Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

BrawlMan

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Warriors games always seem like such a vapid, empty experience, thrashing on waves of weak mobs 🤷‍♂️
Depends on the game or the clone. I've noticed that Omega Force/KT's lacking efforts when it comes to their own IPs. Whenever they work with Nintendo, they seem to actually give a shit and try. I did not play too much DW, even back in the early 2000s. With the revival of the 2D brawler genere and more games that are similar to DMC, I find myself even less inclinced to play a Musou game. Yet with some exceptions every now and then. This is one of the those moments. And lately, even the Musou clones are better than most of whatever output Omega Force done for the past 5 or so years.
 

Casual Shinji

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Really? That's it? Oh boo fucking hoo! I am not that in to Breath of the Wild, but character wise, none of these characters ever bothered or annoyed me. Anime influences have always been in LoZ, it's just a bit more noticeable in this incarnation. Never played the game, but I did see a playthough.
Well, they bothered the piss outta me. Zelda has generally been blissfully absent of this anime nonsense, but then in one game we get a waifu and a loli character. Just ugh. And what's worse is that's all that most of the plot related characters are - Just an anime archetype. It's not like you get to know them or see them change a bit. The instant you see Mipha she's just the most blatant waifu, and that's all she is in any scene she's in. Same with the bird guy, the goron dude and the loli scientist. Heck, even Colin in Twilight Princess had a little bit of a character arc.
 

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Zelda has generally been blissfully absent of this anime nonsense, but then in one game we get a waifu and a loli character.
Not necessarily. The franchise as a whole, mostly, but anime has been creeping to Zelda since the Twilight Princess days. The first Hyrule Warriors had Cia and Lana. The latter especially is J-Pop Idol, anime waifu as fuck!


While Cia on the other hand...


Nothing further. Though both served an intentional purpose story and character wise, oddly enough. It worked in the game favor.
 

Casual Shinji

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Not necessarily. The franchise as a whole, mostly, but anime has been creeping to Zelda since the Twilight Princess days. The first Hyrule Warriors had Cia and Lana. The latter especially is J-Pop Idol, anime waifu as fuck!


While Cia on the other hand...


Nothing further. Though both served an intentional purpose story and character wise, oddly enough. It worked in the game favor.
I don't really consider Hyrule Warriors a main line Zelda game. That's more a spin-off that Nintendo had little to do with.
 

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I don't really consider Hyrule Warriors a main line Zelda game. That's more a spin-off that Nintendo had little to do with.
Yet it had Nintendo's full approval. Spin-off or not. I know your issues with something being "too anime" or becoming "the anime", but I feel you're overreacting at times. I don't like the majority of modern anime either, but life is too short to get hung up about every little problem or slight inconvenience. Simmons (YoVideogames) had a similar problem with Breath of the Wild and HW being too anime. He still liked the gameplay for BoTW at least; HW Simmons just straight up hates. To surprise of no one, Zelda fans new or old, a majority did not give a shit. The fact that Simmons would bring it up half the time, unprovoked, kinda proves my point.
 
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Casual Shinji

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Yet it had Nintendo's full approval. Spin-off or not. I know your issues with something being "too anime" or becoming "the anime", but I feel you're overreacting at times. I don't like the majority of modern anime either, but life is too short to get hung up about every little problem or slight inconvenience. Simmons (YoVideogames) had a similar problem with Breath of the Wild and HW being too anime. He still liked the gameplay for BoTW at least; HW Simmons just straight up hates. To surpise of no one, Zelda fans new or old, a majority did not give a shit. The fact that Simmons we bring it up half the time, unprovoked, kinda proves my point.
We all have our hang ups. And while I certainly don't agree that the characters in BotW being kinda shit is a little problem (they are the plot related characters after all), there are simply archetypes that won't sit will with certain people. Mine are these.

And it isn't even things being "too anime" that annoys me. Jill holding a giant space laser in RE3 Remake is super anime, so is Kiryu drop kicking a dude and half of himself out a bathroom window in Yakuza 0. But shit like that is cool and funny. It's not overly sincere, cringey waifu stuff, like Rin in Cathrine: Full Body. And if it doesn't bother you that's fine, but it does bother me. Especially when it starts creeping into to things I tend to like, like Zelda.

And quite honestly, that's not the only problem BotW has, narratively or mechanically.
 
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It's not overly sincere, cringey waifu stuff, like Rin in Cathrine: Full Body.
Didn't both version of Catherine already do this? I haven't seen a full play through a full body yet, but last I checked, people were loving Rin. No big deal for me either way.

And quite honestly, that's not the only problem BotW has, narratively or mechanically.
Oh yeah, I know all about the breakable weapons and stuff. Already covered. The best Breath of the Wild game is on a Sony console.
 

Casual Shinji

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Didn't both version of Catherine already do this? I haven't seen a full play through a full body yet, but last I checked, people were loving Rin. No big deal for me either way.
I think Rin was only added in the Full Body version.

Oh yeah, I know all about the breakable weapons and stuff. Already covered. The best Breath of the Wild game is on a Sony console.
The breakable weapons aren't too much of an issue. The problem is you'll be picking up A LOT of weapons (swords, shields, bows), and you'll be increasing your weapon slots. Meaning at a certain point you'll have maybe 15 swords on you. And everytime you pick up a new weapon (while your item slots are full) you'll feel forced to compare it to each weapon in your inventory, both in strength and in degradation. But then a lot of weapons also have stat boosts, which don't show up on your weapon wheel, meaning you have to go into your inventory screen (which also sucks in this game) to check the stat boost and see if it's stronger then the weapon you just found. And then there's also the fact that there's no damage indicator on you weapons unless they haven't been used yet (a twinkling star) or are 4 hits away from breaking (flashing red), meaning you can't accurately judge to pick up a brand new weapon that might be a tad weaker but is still unused in place of a weapon in your slot that is a bit stronger but has already seen use.

And this frustrating musical chairs happens almost everytime you find a new weapon.

Then there's the rain that makes climbing virtually impossible and for which there is no solution other then just not climb or wait. Everytime enemies respawn under the red moon there's a cutscene that plays that you have to skip through. Every. Damn. Time. Swimming is a death sentence, making you drown as soon as your stamina wheel is empty, which happens very quickly.

And that's just the mechanics. You already know how I feel about the (plot related) characters, but Link himself is just a complete non-entity. And Link was never much of a character, but here he might as well be a box. This is made even worse by how characters respond to you like you're the most awesome dude to ever live. You're just Hero Man who does the hero stuff. This could've been mitigated had the developers given you the chance to create your own character, since there's little point in Link being Link in this game.

The story also makes a huge mistake in explaining the end goal the first our into the game. Not only does this make the rest of the story have zero surprises, it also makes you aware of Zelda being trapped and suffering trying to hold Ganon at bay before you're even let loose into the open-world. 'Have fun exploring this beautiful world to your heart's content while Zelda is busy fighting Ganon. Yeah no, just go find some bugs and cook some food. No rush.'
 
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Aiddon

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Well, they bothered the piss outta me. Zelda has generally been blissfully absent of this anime nonsense, but then in one game we get a waifu and a loli character. Just ugh. And what's worse is that's all that most of the plot related characters are - Just an anime archetype. It's not like you get to know them or see them change a bit. The instant you see Mipha she's just the most blatant waifu, and that's all she is in any scene she's in. Same with the bird guy, the goron dude and the loli scientist. Heck, even Colin in Twilight Princess had a little bit of a character arc.
A game distributed by a Japanese company, designed by Japanese people, made primarily for a Japanese audience taking influence from other Japanese media is somehow surprising? For crying out loud, Nintendo got Shotaro Ishinomori (one of the most legendary and important Japanese creators ever) to write a manga adaptation of Link to the Past. Hell, Miyamoto originally wanted to be a manga artist before working for Nintendo. Being surprised at that is like being surprised that Japan made anime in general. Zelda's ALWAYS taken influence from anime and Japanese pop culture.

Anyway, as for Hyrule Warriors, I always expected a followup to the original, but I never expected they would do a canon entry that was a BOTW prequel. They've definitely done a great job recreating the game's art style and I'm wondering what they'll do to advance the formula. I can already see the Flurry Rush switching up the flow as Urbosa showed.
 
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Casual Shinji

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A game distributed by a Japanese company, designed by Japanese people, made primarily for a Japanese audience taking influence from other Japanese media is somehow surprising? For crying out loud, Nintendo got Shotaro Ishinomori (one of the most legendary and important Japanese creators ever) to write a manga adaptation of Link to the Past. Hell, Miyamoto originally wanted to be a manga artist before working for Nintendo. Being surprised at that is like being surprised that Japan made anime in general. Zelda's ALWAYS taken influence from anime and Japanese pop culture.
That's like saying I shouldn't be surprised if Ghibli made a tentacle porn. And this is not about being influenced by other japanese media, it's about using really bad, shallow archetypes. Them being a japanese company, with games designed by japanese people, primarily for a japanese audience didn't stop Wind Waker and Twilight Princess from NOT having this cringey shit. Nintendo games not being so freaking "anime" is generally what gives them such worldwide appeal.
 
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That's like saying I shouldn't be surprised if Ghibli made a tentacle porn. And this is not about being influenced by other japanese media, it's about using really bad, shallow archetypes. Them being a japanese company, with games designed by japanese people, primarily for a japanese audience didn't stop Wind Waker and Twilight Princess from NOT having this cringey shit. Nintendo games not being so freaking "anime" is generally what gives them such worldwide appeal.
Tentacle porn was invented by Katsushika Hokusai, arguably the most famous Japanese painter ever, so bad analogy to use. And it would break your brain if I told you how many professional manga artists have also written porn (some even in Shonen Jump). Nintendo has even had some do promotional work for various series.

As for BOTW, those archetypes have existed for a long time. Mipha being a seemingly demure, withdrawn girl but turning out to be a graceful warrior is older than written language in Japan. Daruk being a boisterous warrior and Revali being a smug prodigy are older than anime. The only reason the anime influence wasn't as apparent was because anime wasn't as big in the West when the series was first localized. As time has gone on and anime has become a genuine mover and shaker in pop culture, there is no reason for them to hold back, especially when the current people working on Zelda are of a different generation who have grown up with different media. Things change, and considering how well BOTW has done it's clear the public agreed with the changes.
 
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Casual Shinji

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Tentacle porn was invented by Katsushika Hokusai, arguably the most famous Japanese painter ever, so bad analogy to use. And it would break your brain if I told you how many professional manga artists have also written porn (some even in Shonen Jump). Nintendo has even had some do promotional work for various series.
How is that a bad analogy? Both are japanese, but you can bet your ass you won't see the two come together.

As for BOTW, those archetypes have existed for a long time. Mipha being a seemingly demure, withdrawn girl but turning out to be a graceful warrior is older than written language in Japan. Daruk being a boisterous warrior and Revali being a smug prodigy are older than anime. The only reason the anime influence wasn't as apparent was because anime wasn't as big in the West when the series was first localized. As time has gone on and anime has become a genuine mover and shaker in pop culture, there is no reason for them to hold back, especially when the current people working on Zelda are of a different generation who have grown up with different media. Things change, and considering how well BOTW has done it's clear the public agreed with the changes.
And I don't care if these archetypes are older than anime, they've become synonymous with anime, usually the bad kind. Maybe it's because they're so old that they're so one-dimensional, and probably shouldn't be used anymore. And Nintendo never bothered using them in Zelda until now. It's also a bit presumptious to say the public agreed with the changes, since it's more likely they just don't care. Heck, most people who bought BotW probably never even finished it, a la GTA. Speaking of, I also didn't hear the public complain about the awful character writing in GTA5, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. It just means most people were too busy going around the gameworld to focus on the story, and the same could be said about BotW.
 
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Getting back on topic, here footage from Treehouse.


 
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From looking at the 25 minute video the combat has seen a definite upgrade and improvement. You can now switch between more than two characters, everybody has their own unique play styles and weapons that go even further than the last iteration, and everyone has their own set of sub weapon and magic skills that flow with combat better. That was kind of the problem with the last game was that sub weapons were just use mainly for specific enemies or made certain challenges easier. Yet, they didn't flow with the combos all that well. Once you needed it for that one thing, you would hardly ever use the sub weapon again unless required to defeat a certain mini boss(es).
 

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From looking at the 25 minute video the combat has seen a definite upgrade and improvement. You can now switch between more than two characters, everybody has their own unique play styles and weapons that go even further than the last iteration, and everyone has their own set of sub weapon and magic skills that flow with combat better. That was kind of the problem with the last game was that sub weapons were just use mainly for specific enemies or made certain challenges easier. Yet, they didn't flow with the combos all that well. Once you needed it for that one thing, you would hardly ever use the sub weapon again unless required to defeat a certain mini boss(es).
Are there any "support" classes in the game? With powers that are made to help out allies? I plan on picking this up, if only so I can play it with my god daughter's (assuming it supports multiplayer), and knowing them I'd probably have more fun playing as a healer/buffer, and just chasing them around while they chop up everything. xD
 
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Are there any "support" classes in the game? With powers that are made to help out allies? I plan on picking this up, if only so I can play it with my god daughter's (assuming it supports multiplayer), and knowing them I'd probably have more fun playing as a healer/buffer, and just chasing them around while they chop up everything. xD
I don't know. I might have a look at the video again, but they didn't mention anything about class support. Now there might be a class support character, but will probably see that later in character specific trailers.
 

happyninja42

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I don't know. I might have a look at the video again, but they didn't mention anything about class support. Now there might be a class support character, but will probably see that later in character specific trailers.
I hope they do have a few that at least have powers that are designed to support allies. I get that to some degree, all of them need to be self sufficient, so any hero can beat the game, if that's someone's favorite hero. But, I love playing support, and I'd really enjoy basically playing cheerleader to my god daughter's running around being crazy little heroes xD
 
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