It’s safe to say that the Wii U has not even scraped the success of its predecessor the Wii. For the first time in decades, Nintendo is finally deviating from their tried-and-true formula for their games with a very surprising reveal earlier this year of Hyrule Warriors. The game left The Legend of Zelda fans saying, “What the hell is this?” I’m one of those fans and you know what? I kinda dig it.
Hyrule Warriors will not be like the traditional Zelda games. In fact to even call it a Zelda game would be kind of misleading, since the gameplay is an almost exact clone of the popular Dynasty Warriors series. The vast colorful world you were expecting will be trimmed into missions, where players will be challenged to overcome choke points spread throughout the maps. These points can be a simple defend the territory or a more story driven, save the ally. Let’s be honest, this game won’t be about story and it really doesn’t have to be. The only thing you have to consider is which one of the 13 awesome characters do I want to be? There’s Link, Zelda and even Ganon to name a few, and how many enemies can I carve through until I go to sleep.
On paper this game seems repetitive and obnoxious at every turn, and in all respect it is. You don’t pick up this kind of game looking for a deep experience. You dive into it to kill things – a lot of things, so why the hype? Well, it’s simple. We as people like the gratification of being powerful. You’re not just a simple hero in this game; you’re more like the genie with phenomenal cosmic powers! (R.I.P R.W.) and that’s what people want. This game, like Dynasty Warriors, gets that. They want you to feel overpowered as you slice through waves of enemies with no real challenge and understanding of why.
For me this game will be awesome and even better since it will feature co-op with a friend. I’m a huge fan of the Dynasty Warriors series, so by giving me a game that plays like that, but skinned as a Legend of Zelda game? Sign me up. Will this go down as a great game? Doubtful, but what it will accomplish is creating yet another cool spin-off series for Nintendo. Only time will show its overall lasting power in Nintendo’s library of great games, so even if this game doesn’t hit the mark this time, the next one surely will. (Hyrule Warriors, Sep 26, Wii U)