Hyrule Warriors Reviews
It's certainly not perfect, but Hyrule Warriors' combat and treatment of the typically sterile Zelda franchise is just big, dumb, loud fun.
Hyrule Warriors ought not to work – it smacks of Nintendo's desperation to get any sort of game out for its overlooked machine – but it will certainly delight the faithful fans, and manages to remain utterly true to the world of Zelda while offering really fresh-feeling gameplay. It's far from perfect, and won't win any awards, but has the attributes required to gain cult status in the years to come. If you have a Wii U, it's a must-buy.
Hyrule Warriors is a well-made, sometimes simultaneously dumb and brilliant good time.
Hyrule Warriors is not easy. I had to turn the difficulty all the way down on more than one occasion to get through the game in a timely fashion. That's a relationship I am used to with so-called "core games," or games aimed not at casual players, but traditional gamers who want some good, old-fashioned punishment through game difficulty.
If hack-n-slash games are your jam—or you can tolerate them but really just love The Legend of Zelda in all its iterations—then Hyrule Warriors is a more-than-worthy warmup for Link on the Wii U.
Like deep-fried caviar and the Warriors games that preceded it, Hyrule Warriors is an acquired taste that won't be for everybody. Gamers who primarily like first-person shooters or epics such as the Last of Us likely won't appreciate the mechanics of this game. If you're a fan of Dynasty Warriors-style games or grew up on old-school beat-em ups and adore the repetitive yet addicting mastery they require, then you will love this new link to the past.
Hyrule Warriors is the Legend of Zelda tactical brawler for the Wii U you didn't you know you wanted.
All in all, I'm glad to have experienced a game like Hyrule Warriors and also that I went into it without any great preconceived notions. What I found was an interesting addition to the Zelda franchise, enjoyable in a mindless way, and fun for scholars of Hyrulean lore. I would venture that any Zelda aficionado would find the same, just so long as you keep those wild expectations in check!
Nintendo has served up fans something to tide them over in this Zelda-themed Dynasty Warriors clone. It's fan service more than anything else, but as you may have noticed by now, Nintendo is pretty good at fan service.
At the end of the day, what elevates Hyrule Warriors to greatness is its seemingly endless fanservice. Whether it's an obscure cameo, a cucco counter attack, or even just an awesome finishing move, the game is rife with glorious slices of Zelda goodness.
Hyrule Warriors doesn't pretend to be anything that it isn't. It does exactly what it says on the tin, producing what is probably the best Warriors game to date, and doing so by taking many of the best aspects of The Legend of Zelda and successfully incorporating them into the classic 1-vs-1000 gameplay. The fan service is astonishing, the level of detail very welcome indeed, and the action can be truly satisfying, with the various bosses going a long way to making the repetitive action seem quite refreshing at times. A triumphant mash-up indeed.
It's hard to imagine a bigger love letter to the The Legend of Zelda franchise than Hyrule Warriors, which is a really polished and well-made Dynasty Warriors game. It still contains many of the franchise's flaws or weak points, but it also boasts many of its strengths. It's certainly more Warriors than Zelda, but it makes excellent use of the source material, so it doesn't feel like Link's face was slapped on an unrelated title. Some may miss the Zelda dungeon-crawling and exploration, but Zelda and Warriors fans will find a lot to like here.
"Battlefield Hyrule."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
While it’s a shame I won’t be able to share the experience with a friend without the game completely crapping out on itself, I will continue to enjoy this title and it’s unique take on the Zelda universe. Do I think it was worth a Limited Edition release? Probably not. But I would recommend this to any Dynasty Warriors, or Zelda fan for some great fun.
Come to Hyrule Warriors with a Dynasty Warriors mind, or with a fast-paced hack-n-slash mind. Then realize that deep down, you've always wanted to play a Zelda game like this just once. Don't worry, this is just a fun little diversion before the next "real" Zelda game drops on the Wii U.
Hyrule Warriors is a true crossover, not just a Zelda skin slapped onto a Warriors title. It's not the refined experience you get from The Legend of Zelda, but it's more involved than Dynasty Warriors. It's hack and slash fun that can scale with the player, mindless to skillful.
Hyrule Warriors delivers a wonderful Legend of Zelda action game with a large cast of familiar characters, identifiable worlds, a great upgrade/leveling system and endless amounts of action. It's far from a perfect game, especially in regards to controls and repetitiveness, but it's much better than expected. It has certainly raised the bar for the Dynasty Warriors series in regards to design.
If you're a fan of the Dynasty Warriors gameplay and the lore of The Legend of Zelda series, you will absolutely fall in love with Hyrule Warriors and enjoy the extensive list of replayable modes. For those of you who feel this is a taint on the Zelda brand, I can assure you that nothing but care and dedication has been given to the mythos of the franchise. That said, the gameplay itself can become quickly repetitive without a difficulty challenge besides beating the enemy to the punch. And though it looks like a Zelda game, it certainly doesn't feel like a traditional one. The story races through in quick segments, mostly to introduce a new playable character. It's not the epic tale masterfully weaved from past Zelda titles. It's a game with perks and a game with flaws, and it will be up to each player's personal preferences to decide whether it's a worthy addition to their Nintendo library.
At the end of the day, Hyrule Warriors is at its core a Dynasty Warriors game, but it injects enough of that Legend of Zelda pizzazz to feel fresh and fun in its own right. This game won't convert you into Dynasty Warriors fan and it has its fair share of problems, but after all is said and done I can say this; Hyrule Warriors is fun, and I guess sometimes that's all that matters.
It looks like Zelda and plays like Dynasty Warriors. Yep, it does pretty much what it says on the tin.