[Review] Age of Calamity: Guardian of Remembrance DLC

After five long months of waiting, the second half of the Age of Calamity Expansion Pass is finally here. This wave, Guardian of Remembrance, compliments the first DLC pack, Pulse of the Ancients, by offering a different style of content. Everything that the pack has to offer puts a stronger emphasis on narrative and builds off of the game’s main story. This is the DLC for players who have been waiting to learn more about Link and other heroes’ fight to stop the rising Calamity.

A Solid Content Expansion 

Matching the first wave of DLC, Guardian of Remembrance adds an abundance of new content to the base game. Many of these new features are things that fans have been wanting since Age of Calamity’s release in 2020.

These new additions include:

• Eight new story missions, featuring new cutscenes
• The new “Memory Quests” within the story missions
• New side missions, character abilities, and weapons
• Two new playable characters

An immediate great note about the DLC is that you encounter the majority of the best features while playing the story missions. For the rest, you are free to enjoy them at your leisure after the eight main missions are over.

Full Disclosure:

Nintendo graciously gave Zelda Universe a review code for the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Expansion Pass.

Stories Worth Remembering

The heart of this DLC pack is the new story missions. The setup for the missions is that Robbie and Purah, Hyrule’s resident geniuses and tech experts, are exploring the depths of Terrako’s memories to learn all they can about the mysterious diminutive Guardian. Doing so allows the player the chance to relive these memories, which are the untold tales from when Hyrule and its heroes fought against Calamity Ganon.

Each level is a complete experience, the same as any level from the core game. What sets them apart is the inclusion of the DLC-exclusive enemies and the Memory Quests. (I’ll discuss the Memory Quests later.) Otherwise, most of them are character-specific tales that pair two or more characters together to create an original story.

Many of these levels center on either Terrako’s journey to protect Zelda or the Champions and their descendants working together to defeat Ganon’s beasts. They are a solid mix of one ongoing story and multiple “slice of life” tales that give more depth to the characters.

War is a messy thing sometimes

My only real issue with the missions is that they were often hectic. And considering this is a Warriors game, that is saying something. The problem is that most levels introduce high-pressure situations where you are swarmed with powerful monsters. This isn’t anything new, and it was definitely present in the first DLC, but it did not work as well here. For me, it had to do with geography. 

There were far too many times when I was stuck fighting massive enemies in a zone that was simply too small for everything packed into it. When the camera keeps clipping into the terrain because all of the massive bodies are pushing you into a corner, you have a design problem. I understand that the game’s developers probably want to deliver more intensity, but there is a time and a place for that. And they picked the wrong place multiple times.

Those were more annoyances than anything, but I did need to mention them. Thankfully, I don’t need to mention anything else. The levels were fun, they weren’t too long — about 20 to 30 minutes apiece, I’d say — and they let me watch more Breath of the Wild-style cutscenes. I’d call that a success. 

Memories on top of Memories

I said I’d get to the Memory Quests later, and here we are. These quests are similar to the challenges found in Pulse of the Ancients’ Royal Tech Lab, though you aren’t exactly required to clear them. Each of the new missions has three Memory Quests. They can be things like being required to kill a specific number of enemies, find specific items, or protect certain allies. When you do complete every quest, you earn your reward.

Most of these rewards are essentially nice bonuses, such as new attacks and weapons for characters. If you’re a completionist and want to unlock as much as you can, these quests are a godsend. If you don’t really care (like me), you can ignore any of the ones you don’t want to do. 

That said, you do need to complete all of the quests for a specific level to unlock the DLC’s final character. To make a habit of this, I’ll explain more about that later on.

The Extra Killing Sprees to Make the DLC Come Alive

If this DLC is meant to play like an extension of the main game, what would it be without some side missions? These missions match the core game’s side missions in purpose: Clear the levels while completing specific win conditions — and kill a whole bunch of enemies while you’re at — it to earn rewards.

There aren’t many new side missions included. However, the ones added are definitely on the challenging side. They are for the players who loved the difficult missions from Pulse of the Ancients. 

For example, there is a new Coliseum level with a Master rank. So that’s fun. It’ll give you a heart attack for the first minute or so when you see every Malice-ridden thing that wants to kill you in, but it’s fun. If you can handle the calamitous surge of monsters, you’ll earn a lot of useful rewards, including the likes of multiple gems and the ever-useful Hearty Durians.

A New Challenger (Plus two more) Approaches

Aside from the new story missions, the heart of this DLC are the new playable characters. These characters are the team of Purah & Robbie, and Sooga. As mentioned at the start of this review, fans have been waiting for a chance to dive deep into the action with these three.

The Dynamically Nerdy Duo

Forevermore, Purah & Robbie will be to Zelda as the Ice Climbers are to Super Smash Bros. These two work as a pair. Wherever one goes, the other follows. For actual controls, you play directly as Robbie. It’s a bit upsetting that we can’t actually control Purah, but Robbie makes it up to us with his weapons of choice.

Robbie takes on a discount Dr. Octopus from Spider-Man persona by using two mechanical arms to attack. These extra appendages stem from a backpack he wears. With Purah as his support and technician, Robbie uses the arms to unleash a bevy of technologically advanced attacks on the enemies.

And keeping with both characters’ tendencies to multitask, Purah works more magic (or science?) by way of a mobile Ancient Furnace. With it, she can create miniature versions of the Divine Beasts that deliver wide-range attacks. The double-trouble of Purah & Robbie makes and for some very theatrical devastation.

The Loyal Bodyguard Unleashed

We all hoped we’d get a chance to play as the imposing and deadly Sooga when Age of Calamity came out. Our hopes were rudely dashed back then, as he didn’t make the cut as a playable character. The game’s story also led us to believe he died, which was also a bummer. Thankfully, Guardian of Remembrance came along to right both wrongs.

As fans might expect, playing as Sooga entails making a lot of powerful strokes with some very large swords. And then making more — and some more after that. Sooga is Yiga Blademaster, the greatest of them all, but a Blademaster still. His entire offensive strategy revolves around swinging those swords of his around to create elaborate strings of punishing blows.

Now, his offense is great, but Sooga also has an equally amazing defense. The Smash Bros. parallels abound in this DLC, because Sooga is to Zelda as almost any sword character is to Smash. What I’m saying is that Sooga has a counter. His special move also him to summon a magic shield. When an enemy’s attack connects with it, Sooga will immediately unleash a counterattack. Whether he’s dealing out the hits or receiving them, Sooga always has the advantage.

A Memorable Return to an Alternate Past

Guardian of Remembrance reminds me a lot of the Ballad of the Champions DLC for Breath of the Wild, which I’m sure was intentional. It comes after a trial-focused DLC pack, it adds new missions, and its story explores memories from the past. Lots of symmetry there, and I appreciate it. Though Age of Calamity is not canon to the main story begun in Breath of the Wild, Nintendo and Koei Tecmo went to great lengths to make the DLC serve as a true prequel and accompanying experience.

There are some shortcomings, such as the performance issues thanks to overcrowded terrain and all but one of the Memory Quests barely being worth it, but they hardly have any impact on the overall enjoyment. And most importantly, the added story focuses heavily on Terrako, which makes it an automatic win.

Depending on your difficulty setting, it takes around four to five hours to play through most of Guardian of Remembrance’s content. Long enough to feel worthwhile, but not so long to make it feel like a chore. It hits a perfect balance for DLC. If you’re eager for more intense battles and adventures in Hyrule, playing Guardian of Remembrance will allow you to satisfy that craving.

SCORE: 8.5/10