Hyrule Warriros is the biggest release this summer for Nintendo and they’ve maintained the hype by slowly trickling information through Famitsu interviews, pages, and even a special Nintendo Direct dedicated to the game last night. It’s nice to see Nintendo get the marketing for a game so right, but it also means there’s tons of information about the game scattered around everywhere. So here’s a definitive guide to everything we know about Hyrule Warriors so far.
Quick Info
- Published by Nintendo in partnership with Koei Tecmo
- Releases on September 26 for Europe and North America
- Features the world of Hyrule in Dynasty Warriors style gameplay
- Famitsu scored Hyrule Warriors 9/9/9/9
- Special edition for Europe confirmed
What is Hyrule Warriors?
Hyrule Warriors is an upcoming hack and slash video game featuring characters from The Legend of Zelda series, but with combat elements from Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors series. The game is a collaboration between the two companies and is developed by Omega Force and Team Ninja, exclusively for Wii U.
Fans of the Dynasty Warriors will be able to experience familiar combat with a fresh new setting, while fans of The Legend of Zelda series will experience familiar characters and items in an entirely new combat setting. For a better understanding of the mechanics of the game, check out this trailer Nintendo released for the game at E3 this year.
Who is the main character of the game?
Because of the style of Dynasty Warriors, there is no main character. You can choose to play as Link, but several other characters are available to play as well, some being unlocked from the start, while others will be encountered as the game progresses. The game features characters from several different Legend of Zelda games, including characters we haven’t been able to play as before. Here’s a short list:
Each of these characters aside from Ganondorf has had a trailer released showcasing their special weapons and abilities. The characters are designed to feel differently, so if you don’t like the way a particular character feels when you play it, you can swap out to a different character in order to complete the challenges.
Is this game part of the Legend of Zelda timeline?
No. Producer Eiji Aonuma has confirmed that this game is not part of The Legend of Zelda’s official timeline that has been established over several games. While the game does not have a specific place in the timeline of the Zelda franchise, it does feature several characters and items from numerous games across the series, all compiled into one game. Aonuma described Hyrule Warriors as The Avengers of the Legend of Zelda series.
So what’s the story?
According to legend, a hero wearing a green tunic fought the forces of evil that sought the Triforce, a powerful relic with the power to do great harm. This hero broke Triforce into four pieces, sending three pieces into space-time, while the fourth guarded the entrance to the Temple with the Master Sword. The sorceress Cia was charged with maintaining this balance of the Triforce.
However, Cia becomes infatuated with a Hyrulean soldier named Link and becomes extremely jealous of Zelda. This jealousy and resentment corrupts Cia, meaning Link must fight against the corruption of the once guardian of the Triforce in order to find Zelda.
How are the items used?
Items in the game should be very familiar to Legend of Zelda players, with common items such as swords, bombs, and the hookshot all making an appearance. Characters have special weapons of their own that feature signature moves, called special abilities that can be activated by focusing energy. Filling up the magic meter means once the magic is unleashed by pressing the R button, players will have their attacks enhanced according to the weapon they’re wielding at the time.
Chests are scattered throughout the battlefield, so players will have to search around in order to discover them all. These chests contain things like new weapons, pieces of heart to increase your health, or other new items to help you on your adventure.
Videos
Because Hyrule Warriors is such a big release for Nintendo, there has been a huge marketing push to make sure fans of The Legend of Zelda series are excited about its release. A Nintendo Direct last night showcased Ganondorf as a playable character, as well as several new costumes available through things like pre-ordering and registering your game on Club Nintendo.
If you’re interested in all the character trailers released so far for the game, be sure and check out this playlist that Koei Tecmo have released on YouTube. The trailers are in Japanese mostly, but they do a good job of showcasing the items and characters and what you can expect from each of them in terms of gameplay.
Will there be special editions and bundles?
Right now it’s only confirmed that Europe will receive a special edition of the Hyrule Warriors game. This includes the game and the scarf that was detailed for the Japanese version of the game. No details about the North American version of the game have been released yet, but we expect to see more information about this release as we get closer to the September 26 release date.
As for whether or not Nintendo will produce a Wii U SKU with the game bundled, it’s doubtful this will be available outside of Japan. Despite the huge following that the Legend of Zelda series has in the rest of the world, the game is molded after Dynasty Warriors gameplay with a Zelda skin, so it’s likely this will be a game and special edition release only, with no console SKU attached.
