History to make players wait until the release of the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo will offer a prequel on November 20 on its Switch. In effect, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity plunges us back into the enchanting but tortured world of Link's latest adventures. But this time, it's the action that is at the heart of the gameplay. Here are our first impressions.
A Warriors like no other
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is kind of a spin-off in concept but closely tied to The Legend of Zelda saga. Indeed, the story takes place a century before the adventures of Link in Breath of the Wild (BOTW). Our valiant knight must protect the princess and above all repel the Scourge Ganon with the help of several acolytes. It is therefore a game that is aimed directly at lovers of the franchise and there is no shortage of winks to charm fans of the universe imagined by Shigeru Miyamoto.
As part of this preview, we were able to browse the first two chapters of the title. This equates to about eight hours of gameplay by completing a few secondary objectives. Like any good self-respecting "Warriors", Koei Tecmo and Omega Force are in charge of development. However, Nintendo is not very far to ensure scriptwriting and visual consistency with BOTW. Thus, Hyrule Warriors: The Age of Scourge takes over the artistic direction, the aesthetics of the menus or the design of the characters. Purists will not be lost!
It's time for the fight!
Here, the epic is divided into several missions that must be selected on the Hyrule kingdom map. Generally, the objectives require defeating as many enemies as possible who arrive in waves, capturing outposts or even beating bosses. No need to expect exploration or peaceful moments. The action is almost uninterrupted and rather enjoyable. Besides Link, various characters are playable like Zelda, Daruk, Revali, Urbosa, Mipha and Impa. All of them have a unique weapon and have the same abilities seen in BOTW.
The modules of the sheikah tablet are therefore making a comeback by allowing our avatar to throw bombs, freeze, stop time or even use a magnet to send objects back to enemies. These skills, if cast at the right time, serve to reduce disorient the opponent in order to expose their Weakness Gauge. The latter also appears during a perfect dodge or after a very specific attack. Once this gauge is empty, it is possible to deliver an overpowered blow to the target. Overall, the combat system is effective despite a camera that has the unfortunate tendency to position itself badly on clashes with bosses and mini-bosses.
Varied but jerky first minutes
However, despite this constant flow of action on the screen, this Hyrule Warriors manages to vary the pleasures. In addition to the main story-related missions, the player can participate in challenges (kill so many monsters in 5 minutes, not get hit, use a particular type of weapon...) or even learn new recipes kitchen tools that grant bonuses before setting off on an adventure. It is also necessary to unlock access to merchants by collecting the appropriate resources on the battlefield. The extras therefore seem numerous.
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Even better (SPOILER warning !!!), certain phases allow you to control the imposing divine creatures of BOTW. They often ask the player to move in a straight line using devastating weapons. Quite exhilarating, these short sequences are noticeably spoiled by a not always optimal readability of the action. And the framerate also leaves something to be desired...
Because if the game is successful on the artistic level, impossible to say as much on the technical part. Texture blurring, clipping, aliasing and extremely low resolution are clearly spoiling the party especially in handheld mode. The rendering is much more convincing on a television. We will still appreciate the variety of settings visited and the cutscenes that are both short and neat. The Spanish dubbing also turned out to be very good during these first hours.
JVFR
Our first review of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
This second Hyrule Warriors is pleasant and easy to handle. If we will have to wait for the final test to judge the scenario as a whole, the story keeps all its promises for the moment. The progression isn't too redundant either, and the "Warriors" gameplay seems well-suited to the Breath of the Wild sauce. At the moment, only the graphics and the technique in laptops really do the job. Let's hope for the rapid deployment of a patch to correct these difficult to ignore errors.
Do not hesitate to download the demo (which allows you to discover the entire first chapter) from the eShop.
Buy Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
