I recently picked up Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition for the first time, and in my excitement, I quickly slashed my way through the entire main story with little hesitation. So quickly, in fact, that when it was all over, I couldn’t help but feel as if I had missed out on a large portion of the game. I’d barely unlocked half of the playable cast, and the Legend Mode wasn’t the “Completionist’s Nightmare” that the game’s fans kept insisting it was. Confused by this, I went back to the title screen for the first time since booting it up, and I noticed the words “Adventure Mode” silently beckoning to me. Perhaps my tunnel vision for lore and plot had finally stabbed me in the back, preventing me from experiencing everything the game had to offer before the credits rolled. Now intrigued, I opened up the first map and began the grind.
The first map, fittingly themed around the original Legend of Zelda, kept me busy for a few hours, but the battles soon began to feel rather repetitive. I wasn’t quite ready to quit, though, so I decided to open up the Twilight Map, hoping for a change of pace. What I discovered completely uprooted the expectations that the first map had set for me: a full 8-bit remix of Twilight Princess’ Hyrule Field theme that perfectly complimented Adventure Mode’s retro art style.
Even as a musician, it takes a truly excellent track for me to stop playing a game just to let my ears be serenaded. The original song is incredible enough on its own, but this chiptune remix left me in such awe that it looped at least five times before I was willing to start a mission. It may not technically be a pure 8-bit experience, since it wasn’t performed entirely on a chiptune synthesizer, but to me, it still feels authentic. The melody brims with courage and heart, and when the choir joins in at the 0:44 mark, it adds the perfect splash of wistfulness without detracting from the Game Boy-style minimalism. Simply put, this version of the iconic Twilight Princess track fills me with the most wonderful sense of artificial nostalgia.
I now wonder how many people have played Hyrule Warriors without discovering this fantastic remix, as well as others like it that are scattered throughout the game. I imagine that a number of players tried out the Adventure Mode on the first map and decided it wasn’t for them, so they dismissed the other maps without even bothering to open them up. I completely understand that, since, as I mentioned before, I almost fell into the same trap. But now I want to highly encourage people to give the Adventure Mode another shot, because I’ve learned that the gold is often buried just past the threshold of where most people would be inclined to look. As long as you remain patient and determined, your efforts will ultimately be rewarded.
