The runes add tactical options as you fight, and serve as context-sensitive counters to enemy attacks. The Sheikah slate's runes from Breath of the Wild factor heavily into gameplay, letting you move metallic objects, freeze enemies, jump up on an ice block, or throw remote bombs by pressing the R trigger and one of the face buttons. Pressing B dodges, and pressing A uses a special attack from a meter you build up as you fight. The core combat elements are present: Y button for weak attack, X button for strong attack, and most combos are simply a string of weak attacks punctuated by a strong attack as a finisher. Slash and Stab and MoreĬombat starts with the basic Hyrule Warriors concepts, but like the campaign mode’s structure, it also quickly becomes more complex.

The map’s size and density is a bit harder to navigate than any of Hyrule Warriors’ modes.

It feels like a properly epic adventure in the same vein as Breath of the Wild, and indeed covering many familiar places from that game. It’s a dense game with a single campaign mode that’s much more complex than Hyrule Warriors' simple, chapter-based campaign mode and grid-based adventure mode. Not only are there dozens of side missions, but there are countless shops and character upgrades to unlock with the spoils you accumulate. It’s the same map as Breath of the Wild, and absolutely filled with activity. You fight through battles scattered across Hyrule's map, both large set pieces with multiple stages that advance the plot and smaller side missions that help build up your characters and resources. If you already played Breath of the Wild, all of these concepts will be familiar to you.

Ancient technology has been uncovered, including the four massive Divine Beasts, giant mechanical animals that could save the kingdom. You play Link before his century-long slumber, along with Princess Zelda, her loyal advisor Impa, and the four Champions of the Goron, Ruto, Zora, and Gerudo races. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity takes place a century before Breath of the Wild, when Calamity Ganon is a looming threat over the kingdom of Hyrule, but not yet the devastating force that eventually takes over the land. Age of Calamity is a bit deeper and more complex than its predecessor, but its appeal isn’t quite as broad. This far-more-focused game serves as a prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and builds its aesthetics, mechanics, and story completely around that singular title.

Now we have a true follow-up, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity ($59.99, also for the Nintendo Switch). Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, the enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch, is even better. Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U was a love letter to the Legend of Zelda franchise, taking hack-and-slash Dynasty Warriors-style gameplay and scattering it across the series' strange timelines.

Hyrule warriors adventure mode map