Many fans of the Zelda franchise are very excited to hear more on “Breath of the Wild 2” but many didn’t expect another “Hyrule Warriors” game that’s canon to the BOTW world. That is until Oct. 28 when fans got a hold of the “Age of Calamity” demo that Koei Techmo and Nintendo distributed on the Eshop. Let’s take a dive into the demo and see what fans can expect.
The premise is a prequel to the first BOTW, taking place before the Age of Calamity and the destruction of Hyrule.
A lone small guardian gets sent to the past in order to warn the past Zelda about Hyrule’s demise. This demo consists of the first and second chapters.
That’s all that could be said, as Koei Techmo wants to keep the story and plot details a secret and let fans discover more for themselves.
The gameplay is a warriors style game where the player faces masses of enemies, making them a one-man army as they storm the levels defeating enemies and completing objectives.
Hidden in the levels are Korroks, returning from the 2017 game. Find and collect all of them and a special event might happen.
There are side quests that the player can complete to earn more rupees, weapons, or materials that would help on their journey.
The only characters that were playable in the demo were Link, Impa, and Zelda who play very differently from each other.
Link is a knight for the Royal Hyrule army, chosen by the king to protect the Princess. He is an all-around character that is balanced in speed, attack, weapons, etc. Link is the only character so far who can change outfits.
Impa is a member of the Sheikah Client and the adviser to the Royal Army and one of Zelda’s closest friends. She’s a speed type of character that relies on fast movement and attacks that don’t deal a lot of damage but are quick to deliver. Impa is able to summon spirits to help her in chaining combos, adding new mechanics and attacks to her arsenal.
Zelda is the Princess of Hyrule and has the responsibility of awakening her power to seal the Calamity. Though more of a researcher than a fighter, she is able to attack enemies with the Sheikah Slate, making her a more technical combatant. She wasn’t as fun to play as Link or Impa, but it’s still interesting that her move-set uses different versions of the already available Sheikah Slate that all characters have.
The voice acting is really nice as many voice actors and actresses came back to reprise their roles and still sound fantastic.
The graphics looks just like how they did in the 2017 game and it still looks amazing. There weren’t as many frame drops and for the most part, everything was smooth and in working conditions so that was a plus.
All in all, first impressions on “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity” are positive. There are a lot of things that the game has done right and some that can be fixed just a bit. But this is just a demo so the full game should resolve these issues. Can’t wait to play the full game on Nov. 20 and experience this prequel that’ll keep me entertained until the “BOTW 2” comes out.
