. It might seem like there are a lot of battle elements at first, but as Matsushita said, the versatility of battle mirrors the versatility of Breath of the Wild. That’s something we felt Age of Calamity needed as well. We hope players will explore all kinds of battle strategies as they play the game.

There seem to be a lot more voiced lines in this game compared to Breath of the Wild. Was there anything particularly important about this that you can share?
Matsushita
: This game had a lot of shouting to accompany the action which was tough for the voice actors. But they all came to the studio prepared to fight against the calamity. We had some great recordings for all characters, including those who didn’t fight in Breath of the Wild. They were so convincing that we could easily imagine those characters fighting in the game. Even the sound director was just as impressed. On a side-note, when we recorded the scene where Princess Zelda gives a speech to inspire the Hyrulian soldiers, we hadn’t recorded the soldiers responding yet, but all of us in the studio naturally shouted as if we were the soldiers. It made us feel like we were going into battle to win! (Laughs)
And lastly, anything you would like to say to the readers?
Matsushita
: Breath of the Wild took the world by storm. It was the story of Link regaining his memories of the past 100 years. In this game, players return to 100 years ago to see how the conflict unfolded. We hope you enjoy experiencing how it all went down.
Hayashi: The first Hyrule Warriors was made with the essence of Zelda in mind. In this Hyrule Warriors, we used Breath of the Wild as a new and refreshing essence. As a result, we have made a new and improved Hyrule Warriors for players to enjoy. Currently, we have the demo version of the game available, so we want every gamer including those who did not play the first Hyrule Warriors to check it out!
Very interesting they continue to make it seem as though the game is a prequel to Breath of the Wild...
 
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-Arcadia-

Banned
Interview with the developers:




Very interesting they continue to make it seem as though the game is a prequel to Breath of the Wild...

I’m looking forward to when they’re ready to discuss spoilers, because what they did here was one of the more fascinating twists of the year. I really want to see the direct reasoning behind it.

I’m surprised that it mostly wasn’t the Hyrule Warriors team, but the regular Warriors one (?). An awesome job was done regardless, though. I wonder if Team Ninja has anything in the works for Switch, given how connected they’ve been to Nintendo (Other M, Hyrule Warriors, Fire Emblem Warriors, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3).
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Been playing this split-screen with my son and it's a lot of fun. The performance is abysmal, though. Frequently dips into the single digits and I don't think it ever goes above like 25. LOD pop-in happens like 5 feet in front of your character. Just a technical travesty even though the art style is fantastic.
 
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Andyliini

Member
40 hours in and I'm almost at the end. Had to use a guide once to locste those Korok seeds, but other than that it has been a relatively straightforward experience. Very fun gane though, new playable characters seem go pop up until right at the end.
 

VN1X

Banned
Been playing this split-screen with my son and it's a lot of fun. The performance is abysmal, though. Frequently dips into the single digits and I don't think it ever goes above like 25. LOD pop-in happens like 5 feet in front of your character. Just a technical travesty even though the art style is fantastic.
I didn't even know this had splitscreen. That's hilarious.
 
Popping into this thread for the first time to share my thoughts on this game.

I'm at about 60 hours and have been doing the whole game co-op with my daughter (Link is my main, Revali is hers). We've been on Hard mode as suggested by Arcadia and it's been a good balance as we're already fairly competent Hyrule Warriors players. The amount of polish is wonderful as a BOTW fan and it at times feels like a completely new game vs the original. The frame rate and pop in are ... not good at all. (Having 2 players performing a special attack concurrently makes things almost stop.) However, the game is so much fun I don't really care.

I ended up wanting to post today because we are almost at 100% (around 92% according to the game) and just last night finished a marathon 3+ hour session working on only one level: The Siege of Fort Hateno. For BOTW fans you'll recall that the crap really hit the fan for the good guys in that area, and being able to actually play through that battle was epic. Incredibly difficult to manage everything going on, and we had to restart from checkpoints a few times, but when we finally beat Calamity Ganon (with 3 out of 4 characters at 1 heart or less!) it was quite satisfying.

That one level made me increase my overall rating to a 9/10 just for the pure craziness, challenge, and fun factor. I'm sure when we're leveled up even more we'll try Very Hard mode, but those last few levels are daunting enough on just Hard.

Anyway it's not a perfect game but the attention to detail and sheer variety in available characters and move sets pushes it past the original Hyrule Warriors for me personally.
 
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Fbh

Gold Member
Borrowed this from a friend.
So far it's pretty fun, there's a lot of things here I actually like more than the OG one.

But holy shit what's with this framerate? This isn't the usual musou framedrop when things get crazy....this runs like shit by default and gets even worse when things get crazy.
Like yesterday I played the first Death Mountain level and even the part with the hot springs which has zero enemies felt like it was running at like 20 fps.
A shame really, the first one didn't look quite as good but it ran MUCH better.

Other than that it's pretty fun. I'm actually liking the characters more and so far the missions have felt a bit more varied. Having the Sheikah Slate powers and rods easily accessible is great too
 
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