I'd been waiting years for my brother and I to finish Hyrule Warriors, assuming we'd finish it together, but given that he'll be buying the DX version of the game on Switch soon, I asked if it was okay if I finished it myself and he of course said yes x3. So I spent the last four or so days doing the last six missions in the main story, the Cia's Tales DLC levels, and unlocking the extra weapons and characters locked behind the main Adventure Mode. I was worried after giving my review of Fire Emblem Warriors that perhaps I was looking back on Hyrule Warriors with rose-tinted glasses, but I am so glad that I was wrong with that worry. Hyrule Warriors is still one of the best Musou games Omega Force has ever put out, and I've had so much fun over the past 20 or so hours of playing it re-confirming it that to myself.
There are only some 15 characters in the main game, not counting the 15 or so more through the DLC, but with the extra weapons characters can get, those weapons are effectively extra characters themselves, in a way (at least given how many characters only have one weapon while characters like Link have like seven). But with so many characters they feel SO different! Only two buttons, a heavy attack and a light attack, and usually similar chains of both, but the ways that each character and weapon have a different cadence to how their attacks flow, how some have attacks carry them forward with momentum, charge up a power bar, or even overheat their abilities, make every character and weapon feel special. I'd look at a character and be like, "Oh I don't really remember this character" or "I don't remember liking this character" and I'd discover eventually "WOAH this character plays SO crazy! I love it!"
So many of the final levels on hard mode were giving me SUCH Dynasty Warriors 3 vibes, and in the best way. Big open levels connected through different corridors, but with different objectives and items of importance on each of them that each level is a giant exercise in strategy on how best to complete it. Particularly in the Adventure Mode, trying to get those A-ranks, trying for the most efficient path through a level to get those time-stamps or get to those heart containers or skulltulas in time is just SO much fun. Levels in Hyrule Warriors aren't obvious paths that feel like work to just reach the end of, they feel like an exercise in defeating an enemy force, crafty in its own ways and keeping precious loot from you!
Verdict: Highly recommended. This is far and away my favorite Musou game. The co-op between the two screens is ingenious, the level design is great, and the each character is special, awesome fun to play in their own way. The fan-service is excellently done, and the voiced asides between levels detailing the military strategy taken by characters from Legend of Zelda never cease to be funny X3 . The DX version on Switch has all the extra Adventure Mode maps and more than doubles the character roster, so even though it doesn't have the nice co-op mode the Wii U version has, I'd still recommend all that in one easy place over the Wii U version despite the Wii U version's cheap base price combined with the DLC being very similarly priced.
There are only some 15 characters in the main game, not counting the 15 or so more through the DLC, but with the extra weapons characters can get, those weapons are effectively extra characters themselves, in a way (at least given how many characters only have one weapon while characters like Link have like seven). But with so many characters they feel SO different! Only two buttons, a heavy attack and a light attack, and usually similar chains of both, but the ways that each character and weapon have a different cadence to how their attacks flow, how some have attacks carry them forward with momentum, charge up a power bar, or even overheat their abilities, make every character and weapon feel special. I'd look at a character and be like, "Oh I don't really remember this character" or "I don't remember liking this character" and I'd discover eventually "WOAH this character plays SO crazy! I love it!"
So many of the final levels on hard mode were giving me SUCH Dynasty Warriors 3 vibes, and in the best way. Big open levels connected through different corridors, but with different objectives and items of importance on each of them that each level is a giant exercise in strategy on how best to complete it. Particularly in the Adventure Mode, trying to get those A-ranks, trying for the most efficient path through a level to get those time-stamps or get to those heart containers or skulltulas in time is just SO much fun. Levels in Hyrule Warriors aren't obvious paths that feel like work to just reach the end of, they feel like an exercise in defeating an enemy force, crafty in its own ways and keeping precious loot from you!
Verdict: Highly recommended. This is far and away my favorite Musou game. The co-op between the two screens is ingenious, the level design is great, and the each character is special, awesome fun to play in their own way. The fan-service is excellently done, and the voiced asides between levels detailing the military strategy taken by characters from Legend of Zelda never cease to be funny X3 . The DX version on Switch has all the extra Adventure Mode maps and more than doubles the character roster, so even though it doesn't have the nice co-op mode the Wii U version has, I'd still recommend all that in one easy place over the Wii U version despite the Wii U version's cheap base price combined with the DLC being very similarly priced.