The new installment in question is about Hyrule Warriors: The Age of Cataclysm and last week we left you with our first impressions after having played a few hours. However, at that moment we promised you that sooner or later we would offer you our final assessment with the analysis of the game and that moment has finally arrived.
The final stretch of 2020 could not have been better for Nintendo Switch, especially due to the fact that in just two days a new The Legend of Zelda video game will go on sale, one that was announced relatively recently. We didn’t have to wait too long to put ourselves in Link’s shoes once again.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild set the bar very high and the hype that its sequel is generating is enormous. Has this title, which is precisely so important and that bets on a different gameplay, as it is a musou, has managed to meet the expectations ? We invite you to discover it below.
This is how the Age of cataclysm that besieged Hyrule 100 years ago was lived
All of you who have played Breath of the Wild at some point or another will know that at certain moments of the adventure they tell us, very briefly, what happened 100 years ago, when Hyrule was besieged by the fearsome Ganon, which caused that the kingdom lived one of the worst times in all its history. A story that based on cinematic sequences we would have loved to enjoy at the controls in some way, something that is already possible thanks to this title by Koei Tecmo and Omega Force.
Thanks to him we will travel to the past, to the Hyrule of a century ago to discover how the Age of cataclysm was generated and in the process help Link, Zelda and company to prevent it from happening. For this reason, the gameplay could not be the same as that of the rest of the installments of the saga, because at that time there was a real war between the forces of good and evil , facing hundreds of soldiers and enemies on the part of both sides. It is for the same reason that betting on the playability of a musou was the most appropriate decision for this specific game.
Does this mean that it is essential to have played Breath of the Wild? Absolutely. While it is clear that those who have passed the award-winning Wii U and Nintendo Switch titles will understand the plot and certain details even better, anyone can be encouraged to give this exciting action adventure a try and enjoy it perfectly from beginning to end. Be that as it may, what we can guarantee you without spoiling is that at some point you will find great surprises that will drive your head crazy, so there you have another compelling reason not to overlook this game.
Likewise, as a good musou, Link will not be the only character that we will have at our disposal . Along with him will be Zelda, Impa with his younger version and at last we can take control of the four chosen: Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk. Thus, this formidable group of heroes, which will be joined by some more quite unexpected (despite the fact that it can be sensed by the trailers published by Nintendo) will be the ones we will control in these spectacular mass battles. It was certainly something that fans were crying out for since the Balada de los Chosen expansion and they will finally see their wishes fulfilled.
On the other hand, another detail for which the argument is so impressive at all times is due to the different cinematic sequences that will be paraded, on which it must be recognized that there will be quite a few, both in the middle of the missions and at the beginning and end of each one of them. In addition to getting us more fully into all the events that are taking place, they also serve wonderfully to better understand the events of 100 years ago. Even so, there are certain scenes with which you will surely want to put them over and over again for being the best that has been seen in a Nintendo video game.
Another detail that also helps these types of sequences win many points is due to the fact that the game is completely localized into different languages. The same voice actors from Breath of the Wild have once again put themselves in the shoes of their respective characters to do a simply splendid job, with a cast of voices that fit perfectly and are capable of transmitting joy, emotion or sadness. when it’s due. In fact, this makes us cross our fingers so that this is the course that the saga takes from now on with scenes galore and that above all are dubbed in our language.
In any case, returning to the subject of the argument, there is so much to say about it that later, when you have passed the game, we will go back to review it in depth because it gives to talk at length .
One of the most unique and amazing musous out there
I have always considered myself a great fan of musou because they are the most entertaining to me, although I understand that there are people who do not find it so fun to hit hundreds of enemies at the same time. However, it would be unfair to criticize this Hyrule Warriors or pass it by simply because of the genre on which it bases its gameplay, because it is tremendously different from any other musou that you have been able to play before. It is clear that these massive combats are also present here, but things go much further than all this.
To begin with, it is true that throughout the different phases there will be dozens or hundreds of enemies that will be there to eat our blows without stopping and little else, although it will also depend on the difficulty you set. In our case we opted for a medium level, the second of the four available, and even so there were certain battles that posed a huge challenge , because here it will not only be enough to press the attack button and little else, since it has been taken the gameplay of Breath of the Wild and has been adapted to that of this musou.
This means that we will have to constantly dodge blows, protect ourselves from impacts or return them, in addition to being able to jump on a wall to use the parasail and thus fly over our opponents. These are details that must be taken into account and used at all times, because some normal enemies can give you the odd blow without too much importance, but things change drastically when it comes to facing the most powerful creatures , especially the final bosses, because anyone who just goes like a headless chicken against them will be completely sold out.
In the case of Link, it is the one in which it can be appreciated that he maintains the same abilities by handling the sword and because he is one of the few characters that is capable of using different weapons that will modify their controls, hence it is not the same wielding a sword as a spear or a mace, which will give rise to different types of combos and in turn a different way of dealing with combat. In any case, the sword will continue to be the best weapon to overcome the adversities that lie ahead.
Another detail that also helps these types of sequences win many points is due to the fact that the game is completely localized into different language. The same voice actors from Breath of the Wild have once again put themselves in the shoes of their respective characters to do a simply splendid job, with a cast of voices that fit perfectly and are capable of transmitting joy, emotion or sadness. when it’s due. In fact, this makes us cross our fingers so that this is the course that the saga takes from now on with scenes galore and that above all are dubbed in our language.
Another reason why this musou is unique is that the fact that there are fewer characters to choose from has been prioritized here in order to make them different from each other. For example, in the Dynasty Warriors saga you can meet 100 or 200 characters with whom in the end the only thing that distinguishes each one in most cases is their appearance. On the contrary, in this Hyrule Warriors it will not be the same at all to control Link than Zelda or Impa, because each one has their own combos and ways of attacking . In this way, when we select one of them, we will really notice that it is that character in question and not just any other skin.
In this sense, Impa will be able to create clones that will fight alongside him, Revali will be able to fly through the air while shooting bursts of arrows or Mipha will generate tornadoes of water that will trap all the enemies around. Some will hit harder than others, there will also be some tougher or slower moving due to their size. In the end all these are aspects that it is impossible to ignore because not all characters are equally effective in all battles , among which there are some very broken, hence you have to think carefully about which is the best for each moment, although That does not mean that in the end each one opts for their favorites or the one that best suits their way of playing.
Combos and special attacks, apart from being unique to each one, are a visual spectacle on the screen. As we massacre enemies, we will increase an energy bar that when completing and using it we will unleash the most devastating abilities of our protagonists. The same thing that will happen if we manage to break the shield of the mini-bosses or final bosses, something that we must try at all costs to carry out because they are authentic tough bones to crack, hence we insist on the fact that there will be more than one that will give you enough war until they bite the dust.
In another aspect in which all the heroes will differ is when using the sheikah stone that they will carry equipped. This powerful artifact will work the same as in Breath of the Wild when using the bomb module, magnet, stun, and iceberg . For example, in the case of bombs Link will drop them one by one, while Zelda will create a machine that will move around the stage while dropping bombs everywhere. On the other hand, the paralyzer or the magnet works the same for everyone when it comes to stopping enemies in their tracks or taking their weapons from their hands so they do not attack with them.
For its part, the iceberg does not work in the same way in all circumstances and this will not make the type of terrain we find ourselves very aware of, because by making a block of ice in the water we will make our enemies freeze. In the same way, all the characters will carry fire, ice and electricity scepters that will cause great damage to enemies and even more depending once again on the type of place, because the electric scepter will cause great damage to those who are stepping on it. water or fire scepter will severely damage ice creatures. Of course, their respective uses are somewhat limited , hence you have to think carefully about the best time to take them out of your pocket.
Missions, tasks and rewards to give and take
Each of the Hyrule Warriors phases, especially the main ones, will take you an average of 20-30 minutes to complete , which will make you want to take a break in between these frenzied battles. This is where the Hyrule map comes into play , which is the same as that of Breath of the Wild with its respective areas, towns, cities, islands, etc., which we already knew. In each of these places there will be shops and characters who will request our help , which will serve to improve and empower all the characters.
As we progress with the main campaign, points of interest will appear throughout the map that in most cases will ask us to deliver a series of objects in question. Nor is it that it is a big problem because during the battles you will be getting items of all kinds based on defeating enemies, opening chests or simply by completing the chapters. Even so, that does not mean that there are certain objects more rare and that it will be more difficult to find them, which will require that you have to repeat some screens in order to unlock 100% of the game .
In the end, the effort will be worth it, because thanks to this the characters will increase their attack combinations, their energy bar will be expanded or also their number of hearts to make them more resistant on the battlefield. To this is added the fact that little by little kitchen dishes will be unlocked to prepare meals that will provide the most succulent advantages and that will come in handy for those more challenging phases, because there will also be some secondary missions with very specific objectives, such as for example eliminate a certain amount of bosses in a time limit. Some extreme challenges suitable for the most expert at the controls.
With regard to the stores, it will be another very good way to buy objects or food for missions and dishes, although there will also be others to improve the weapons of our characters. Specifically, one of them will be the forge to merge the different weapons in order to increase the damage of the main one that we have equipped at that time or so that it has special bonuses that will make it more effective. However, there will also be the possibility of eliminating some of these advantages to replace them with others, which will require spending an enormous amount of resources, in the same way that we will also have to use everything we have in our pocket if we want to remove rust of other weapons that we collect to find out what power they hide.
Returning to the topic of secondary missions, in some of them they will force us to play with a particular character, while in others we can choose the one we want. But if there is something that stands out in all the missions, it is that the scenarios are very varied and are entirely taken from Breath of the Wild, hence there will be many that will be most familiar to you . Naturally they have modifications and are even more extensive than the originals to adapt them to these macro battles, but most of the time it will give the feeling of being again touring the huge and fantastic Hyrule.
Among all these missions there will also be other more different ones that will allow us to pilot nothing more and nothing less than the Divine Beasts. If you want to discover the true scope of the potential of Vah Rudania, Vah Medoh, Vah Ruta and Vah Naboris, this will undoubtedly be the best way, because in these phases we will put ourselves at the controls of these devastating and titanic machines with which we will eliminate thousands of enemies on the same screen. Whether it’s launching lasers, firebombs or lightning storms, it will be the most fun to see an entire army being crushed with little disheveled.
However, the handling of the Divine Beasts has not finished convincing us too much. To target the hundreds of enemies on the stage with them, you have to use the motion control of the Joy-Con and the truth is that it does not work as well as we would like because the Divine Beasts are too big, they collide with the stage walls and sometimes it costs too much to get them out of some place where they get trapped. In the end you have to resort to using the sticks (when you can) to attack, because if not, these types of levels would be a headache just for control.
Regardless, between all the primary and secondary objectives, the game duration can easily be increased to 40-50 hours until you have a blast . And if you want to unlock absolutely everything, including the hidden chests and Kolog seeds that are hidden in each phase, it would not be surprising if the duration doubles or even triples due to its enormous replayability or for wanting to face the battles at different levels of difficulty.
The Age of Cataclysm: A technical section that meets in an outstanding way
When I finished Hyrule Warriors: The Age of Cataclysm I wanted to put the previous Hyrule Warriors published on Nintendo Switch to compare the differences between one and the other and I noticed an important detail such as the fact that this new installment goes at 30 fps compared to the 60 fps from the other title. Nor is it necessarily something negative, since graphically it is identical to Breath of the Wild, just as it also goes at the same speed, but it seems that it is entirely a continuation with all the laws, except for the changes in gameplay, of course.
The good thing is that the performance is very good and the 30fps will be constant most of the time. Of course there are downturns when there are too many enemies on the screen or when one of our main characters takes advantage of their most powerful abilities, but they are very specific moments that are not at all annoying for the overall experience or can be a great inconvenience during battles. Even so, the combos and effects are so spectacular at all times that they will make you want to take advantage of the special attacks whenever you can.
And if there is something that is also masterful, it is its sound section. Among the songs chosen there are some that have been taken from Breath of the Wild with slight differences, as if they were remasters, and there are also other completely new melodies that are a real treat for the ears. Of course it is one of the soundtracks that will remain to be remembered and that makes you want to listen to it over and over again, but even more so during battles because they manage to convey that epicity that is experienced in some of them.
Something that is also not far behind is dubbing, as we mentioned earlier. Putting this together, with the musical themes, the battles and the shocking sequences, sometimes it gives the impression that we are witnessing an animated film.
