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Hyrule Warriors
Wii U
All You Need is Kill
3.5/5 stars
Despite my predication for games of all stripes (including ones where you beat up a lot of things... mostly zombies) I have never once played one of the many warriors games out there. Considering just how many of these games are out there, it's obvious the genre must have a pretty big following. In recent years, however, they have moved away from the Dynasty Warriors image (taking place in the Three Kingdoms era and featuring many heroes from that period) and have branched out into many properties. Zelda is the latest franchise to get this treatment, and my first real taste of this kind of game. I have to say, in short spurts, the game has its moments. It does get repetitive but the visual style is pretty amazing (along with some classic Zelda themes - both in settings and sound) and, in the end, though it may not be your "traditional" Zelda game, it has its charms.
Presentation: Since I was pretty much forced to play co-op only, my visual impression of the game comes mainly from the gamepad - and even on the tiny screen, the game looks pretty darn good. I read the graphics only improve in single player (as apparently keeping up with two screens is a bit much for the system) but as it is - it isn't the worst thing playing on the pad. The worst aspect is that the camera much be adjusted constantly - I found myself numerous times fighting - only to start hitting air after taking out a group of enemies and having to rotate the screen and hoping I didn't get attacked by something I couldn't see. That niggle aside, the rest of the game played out well. The style is bit more impressive than past Zelda games - dare I say even more adult-oriented. I mean, the main enemy has cleavage - from Nintendo! So, congratulations on taking things to the next level.
The music should sound familiar - as do the sound effects (a nice touch), but, like every other Zelda game, it also doesn't use any voice acting for the characters. Instead, we get a series of grunts, exclamations, screams and other questionable sounds that either make me think the character is constipated or really, really excited (if you know what I mean). The only true voice acting comes from the between-level narrator - and it's more annoying than anything, as she sounds the worlds most bored storyteller. Maybe someday Zelda will decide to go with voices, but I won't be holding my breath.
Otherwise, the design is good - the levels are large and varied (taking place across many of the Zelda locales from Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and more) and the enemies (both the mobs of cannon fodder and the big bosses) also come from many of the different Zelda scenarios. Take these, along with some original characters thrown in for good measure, and the game does have it's own unique take on the Zelda mythos.
Story: While it follows a traditional Zelda storyline (hero chosen, Zelda saved, Master Sword taken, Tri-force awakened, bad guys get ahold of power - good guys take it back - oh, and thrown in Ganandorf, of course) - it does so my merging many different Zelda timelines (and characters) into one story. Cia, the main villain, and her generals (a Dragon Knight with a wicked spear named Volga and a Wizaro - a hybrid enemy with a scary mouth/eye) are here to take over - and Cia has some fascination with the "hero" (Link, of course). But the enemy is countered by the perkiest of perky Zelda characters, a magic-tome wielding, blue-haired ball of pretty, Lana. She seems to have some connection with Cia, and does everything she can to stop her. Of course, Cia's antics eventually awaken Ganon (and you can even play a few levels as the bad guys - a fun little twist towards the end) leading to an ultimate showdown. The game doesn't reinvent the wheel in the story department - but it's an interesting take on the (large) Zelda timeline of events, and bringing together several of these worlds was a nice choice. Plus you get to play as everyone (should you choose) from Midna, to Shiek to Cia to Ganon himself - granted, this is the main draw of these "warrior" type games - but, hey, it's a good hook.
Gameplay: Kill. Recharge. Kill some more. Collect. Upgrade. Kill. Kill. Kill. Lay waste to hordes of enemies who stand before you - with sword, fire rod, hammer, magic book, spear, rapier or pure energy - each characters has multiple weapon types to choose from. Each of the main levels has an element associated with them - most of the time the game requires you to have a character you must choose, and it highly suggests who to take along. If your element is the correct one on your weapon, you do much more damage to enemies and it makes things much easier.
Each level consists of multiple location (keeps) that you can take over. Taking down keeps often awards you with treasure chests that can contain rupees, weapons and heart containers (heart containers can only be collected by certain characters in each level - hence the "highly suggested" part above). Levels have many objectives to them - usually involving killing certain enemies, opening areas, protecting allies and the like. You can fail levels if you A) Die. B). Fail certain objectives or C) Run out of time. If you do die, you can restart from checkpoints - so that's not the worst. It's pretty tough to fail objectives or go over the time limit. Levels also contain a Spider you can collect to unlock pieces of a portrait (with more showing up after completing the game on normal). As you fight through the level you run across "generals" and "bosses" - these enemies drop crafting material, necessary for increasing attack, defense and abilities and making subsequent playthroughs (especially on higher difficulties) much easier. The worst aspect is the repetition - sure, mowing down waves of Moblins and skeletons is fun - but, as stated, I could only play through a few levels before I would want to let it rest. It's not a game I personally could play for hours on end.
You gain levels as you fight as well, though the game is set up so that certain characters are used much more often (Link, Impa and Lana, for the most part) and thus is highly imbalanced. You can spend rupeed to upgrade characters, but it seems like a waste for the most part. All those materials you gather by beating higher-level enemies is used to upgrade each character - many of whom use the same material (so picking and choosing is an art - at least to start off). You can also craft and sell weapons (well, with the update anyway) but this isn't a very deep system at all. Certain weapons unlock skills only by killing a lot of enemies - giving you some incentive to go back again. You also unlock some staple secondary weapons - bombs, boomerang, arrows, hookshot - used to take down certain enemies (or at least making it easier) and often must be used on the "big bosses" at the level's end. You often also utilize them to blow up rocks (to open areas or uncover items), reach new areas or even upgrade them temporarily (with items) to make them much more effective in battle.
There above is the main story mode - Legend Mode - there is also an open mode and an adventure mode. We didn't spend much time in the open mode - but the Adventure Mode (taking place on a replica of the original NES Zelda map) adds some variety to the game. Each square gives you a challenge - kills these guys, beat these bosses, even trivia (with fighting, of course) and you are graded. Finish quickly with little damage and you get the "A" - do poorly, settle with a "C". Getting higher ranks may open new areas, award you with heart containers and more - the Adventure Mode even unlocks new weapon types and even certain characters. These can also be played Co-op - and is actually recommended. Even with this variety - my biggest gripe with the game is still how repetitive things get - and this is coming from someone who spent several hours running over zombies for a trophy.
Replayability: High but, once again, a lot of the same thing over and over again. With the variety of characters and weapons, if you want to level up everyone, collect every picture piece (apparently 100 in all), every heart container, every secret - well, there's a lot to go back for - but only if this style of game appeals to you.
Overall: A different take on Zelda - if you have played and enjoyed the warrior-type games in the past, this will probably be much more up your alley. But even on its own, it's a good diversion, if somewhat unremarkable in the end.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Replayability: 4/5
Overall (not an average): 3.5/5
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