‘Hyrule Warriors’: ‘Dynasty Warriors’ and ‘The Legend of Zelda Fans’ United

Ryan Smythe ‘15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Nintendo, despite falling short on their projected sales for both the 3DS and Wii U, show no intention of slowing down their crossover production. Highlighted by 2012’s Pokémon Conquest and upcoming titles such as Pokkén Tournament, Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, and Super Smash Bros., this steadily building category of games welcome one more to their midst, Hyrule Warriors. A combination of Dynasty Warriors and The Legend of Zelda and published by Koei Tecmo with supervision from Nintendo, it hit shelves in North America on September 26th, exclusively for the Wii U.

Set outside of the official Zelda timeline, Hyrule Warriors mostly uses Zelda music and aesthetics, while keeping the large-scale beat ‘em up style of the Dynasty Warriors franchise. This is where fan opinions will split, with hardcore traditionalists scoffing at the deceptively simple gameplay mechanics, while those willing to try a potentially new gameplay experience will immerse themselves in what possibly will be the most polished Dynasty Warriors game to ever find its way onto a console.

Gone are the cramped dungeons iconic to the Zelda series, replaced with expansive open fields teeming with woefully underpowered enemies. To take full advantage of this layout, each of the main characters have an upgradeable series of attack combinations perfectly suited to destroying hundreds of enemies with each successful string of combos. Memorizing the button combinations to fully execute godlike destruction takes some practice, but once that skill is learned, there are few experiences more cathartic than watching the kill counter skyrocket as bodies fly off the screen in T-rated fashion.

The breadth of character play styles is a testament to the skill of the team at Koei Tecmo. There are understandable overlaps in how each character’s combinations feel. Swinging a sword can only vary so much between wielders, and the items (bombs, arrows, boomerang, etc.) don’t change from character to character. But the more buttons that need to be pressed to activate an attack, the more diverse each character becomes. Link still has a spin attack, but Zelda can fire off a barrage of light arrows, and Midna can call forth her wolves. Each of these characters require the player to go at packs of enemies in different ways to maximize their killing potential, and learning how each one can be optimized is the core of Hyrule Warriors.

Periodically, boss characters will spawn in battle, causing the victory conditions to update. The bosses that appear change on each map, and depend on which side of the battle the player’s character fights. Some battles unsurprisingly feature Ganondorf, but for the first time outside of Super Smash players have a chance to use him and play for the side of evil. Being able to play for multiple sides in a battle makes up a major part of why Dynasty Warriors games are so enjoyable, but being able to play these roles as classic Zelda characters adds something special to what is already a great game.

At least as important as the characters themselves are the maps where the players fight. Along with their sheer size, the music and scenery throw in a healthy serving of nostalgia for each fight. Maps based on locations from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, as well as adaptations of the original scores, make it worthwhile to put down the controller for just a moment to enjoy the HD scenery and beautiful music before rushing back into the frantic action.

The most important thing to note about Hyrule Warriors is that it’s not for everyone. Gamers looking for the next great Zelda adventure should really wait to get this game on sale to avoid disappointment. But for those without a 3DS to experience the Super Smash Bros. craze, this is a perfect stopgap game to compliment Mario Kart and Super Mario 3D World and ensure there’s always something exciting to play. It can work as a casual experience, but the skill cap to beat this game on the highest difficulty is high enough that hardcore gamers should be able to have their fill, especially with a co-op mode that utilizes the gamepad to do away with split screen. With four DLC packs coming out over the next few months, there is more than enough to do and unlock to justify sinking hundreds of hours into Nintendo’s newest offering.