Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a prequel to the super popular Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But set in the style of Dynasty Warriors 1 v 1000 style which fits perfectly with the time it’s set in.
If you are a fan of BOTW then you will appreciate the many callbacks and “features” from it that they translated very well into Age of Calamity.
The story uses a time-traveling mini guardian right at the beginning who is sent back to the past when Zelda’s powers finally awaken in BOTW to warn the characters about what’s to come. The rest is pretty much spoiler territory so I won’t touch on too much of the rest of the story.
Just know you’ll be fighting your way through many of the enemies you came to love and hate (or sometimes avoid in my case) in the original as you try to thwart ganon and learn more about The Great Calamity spoken of and seen through flashbacks in BOTW.
Playing as each of the heroes feels distinct and it’s great to get some hands on time with the Champions since we didn’t get too much time with them in BOTW. There’s also lots of additional character surprises throughout the game which keep things fresh when they start to get a little boring/repetitive.
Even though I’ve now beaten the main story I will definitely be returning this game to complete some missions, and unlock more things/beef up my characters more.
I’ll also be excited to return to the world of Hyrule again once the BOTW sequel is out!
Pro’s:
Good Story
Surprises for additional characters/fighters you unlock through the story
Pilot the Devine Beasts
Characters play very differently
Lots of content
It’s fun!
Con’s:
Camera can be a little clunky/occasional frame rate issue
Controls also occasionally don’t work the way you want them too (mainly with the Divine Beasts sections)
Repetitive, but only a con if you don’t like Dynasty Warriors type 1 v 1000 games
Rating: 8.5/10
Available on the Nintendo Switch
The Written Wor(l)d 