As some Zelda Informer readers may recall, when Hyrule Warriors was first announced I had some mixed feelings about the game. Some called me crazy, others shared in my skepticism. However, with the recent Famitsu news dump and E3 2014 in the books, I’ve finally warmed up to the game. Read on to find out why September 26th can’t come soon enough for me!

Gameplay Innovation

One thing that wasn’t immediately clear in the original December 2013 Nintendo Direct announcement trailer for Hyrule Warriors was how much the game would be rooted in a classical Dynasty Warriors foundation. For anyone that hasn’t played a Dynasty Warriors game, that series is a blend of hack-and-slash one-vs-many combat and tactical battlefield strategy of taking and holding points on a map, dueling an enemy commander, etc. The original announcement trailer for Hyrule Warriors showed Link fighting hordes of Bokoblins, and hinted at a fight with a King Dodongo boss-like monster, but nothing else gameplay-wise.

While Hyrule Warriors is firmly based on Dynasty Warriors, I was surprised to find out how many new Zelda-flavored ideas the series would take on. First, the addition of sub-items found in mini-dungeons on the battlefield changes the way levels are completed in a number of ways. For example, the bombs in the mine section of Hyrule Field can be used to destroy giant boulders blocking the path towards the castle, and they can be thrown into the mouth of the aforementioned King Dodongo a la Ocarina of Time during a climactic boss battle at the end of the stage. For any Warriors fan like myself, the addition of bosses and items jumpstarts the gameplay enough to make the decades-old formula exciting again.

Improved Visuals

In my original impressions piece from January 2014, I noted Link’s character design and overall look of the game as somewhat “ugly.” Once again, much to my surprise, the difference in visual quality over the past six months made me a believer in Hyrule Warriors’ graphics. The number of enemies on screen at any given time is still impressive, but the detail in the playable characters’ move sets is what really changed my mind. When Link uses the Fire Rod as his main weapon, the high-flying acrobatics and flashy flame effects are really stunning and show how great the Wii U’s GPU can be at times.

The attention to detail in other parts of the game visually also brought a smile to my face. Even the game’s loading screen features an 8-bit Link sprite running towards a Triforce and obtaining it, only to be attacked by an Octorok afterwards. It’s really cute in motion and further drives home the fact that Omega Force et al. understand the perfect thematic tone Hyrule Warriors needs in order to succeed. Little details like this, coupled with the enemy designs taken from numerous different Zelda games (Skyward Sword Bokoblins, Ocarina of Time Stalchildren, etc.) prove that Hyrule Warriors is as much a love letter to the Zelda series as it is a bold new direction for the Warriors series.

Multiple Playable Characters

One of the best parts of any given Warriors game is its staggering number of unique playable characters. For example, the Wii U’s own Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper has over 120 characters. However, it wasn’t until the weeks preceding E3 that we found out there’d be any playable characters other than Link in Hyrule Warriors. Needless to say, going from a roster of 120 characters to just one playable character would be ridiculous. Thankfully, judging by the character select screen shown off at E3 2014, Hyrule Warriors has at least nine characters, six of which have been revealed, with hopefully even more than that in the final product.

While only Link, Zelda, Impa, Midna, Agatha, and new character Lana are confirmed, what sets Hyrule Warriors apart is that characters are able to equip different weapons with entirely different move sets before heading out to battle. Instead of just being a different skin with different stats like most Warriors games, the new weapons open up totally new play styles in combat. For example, Link with a Fire Rod plays completely differently than Link with a conventional sword and shield. The idea of vastly different characters from different games all coming together in a massive battlefield sounds better and better with each new announcement and tease.

Non-Canon Story

One of the other mysteries surrounding Hyrule Warriors pre-E3 was its placement in the official Legend of Zelda timeline. Putting to rest countless fan debates and theories, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma finally confirmed that Hyrule Warriors was not part of the Zelda canon, and that its story took place in “a separate dimension.” This might have been disappointing to some, but it was exactly what I wanted to hear about the game since its original announcement. Removing the legitimacy of its story from the equation allows Hyrule Warriors to breathe as a spinoff without the weighty expectations of a full-fledged Zelda game, while also allowing it to embrace a new zanier aesthetic and gameplay style.

Because there’s no canonical story in Hyrule Warriors, the game benefits from having playable characters from separate Zelda games in the official timeline. The story can pull characters like Skyward Sword’s Impa and Twilight Princess’ Midna together for no other reason than to ramp up the fan service and fun factor of the game. This makes the game feel more like a miniature Super Smash Bros. of the Legend of Zelda series rather than masquerading as a more serious entry in the main series. Still, the final game is months away from release at this point, so it remains to be seen exactly how seriously Hyrule Warriors’ story will take itself, but the announcement of its non-canonical status is an enormous leap in the right direction that places the focus squarely where it should be for a spinoff like this: the gameplay.

No Voice Acting

Anyone who’s played a Dynasty Warriors game knows that one of the series’ staples is the incessant poorly-dubbed-in-English banter between characters at all times on the battlefield. Even though Hyrule Warriors has its share of talking heads, instead of hearing grating English-speaking voice actors, the game resorts to more familiar territory in the Zelda franchise of text blurbs and nondescript vocal mutterings than actual spoken dialogue.

The problem of Link’s silence, voice-acted or not, is also solved brilliantly in the Warriors context. When playing as Link, the player might receive direction from a non-player character like Impa describing the objective of the battle and where to go. However, if there’s ever a point where Link would need to speak, it’s actually his accompanying “Fairy” character that speaks on his behalf. Even on-screen text alerts are met with a high-pitched “Hey! Listen!” for good measure. Not only is this a nod to fans, it also shows that shows Omega Force understands some of the classic Zelda tropes, like the silent protagonist, that might not have translated over to the Warriors franchise, but is handled perfectly.

To be clear, there’s still reason to be skeptical of one of Nintendo’s prized franchises receiving such a left-field spinoff, but I’ve seen enough from Hyrule Warriors recently to at least change my mind and make me understand what the game is really trying to achieve. I’m happy to finally say I’m really looking forward to the release of Hyrule Warriors this September. What do you think of the game so far? Is it looking better than it ever has? Are you still turned off by the thought of Nintendo handing over the keys to Tecmo Koei? Let us know in the comments below!