Age of Calamity is a blast, even for a Warriors newcomer

For someone who isn’t a huge fan of the hack-and-slash genre, I stayed away from the first Hyrule Warriors game. Plus, a lot of the story and a few of the characters weren’t canon (I’m looking at you, Linkle). But when Eiji Aonuma said “You’ll have to wait a bit longer” in regards to Breath of the Wild 2, Age of Calamity seemed like the only way to get my Zelda fix until 2021. Plus, this game is definitely canon and serves as a prequel to Breath of the Wild — therefore answering some burning questions and painting a clearer picture of the days leading up to Hyrule’s demise.

The story

The demo only allows you to play in Central Hyrule, but the entire Breath of the Wild map will be playable once the full game is released. The story starts after Calamity Ganon unleashes his attack. Hyrule is in flames, and we pan to Zelda’s chambers to see a cute “baby” Guardian pop out of a fallen crate. The robot opens a portal and jumps into it. Then we cut to Link, clad in his soldier’s garb, defending Hyrule Castle from some Bokoblin and Moblin goons. When he meets up with Impa, we find the baby Guardian, who had traveled to Hyrule before the devastation begins and is there to help protect Zelda prevent Calamity Ganon from destroying the land.

Obviously, this doesn’t exactly go as planned, but we do know that Zelda survives at least. It is at around this time that the regular, full-sized Guardians begin to be influenced by Ganon’s malice. The demo ends with Link, Zelda, and Impa setting out to round up the other Champions and find a way to utilize the Divine Beasts to save the day, which we also know doesn’t exactly go as planned. It’s a bit of a bummer to put all of this work into a plan we know won’t work out, but I guess that’s exactly how our heroes felt at the time.

Gameplay

When I decided to download the demo, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I mastered all the combos and skills from playing Breath of the Wild, so I assumed this was going to be a piece of cake. But boy was I wrong. Everything I learned was practically meaningless. Age of Calamity has completely different controls and commands. I kept on pressing “X” thinking I was going to jump, only to unleash an attack. To my dismay, regular jumping isn’t in this game at all — a feature that made Breath of the Wild one of the most exploratory titles in the series. The only way to get some height is to wall jump by pressing “B,” or by using your glider during certain combos.

In terms of healing and items, you have to hold down “L” to reach a quick menu. While in this menu, time slows down, but it isn’t the same as the pause menu you use to select health and items in Breath of the Wild. It does make for smoother gameplay, but when I was overwhelmed by a Lynel or other intense foes, I actually embraced the break.

Playable Characters

Now, in terms of characters, the demo lets you play as three of the best — Link, (young) Impa, and Zelda. They each have unique special attacks, which are activated using the same button regardless of which character you are playing as. Despite how interesting their varied combat methods are, I preferred playing as Link because he doesn’t really make any noise. Both Impa and Zelda have catchphrases that they shout out repeatedly during combat. One thing I’ve always loved about the Zelda series is the lack of dialogue on Link’s part, aside from some tasteful “hiyas!” and grunts. But both Impa and Zelda have some really cool moves, so it was fun nonetheless. Impa can create copies of herself to storm monsters, and Zelda can use her trusty Sheikah Slate to knock monsters out with Runes.

A good hack and slasher, but a sad ending seems inevitable

I enjoyed the demo way more than I thought I would — probably because I hadn’t touched a “new” Zelda title since Breath of the Wild, and I was itching to explore the realm of Hyrule once more. After I got a better hang of the controls, it felt awesome defeating hordes of enemies that would have taken a lot more work and strategy in the original game. It was great getting to know the characters we only got to see or interact with briefly in the original game, and I know I’ll be excited when I get to meet Mipha and the rest of the gang in the full release.

That being said, I’m not a huge fan of a story with an ending I’ve already experienced in great detail. And although everyone is alive and well at this point, you don’t really get to interact with them much aside from cutscenes and the occasional voice-over giving you instructions. Overall, the Age of Calamity demo has convinced me to check out the full game, and I am looking forward to the Breath of the Wild sequel even more.