While it likely won’t arrive with all the same pomp and circumstance afforded to Donkey Kong Bananza or Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a gameplay experience impeccably tailored to the Switch 2 hardware. From its plot-heavy, expertly voice-acted cutscenes to its larger-than-life Musou combat, AoI is exactly what I was looking for in a next-gen Hyrule Warriors title.
Filling in the many blanks left from its brief appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment tells the story of Princess Zelda’s adventures in Hyrule’s ancient past. Alongside King Rauru, Queen Sonia, and a truly staggering cast of allies, you’ll mow down wave after wave of enemies in an attempt to stave off the Demon King Ganondorf’s looming invasion.
With music and visuals evocative of the beloved Switch LoZ releases, it’s sure to bring fans right back to this unique version of Hyrule. Best of all, it affords players a deeper look into the roles of the mythical heroes and villains that shaped this bygone era.
While playing an assortment of Gorons, Ritos, and Gerudo is already pretty satisfying, it’s a pair of unlikely newcomers who’ll surely prove to be fan favorites. Calamo, a diminutive Korok warrior just looking for a place to take root, and an enigmatic character known simply as the Mysterious Construct inject some nice variety into the narrative’s B-story, complete with their own high-flying shooter levels!
Speaking of story, there is a lot of plot to digest here, with regular fully voice-acted interludes adding depth to all the hacking and slashing one expects from a Warriors game. While I found all this enhanced worldbuilding truly fascinating, fans just here for the frenzied action are also in for a treat.
Martial combat starts with the typical Musou formula; alternating combinations of the X and Y buttons unleash a variety of attacks depending on your chosen character. Level up these characters to unlock Unique Skills, special moves that make each warrior feel fun and powerful in their own way.
Some Unique Skills even have properties that make them the perfect counter to powerful enemy attacks like charge and jump moves. Execute them during an adversary’s buildup—indicated by roiling red energy—and they’ll deal satisfying damage in addition to temporarily stunning your foe.
If your preferred character is missing a few Unique Skills, you can also use convenient Zonai Devices to fill out their combat options. Flame and Frost emitters, Time Bombs, and Rockets help make even a fledgling hero a force to be reckoned with. You can also find spare batteries in destructible crates to keep your Devices powered up during particularly pitched battles.
In addition to the Unique Moves and Zonai Devices mapped to the Joy-Con 2’s face buttons and R trigger, heroes can join forces for devastating Sync Strikes. When an active character and a nearby ally have both filled their Sync Gauges, press L to execute the Sync Strike. Depending on the duo, these can have wildly different outcomes—from charging an attacker with elemental might to blasting enemies with waves of mystical energy—but regardless of the outcome, they always look cool and can be used to turn the tide of battle when things get heated.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment isn’t afraid to play the hits, too. Guarding, dodging, flurry rushes, and depleting an enemy’s armor gauge to positively pummel the underlying creature are all still very much the bread and butter of combat. But it’s the way AoI layers these existing mechanics with fresh new content that makes all the difference.
While you can leisurely make your way through many of the early combat missions, later battles have timed elements, and as you liberate more and more of the kingdom, keeping a keen eye out becomes paramount. You’ll uncover training facilities, supply depots, and a weapons research base to help hone your fighting force.
There are also character-specific quests that, once finished, instantly enhance the warrior in question, expanding their health, adding additional Sync Gauges, and further supplementing their combat prowess. These are generally completed using resources received from clearing a battle the first time, purchased from a supply depot, or unlocked by satisfying character-specific tasks called Aside Quests. These same materials can be used to supply your camp, providing speed, attack, or experience bonuses in the upcoming battle.
In a word, Age of Imprisonment is flawless, piling on new mechanics and plot twists without ever overwhelming the player with too much too soon. This wonderfully polished gameplay is ably served by the Switch 2 hardware, which gives the frenetic action of its endless battlefields the horsepower it needs to keep up with the breakneck pace of the Imprisoning War.
Even in handheld mode, I experienced minimal pop-in, and the load times (at least on the downloadable eShop version) were trivial at worst. The only hiccups I encountered were the occasional camera blip while fighting the odd miniboss, wherein the camera would briefly lose sight of my active warrior, but even this was easy to remedy.
For longtime Warriors fans like me, it’s impossible not to notice the technological leaps that have been made in recent iterations with regard to character AI. Where once my partner warriors were hapless sheep that required my constant intervention to prevent their untimely demise, AoI’s cast can easily hold their own. I could focus on playing a single character at a time, only switching between them when prompted for a Sync Strike or follow-up attack… or when someone just happened to be way closer to the next mission waypoint.
In summation, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is another must-have Switch 2 exclusive. The game looks, sounds, and plays fantastically with a story that’s positively steeped in ancient Hyrulian lore. Pick it up this Thursday, November 6, when it arrives on store shelves and the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop—both priced $69.99 and well worth it.
Review and promotional materials provided by Nintendo of America. This post contains affiliate links. Those Gerudo women are battlefield beasts!
Fonte: GeekDad - Leia mais