Hyrule Warriors

Hyrule Warriors

Release
Platform	Date
Wii U	August 14, 2014 September 19, 2014 September 20, 2014 September 26, 2014
Credits
Developer	Omega Force Team Ninja
Publisher	Tecmo Koei Nintendo
Producer	Hisashi Koinuma Yosuke Hayashi Eiji Aonuma (supervisor)
Guides
Walkthrough	Hyrule Warriors Walkthrough
Adventure Mode Badge Market Heart Pieces Gold Skulltulas

In-depth guide: Hyrule Warriors Walkthrough

Hyrule Warriors (ゼルダ無双—Zelda Warriors) is a Zelda spin-off game for the Nintendo Wii U. It is a collaborative effort between Tecmo Koei, the creator of the Dynasty Warriors series, and Nintendo, the creators of the The Legend of Zelda series. It was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on December 18th, 2013. The gameplay is highly similar to that of Dynasty Warriors, but the Zelda universe serves as the setting.

During E3 2014, the game was detailed more by Nintendo and Tecmo Koei. They announced that it features multiple playable characters, including Link, Zelda, Impa, Midna, Agitha, and many more. The game also includes an original playable character, Lana. The villain was named to be Cia, an evil witch who was once a great sorceress that watched over the balance of the Triforce. Other villains include Volga and Wizzro, who are clearly references to Volvagia and Wizzrobes, respectively, of the Zelda series.

Combat

TODO: attacks and combos, dodging, locking on

Care to do so?

Weak Point Smashes

"Enemies sometimes expose weak points during specific attacks. A Weak Point gauge will appear above an enemy's head when it's vulnerable to a counterattack. Whenever you see the Weak Point gauge, attack quickly and brutally to chip away at it. Once the gauge is completely reduced, you'll be able to perform a powerful Weak Point Smash."

— In-Game Description

After certain attacks, some enemies will become vulnerable to counterattacks, signified by a Weak Point gauge that appears before their heads. Attack while the gauge is visible to reduce it. Once it is empty, the warrior will perform a powerful Weak Point Smash.

Special Attacks

"Defeating enemies fills your Special Attack gauge. Press / to use up your Special Attack gauge and perform a powerful Special Attack."

— In-Game Description

Defeating enemies or picking up force pieces fills the Special Attack gauge. When the gauge is full, press A/X (Warriors/Zelda controls) to perform a powerful Special Attack.

Focus Spirit

"Press when your Magic gauge is full to use the Focus Spirit ability. While Focus Spirit is active, attack power and speed increase, incoming knock-back damage is reduced, and defeating a certain number of enemies will yield various special bonuses. Press / while under the effects of Focus Spirit to completely consume your Magic gauge, allowing you to use a Focus Spirit Attack that knocks your opponents down, exposing their Weak Points."

— In-Game Description

The Magic gauge is filled using Magic Jars. Press R when the gauge is full to use the Focus Spirit technique. This will temporarily increase the warrior's speed and attack power. At the end of its duration, the warrior will perform a powerful attack. One can press A/X (Warriors/Zelda controls) to end the effect early and perform a different attack which forces enemies' weak point gauges to show.

If a certain number of enemies are defeated while Focus Spirit is active, the player will receive special bonuses such as extra rupees, EXP, hearts, rare materials, and high-rank weapons.

Items

"Press to use your currently equipped item, such as bombs or a potion."

— In-Game Description

Press ZR to use the currently equipped item. To switch items, use Left and Right on the D-Pad or use the GamePad's touch screen.

Bombs

Found in the mine in Hyrule Field

Bow

Found in Faron Woods

Boomerang

Found in Valley of Seers

Hookshot

Found in Palace of Twilight

Item Power-Ups

"By acquiring item power-ups from enemies, you can gain the ability to use stronger versions of items for a short amount of time."

— In-Game Description

Sometimes defeated enemies drop item power-ups which enable the use of enhanced versions of Link's items. For example, the player may throw a giant bomb with a larger blast radius. The power-up lasts a certain amount of time, after which items return to normal.

Bazaar

Badge Market

Main article: Badge Market

"Creating badges for your warriors at the Badge Market will help improve their battle abilities. The bonuses granted by a badge apply only to the warrior for whom it was created. Creating badges requires both Rupees and specific materials, but the benefits they add to warriors can be immensely helpful in battle."

— In-Game Description

The Badge Market allows you to improve warriors by creating Attack, Defense, or Assist badges. Creating a badge requires certain materials gained by defeating certain enemies alongside a small fee in rupees. While the badges are mostly the same for each character, they require different materials.

Training Dojo

"You can spend Rupees at the Training Dojo to help warriors level up. However, you will not be able to raise their levels beyond that of the current highest-level warrior. The higher the warrior's level, the more Rupees it will cost to train the warrior. It's more useful to use the Training Dojo to grow low-level warriors."

— In-Game Description

The Training Dojo allows you to level up characters by paying rupees. The max level you may choose is from the highest level character you already have.

Apothecary

"Visit the Apothecary to create a mixture for the next battle. The effects can be powerful, but very temporary. Furthermore, for warriors who've crafted an Empty Bottle badge, the Apothecary will provide restorative potions for every battle, free of charge! As you defeat more Gold Skulltulas, you will be able to create more varieties of mixtures and stock up on more types of potions. Plus, their effects will become stronger!"

— In-Game Description

Allows you to use materials gained and some rupees, in return you increase your chances of getting certain types of weapons. Such as more stars(damage), more slots on found weapons, more weapons in general, more rank to weapons dropped, weapons with empty slots, more attack (ATK) skills or Element (ELE) skills or Versus (VS) skills or Bonus (BON) skills or KO skills or Special (SP) skills.

Smithy

"By using the Smithy, you can transfer skills between weapons you own. To transfer a skill, you will need to spend an amount of Rupees based on the source weapon and the type of skill. The source weapon will also be destroyed in the process. You can only add skills to weapons with empty skill slots. Overwriting previously activated skills and moving sealed skills won't work."

— In-Game Description

You chose one weapon with at least one vacant slot in it; as a base weapon. Then you pick one skill from another weapon to put on the base weapon. You may only chose one skill; and it may not be a vacant slot or a skill that has not been unlocked yet. Also you destroy the weapon you chose the skill, not skills, from.

Reception

Hyrule Warriors was generally well received. The game currently holds a 75 on metacritic, with reviewers praising the soundtrack and fan service. The Adventure Mode has been highly praised by most reviewers for the replayability it adds to the game.

Updates

v1.1.0

• Japan: August 14th 2014
• US: September 26th 2014 (launch)
• Bug fixes

v1.2.0

• Japan: September 1st 2014
• US: September 26th 2014 (launch)
• Challenge Mode
• BGM Selection
• New weapon for Link: 8-Bit Wooden Sword (part of the Hylian Sword line)
• Bug fixes

v1.2.1

• New costume: Dark Link, unlocked by purchasing the Hero of Hyrule Pack.

v1.3.0

• Japan: September 30th 2014
• US: October 16th 2014
• 3 playable characters: Cia, Volga, Wizzro
• Option to turn off boss encounter cutscenes in Adventure Mode

v1.4.0

• Japan: November 27th
• US: November 27th
• The maximum warrior level is now 150
• Can now carry up to 999 of a single type of material
• New mixtures in the Apothecary
• New medals
• Can now receive amiibo presents by touching an amiibo to the GamePad while on the title screen

DLC

Hero of Hyrule Pack

The Hero of Hyrule pack is a pre-order bundle containing the Master Quest, Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask, and Boss Packs. It also includes a bonus Dark Link costume, available immediately upon purchase. In the US, it is priced at $19.99.

Master Quest Pack

• Japan: October 16th – 1200 Yen
• US: October 16th – $7.99
• New Weapon for Link: Horse
• 5 new scenarios about Cia
• New Master Quest Adventure Mode map, including:
  • 16 alternate color costumes.
  • 7 new 8-bit weapons.
  • 20 new Gold Skulltulas.
• 2 New Costumes: Guardian of Time Lana and Guardian of Time Cia

Twilight Princess Pack

• Japan: November 27th – 1200 Yen
• US: November 27th – $7.99
• New Character: Twili Midna with the Mirror
• New Weapon for Zelda: Dominion Rod
• New Twilight Adventure Mode map, including:
  • 16 alternate color costumes.
  • 6 new 8-bit weapons.
  • 20 new Gold Skulltulas.
• 2 New Costumes: Postman Uniform Link and Ilia's Clothes Zelda

Majora's Mask Pack

• Japan: January – 1200 Yen
• US: January - $7.99
• 2 new characters
• New Adventure Map
• 3 new costumes

Boss Pack

• Japan: February – 500 Yen
• US: February - $2.99
• 2 new game modes

Videos

Nintendo Direct Reveal Trailer 12-18-13

E3 2014 Trailer

Features Trailer

Hyrule Warriors Nintendo Direct August 4, 2014

TV Commercial

Launch Trailer

References

1. ↑ "With Hyrule Warriors, there is a link between the two, but it exists as a separate dimension, so it doesn't exist as part of the main canon." — Eiji Aonuma, Game Informer Interview with Eiji Aonuma
2. ↑ "Deep in the forests, far from mortal eyes, a great sorceress watched over the balance of the Triforce." — Narrator, Hyrule Warriors