Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

About

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fantasy hack and slash game for Nintendo Switch, offering various gameplay modes: single-player, local 2-player co-op with split screen, and multi-player. The story, set 100 years before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, lets you experience Hyrule's full past and fight to prevent the kingdom's destruction. Engage in action-packed gameplay using powerful weapons and magical runes to vanquish armies of enemies in a memorable adventure through a familar world with beloved characters.

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Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity screenshot

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 110 reviews

story20 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

Engaging storyline that provides a compelling backstory to Breath of the Wild, enhancing the overall lore.
Fun hack and slash gameplay with a variety of characters and abilities, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre.
Great graphics and production value, with high-quality cutscenes and a satisfying combat system.

Gameplay can become repetitive over time, leading to a grind-fest experience.
Significant frame rate drops and glitches that can hinder gameplay, especially during intense battles.
Not an open-world experience like Breath of the Wild, which may disappoint fans expecting similar exploration mechanics.

story
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
53%
8%
The story of the game serves as an engaging prequel to "Breath of the Wild," offering a unique narrative that expands on the lore and characters, particularly the champions. While some players appreciate the deeper insights and connections to the original game, others criticize inconsistencies with the established canon and find the storytelling choppy or lacking. Overall, the narrative is seen as a compelling addition for fans of the franchise, despite some mixed opinions on its execution and coherence.
- “The storyline is really engaging, lines up well with both games, and provides a bit of an 'alternative timeline' happier ending than what really happened as a BOTW prequel.”
- “I love absolutely everything about it, from the map screen that lets you see all the side quests to the playable characters and the lovely cutscenes that tell you more about the relationships between characters that you only got a hint of in the memories in Breath of the Wild.”
- “The game has offered 25-30 hours of solid gameplay, with a great insight into the story and lore of what happened '100 years ago' in Hyrule.”
- “It is more like a bad fan fiction that completely ignores the canon story.”
- “The story can seem a little choppy and incoherent at times, but I thought it was executed decently.”
- “However, the story does not fully line up with the events in Breath of the Wild, meaning it isn’t fully canon.”
gameplay
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
50%
13%
The gameplay of Hyrule Warriors combines familiar mechanics from Breath of the Wild with a hack-and-slash style reminiscent of Dynasty Warriors, offering fast-paced and addictive combat. While the game provides a satisfying experience with a variety of characters and abilities, some players find the repetitive nature of the gameplay and frame rate issues to be drawbacks. Overall, it appeals to fans of the genre and those interested in the lore of Hyrule, delivering around 25-30 hours of engaging content.
- “The gameplay is fast, frenetic, and totally addictive. The characters are all worth playing as, and it's a truly magnificent thing to be able to see Hyrule as it was before the calamity struck.”
- “The gameplay is familiar to those who have played Breath of the Wild while delivering a Warriors game experience.”
- “Slaying bokoblins by the hundreds and thousands is extremely satisfying. The gameplay is really fun with runes, rods, etc., and there is a wide variety of characters to choose from.”
- “A very nice game that adds a lot to the history of Breath of the Wild, but the game mechanics get old quickly.”
- “If you aren't into repetitive gameplay, this might wear on you though.”
- “The two main issues for me were 1) the famous frame rate drops (not debilitating but noticeable) which are inexcusable for a full price AAA game and 2) all the crappy glitches I experienced that hindered gameplay.”
graphics
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
77%
8%
15%
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many users praising the art style reminiscent of "Breath of the Wild" and noting the appealing visuals in cutscenes and environments. While some players mentioned occasional struggles with performance, the overall aesthetic and design were highlighted as strong points, contributing to an enjoyable gaming experience.
- “I prefer this game to the first Hyrule Warriors as it is beautifully styled in the LOZ: BOTW art style and the cutscenes are great also!”
- “Great game and graphics, a stellar follow-up to BOTW and strong filler until BOTW2.”
- “Loved the graphics and music too.”
- “Graphics can be struggling at some points, but a game like this on handheld is just always great!”
- “This is my feeling only: it was a bit of a deception when I played for the first time... it is just fighting and fighting again... I really loved Breath of the Wild, this one less attracts my interest... except that, graphics, speed, etc. are here, just I am not a fan of that one.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The music in the game is highly praised, with reviewers consistently highlighting it as the standout feature, often noting its high quality and effective integration with gameplay elements. Many players appreciate the cinematic score and the nostalgic connection to previous titles in the series, contributing to an overall positive reception of the game's audio experience.
- “Music is great, definitely the best part of the game.”
- “The cinematics, music, and voice acting are very high quality.”
- “The music is great and I love how they implemented all the abilities from BotW for Link.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from notable stability issues, including frequent glitches that can cause freezing at critical points and frame rate drops that, while not game-breaking, are disappointing for a full-priced AAA title. Overall, these stability problems significantly hinder the gameplay experience.
- “My son said that the game glitches when he gets to a certain point.”
- “It freezes and he can't pass the level or move on.”
- “The two main issues for me were 1) the noticeable frame rate drops, which are inexcusable for a full-price AAA game, and 2) all the glitches I experienced that hindered gameplay.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
150%
The optimization of the game on the Nintendo Switch has been criticized, with users noting significant performance issues that detract from the overall experience. While the story and gameplay received decent scores, the performance was rated poorly, indicating a need for better optimization to ensure smoother gameplay throughout.
- “In all, I am satisfied with the delivery of the game and the story, but I think the Nintendo Switch needed an upgrade to run smoothly from start to finish, in my opinion.”
- “A quick review: story - 6/10, gameplay - 8/10, visuals - 7/10, music - 9/10, performance - 2/10. Overall - 7/10. About 25 hours to beat. I'm a 40-year-old gamer who grew up with Zelda games, and I have enjoyed Breath of the Wild a lot, so my review might be biased.”
- “The performance is a major letdown, scoring only 2/10. It really hampers the overall experience.”
- “Despite enjoying the gameplay and visuals, the optimization issues are hard to overlook and significantly affect the enjoyment.”
- “I found the game to be quite enjoyable, but the optimization is severely lacking, which detracts from the overall experience.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game somewhat frustrating, as they cannot farm for essential resources like fish and collectibles, which are only obtained randomly during missions. While the game starts off engaging, it tends to become tedious over time due to this limitation.
- “It's odd you can't go farming fish and collectibles that you need; you just pick them up randomly in missions.”
- “Good game to start, but it becomes a little tedious!”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
300%
Players appreciate the character development in the game, noting that it enhances the lore and depth of various characters from "Breath of the Wild," providing a richer narrative experience.
- “If you have played Breath of the Wild, then this really adds to the lore and character development of many different characters from that game.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with anyone in the story.”
- “I was disappointed by how predictable the character arcs were; they didn't evolve in any meaningful way.”
- “The game introduces many characters, but their development is rushed and leaves you wanting more backstory.”