The success of the first Hyrule Warriors game, released in 2014 on the WiiU, was somewhat unexpected. It was a completely different genre than the series standard, and seemed to be a celebration of the Legend of Zelda series as a whole. It was a game for the fans, and not only did it succeed as a loving tribute, but it was also a damn fine game. I don’t want to think about how many hours total I have put into the original WiiU title, its updated 3DS port Hyrule Warriors: Legends, and the Definitive Edition that released for Nintendo Switch in 2018. To this day, I have not completed even close to all the content it has to offer.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity offers yet more content, new characters, and the story of Hyrule just before it fell to the forces of Calamity Ganon. Going in, I expected to be more invested in the story than the gameplay, given that I was already a Hyrule Warrior veteran, but it ended up being the other way around.

It’s impossible not to compare Age of Calamity to Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, which is the latest and greatest version of the original WiiU game. But this is not just Hyrule Warriors 2; all you have to do is turn the game on to see the difference.

Where the original Hyrule Warriors lived and breathed the entire Zelda franchise, Age of Calamity lives and breathes Breath of the Wild specifically. From its iconic cell-shaded graphics to its menu design, no effort has been spared to make it look the part of a Breath of the Wild prequel. Unlike the first Hyrule Warriors, which was a non-canon mash-up of all of the fan-favourite Zelda titles, Age of Calamity purports to tell the actual tale that forms the backstory for the mainline Zelda title Breath of the Wild. 

A true prequel

The original game gave the player a nigh-unmanageable pool of items such as bombs and arrows, which were annoying to switch between and were only useful when fighting giant bosses. Age of Calamity replaces this with a system that is far easier to use: Sheikah Runes. Like items, they are used to expose the weak points of enemies so they’re easier to kill, but as there’s only four of them, it’s less of a chore. Another sweet addition is elemental attacks that every character can use; depending on the environment of the battlefield or the type of enemy, a hit with an elemental attack can do massive damage. It puts more control in the players’ hands when facing off against multiple enemies.

There is one big problem though, and that’s the lag. It’s disappointing to see, especially since Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition runs so smoothly. All it takes is an attack with a lot of particle effects, or too many enemies on screen, for the game to start noticeably dropping frames. Co-op play is even worse, so much so that I wouldn’t even say it’s worth trying. The draw distance for details on the ground such as rocks and grass is pretty low too. The graphical style is gorgeous just like Breath of the Wild, but it seems that they’ve chosen that over technical performance – which, in a hack-and-slash game, is the wrong choice. It isn’t a deal-breaker, but it sure puts a damper on the busier stages.

Despite how different it succeeds in being, I cannot help but compare it to the Definitive Edition on the Switch. With the benefit of around 4 years of extra development time for gameplay improvements, new features, and DLC, The Definitive Edition of Hyrule Warriors is a near-perfected game. Perhaps it isn’t fair to hold Age of Calamity to that standard, but as it’s appealing to the same demographic, there’s no way around it: Age of Calamity just doesn’t win out.

Besides the lag and the lacklustre story, the devil is really in the details. There aren’t as many cool costumes, weapons, and other collectables as the previous game, making for less incentive to play the optional levels. Breath of the Wild’s muted colour palette, which is so beautiful in the main title, doesn’t work as well for this busy hack-and-slash game. My hope is that this game will see some patches, updates, and DLC so in