Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Reviews
Age of Calamity boasts compelling combat, a stack of content and a clever remix of Breath of the Wild's Hyrule.
Zelda gets the Dynasty Warriors treatment once more, folding in inspiration from Breath of the Wild for the best musou spin-off yet.
The best Dynasty Warriors style game ever made, which means it's slightly north of mediocre, with simplistic combat, weak storytelling, and a whole lot of repetition.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is an ace accomplice to Breath of the Wild, providing charming backstories to its colorful cast of characters while carrying forward the spirit of experimental gameplay with impressive results.
The action is tedious, but cutting through swaths of Bokoblins and single-handedly clearing a battlefield is still rewarding
The game never fully embraces the potential opportunities of its time-traveling premise, but I was still hooked throughout. Possibly it helped that Breath of the Wild already did such a good job of establishing the stakes. Age of Calamity didn’t have to do much to pull on the same heartstrings. Sometimes, a short cutscene with a pained glance or a wavering voice was all it took to reinvigorate the drama of it all.
Age of Calamity improves on the combat and structure of Hyrule Warriors, but saps much of the weight from Breath of the Wild's backstory as it fills in its gaps.
Not even my ardent love for these characters was enough to sustain my interest over the entire, artificially padded game
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity isn't The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, but it's a great musou game with a lot of content for starved fans of Breath of the Wild. Even if you're a Zelda fan who can take or leave musou games, Age of Calamity is worth taking. However, occasional slowdown and frame drops, especially in handheld mode on the Switch Lite, make it clear the Switch is aging quickly.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity brings some of the same "Warriors" baggage along with it, but as someone who was always into these Omega Force romps, the juice was worth the squeeze. The story was genuinely enthralling throughout and it serves as a great companion piece for Breath of the Wild, while forging its own identity in many respects. I suspect a lot of the alterations are going to be controversial, but I like that they took some big swings and really went with it.
Age of Calamity is, for all intents and purposes, a prequel to Breath of the Wild. It might be a spin-off in a separate genre, but it's clearly a labour of love, and the result is a thoroughly enjoyable romp through one of the most interesting periods of Hyrule. If the first game was a love letter to the Zelda series, this not only improves on this concept in every way, but stands as one of the best Zelda games, period.
Breath of the Wild elements enrich the musou formula to make Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity a better video game, although there's still some of the usual problems in the genre. It's not perfect, that much is obvious, but it's so much fun that, in the end, you forget about the not so good stuff.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a game no Zelda or Musou fan should pass up.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity tells a story of growth, friendship and courage, in a technically shaky but fascinating musou context.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Successful at what it sets out to do, however – providing a fun, interesting and exciting new adventure that fans of that game will surely enjoy. It won’t stay your appetite for Breath of the Wild 2 – but it’ll keep you occupied happily enough all the same.
As a Musou game, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is enjoyable. Narratively, on the other hand, it pulls every punch and is completely underwhelming as a prequel to Breath of the Wild.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fantastic Musou game that stays true to it's Breath of the Wild roots. With some of the best gameplay in the genre, it's easy to recommend.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will appeal to Breath of the Wild fans, but it may not reach beyond that niche.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a ton of fun, but handicaps itself with the occasionally abysmal frame pacing, wonky camera, and design of later missions. Still, it's the perfect accompaniment to Breath of the Wild and well worth your time.