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Hyrule Warriors Hyrule Warriors is Average at Best.

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
I was skeptical at announcement. I played the demo several times at retailers and never enjoyed it. I played it for an hour in numerous stages with a friend at his house. I can't say I explored the majority of the game, but the flaws in the game seem fundamental and binded to its DNA.

It feels really lacking. It's a game where you mash enemies and that's it. There isn't much strategy. The characters and combos aren't too deep. The visuals from a technical perspective even in comparison to most X360/PS3 games. From an artistic perspective, it's really dull with lots of greens and muddy browns, unlike most Zelda games. And from a hardware perspective, it doesn't make meaningful use of the Wii U game pad.

The biggest problem is that it lacks both the merits of adventure games and the merits of arcadey games. Adventure games have storytelling, character development, exploration, puzzles, and discovery. HW doesn't have any of these. On the other end, it lacks the online multiplayer options that give arcade-like games such as Madden, Soul-Calibur and Battlefield so much replay value. There is offline multiplayer, but it feels simply like adding another player to the fray rather than a tailored and concerted effort.

Worst of all, it doesn't FEEL LIKE ZELDA. It just feels like someone made a TF2 stage with some Zelda skins via Garry's Mod.

This is a full-priced $60 game, a major release on a major platform in 2014. My expectations aren't too high. Does HW need to have every single one of these things that I mentioned? No. But it should at least specialize in a few things. Instead, it's just a pretty run-of-the-mill action game that does some things well but doesn't really excel at anything.

If I'm just going to slash random enemies, I'd rather play the most recent Devil May Cry game for the action or maybe some Lego Star Wars for the atmosphere. HW is not worth full price, but it might be okay for discount. Action-game fans and Wii U owners are better off with Bayonetta 2.

Hyrule Warriors would've been a great Wii title in 2007. On the Wii U in 2014, eh, it's alright.
 

Heroine of Time

Rest in peace, Paris Caper...
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Location
Whiterun
Gender
Take a guess.
That's the issue here. It's not supposed to be a Zelda game. Not even close. If you went into it with that mindset, then of course you weren't going to like it. It's supposed to be a Dynasty Warriors game with some Zelda fanservice thrown in. I quite enjoyed it, but not because it was a Zelda game (although that's the only reason I tried it in the first place), but simply because it was fun to play on its own merits. In fact, it made me interested in Dynasty Warriors. It's certainly not a gameplay style that everyone will enjoy, mindlessly beating up enemies, but I really did like it as a spin-off.
 
Having never played a Dynasty Warriors game before, I wasn't sure how much of the gameplay would be mindless button bashing and how much would be meaningful decisions made by the player. Unfortunately, it's overwhelmingly the former. I can't play the game for more than an hour without getting bored.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
Hyrule Warriors was great fun.
It's not supposed to be a Zelda game but an action game with Zelda Characters and enemies.
I knew what I was buying when I bought it, a hack and slash. That's what it was. It's the most awesome hack and slash I have played, because it has Ghirahim, Zant, Ganondorf and Link and you can play as all of them. Plus there is the remixes of old Zelda tunes and so much fanservice to please Zelda lovers. The only people that wouldn't like it is those expecting a proper Zelda game or those that just don't like hack and slash.
 

Fig

The Altruist
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Location
Mishima Tower
To be fair, Hyrule Warriors was never supposed to be viewed as a Zelda title. Even Iwata stated that Hyrule Warriors is not the newest installment in the Zelda franchise when Nintendo first revealed the game back in January. Hyrule Warriors is based off the franchise that is Dynasty Warriors so the gameplay is suppose to be anout hacking-and-slashing though it has elements of Zelda such as the items and characters. Like Heroine said, if you are going with the mindset of Hyrule Warriors being the next Zelda, prepare for some disappointment.

I love Hyrule Warriors for giving me a unique experience as I never played a Dynasty Warriors game, but I wasn't expecting the best story, best game mechanics, etc. As much as I love Hyrule Warriors, it's an average game and I'm fine with that. What matters is that the success of Hyrule Warriors was unexpected from Nintendo and Koei Tecmo as they stated early this semester. For a game like Hyrule Warriors, I think it's good that it has average scores because it shows it has potential in itself. Here's just a few reviews that point out that Hyrule Warriors us flawed, it's still a fun game to play/try out.

GameSpot's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnWa_cXlnQM
IGN's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXfbY0XXGhI
ProJared's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo6s6oYraB4
The Completionist's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW2aRJkkYc8
The JWittz's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFvXgsLFqNo
 

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
That's the issue here. It's not supposed to be a Zelda game. Not even close. If you went into it with that mindset, then of course you weren't going to like it. It's supposed to be a Dynasty Warriors game with some Zelda fanservice thrown in. I quite enjoyed it, but not because it was a Zelda game (although that's the only reason I tried it in the first place), but simply because it was fun to play on its own merits. In fact, it made me interested in Dynasty Warriors. It's certainly not a gameplay style that everyone will enjoy, mindlessly beating up enemies, but I really did like it as a spin-off.

Well, of course it's not meant to play like other Zelda games. It's Dynasty Warriors with a Zelda skin over it. I still like the game, though.

To both Heroine's, I'm not judging it as a Zelda game. I'm simply saying that different genres have different standards and if HW isn't an adventure game, it should meet the standards of other games in the genre. The visuals are lacking. The strategy is lacking. The multiplayer is lacking. And the game doesn't really do anything unique either.

I enjoy beat-em-ups but not this one.

Is it a bad game? No. But for people who don't have a lot of free time or money, and they're thinking carefully on what game to get for their Wii U,
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Australia
I think the OP here just does not like HW. That's fair, the game is not for everyone. But a game can be great even if you do not like it.
The graphics in the game are pretty good, the game play is sound. Most things are ok. The only issue is the game is unfairly hard in parts, which puts off a lot of people. Easy 8/10 for me. Not the best game ever but it is damn good. And the DLC makes it even better.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Location
The Netherlands
It's definitely not for everyone. However there's a lot to love in this game, for instance all the love, care and detail in the Zelda elements, the beautiful soundtrack and the OCs are all great elements.
 

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
I think the OP here just does not like HW. That's fair, the game is not for everyone. But a game can be great even if you do not like it.

I'm trying to be as open-minded as I can. I try to respect things even that I don't personally prefer. For example, I'm not really into golf, but Mario Golf does it well. With HW, it's not that I'm not interested in what it's trying to do. It's that there's lots of games in the genre that do it better (aka Bayonetta 2).

With games like Wind Waker, they were polarizing because they tried new things. I happened to love Wind Waker, and others didn't. But I don't think Hyrule Warriors tried anything new really.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Australia
I'm trying to be as open-minded as I can. I try to respect things even that I don't personally prefer. For example, I'm not really into golf, but Mario Golf does it well. With HW, it's not that I'm not interested in what it's trying to do. It's that there's lots of games in the genre that do it better (aka Bayonetta 2).

With games like Wind Waker, they were polarizing because they tried new things. I happened to love Wind Waker, and others didn't. But I don't think Hyrule Warriors tried anything new really.
Bayonetta 2 is nothing at all like Hyrule Warriors. I hate Bayonetta 2 but others like it and that's cool. Neither game is better than the other, just very different. If you want to talk a sports game that does it well, Mario Power Tennis Gamecube did it amazingly well.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Location
The Netherlands
There's not a single game out there that does something new, everything has been done before. WW didn't try anything new, Bayonetta doesn't, HW doesn't. Also how does not trying something new translate to being an average (at best) game? I can understand it's not your cup of tea, and this isn't game of the century, but it is solid all around. Solid graphics,level design and gameplay, great character selection, fan service, soundtrack and a ton of content to plough through (from easy to excruciatingly difficult). On top of that this game has received more post release quality content updates and DLC than any other game I've encountered on a Nintendo platform.
 

Maikeru

Piper of Time
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Location
The Lost Woods
I thought it was great, simply because it has delivered on its promises, then gone a little further. It's supposed to be a beat-em-up. This is what the genre is.
 
Joined
Sep 21, 2014
Location
Michigan
OP I'm sorry you feel the game lacks strategy. It appears you weren't able to engage with it enough to get to try out Adventure Mode. I'll admit the main game was quite easy. I feel like Legend Mode was just boot camp. Once you get to the point where you're trying to A-Rank levels or get Skulltulas it becomes much more strategic. But oh well, to each their own.
 

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