Last night, Nintendo held its well-advertised, Hyrule Warriors-themed Nintendo Direct livestream, and revealed a wealth of interesting information pertaining to the game. If you missed it, we’ve embedded the entire presentation here, but first let’s take a moment to go over what was announced.
To start, the Big N revealed even more playable characters, including baddies Ghirahim and Ganondorf, the latter of which happens to be a huge deal. Now, through this unexpected but anticipated spin-off franchise — which melds The Legend of Zelda with Dynasty Warriors — players will be able to assume the role of one of gaming’s most infamous bad guys and wreak havoc upon unsuspecting goons. It’ll surely be a nice change of pace and, from the looks of things, Ganondorf’s strength, swordplay skills and magical abilities will likely make him a fan favourite.
Like Link and Princess Zelda, Ganondorf will be able to wear costumes inspired by classic Zelda games. These outfits will mainly be available as retailer exclusive pre-order bonuses, though, and details have yet to be announced. The only thing we do know on this front, is that those who register Hyrule Warriors by October 23, via Club Nintendo, will receive Ganondorf’s Demon King duds.
Getting back to the meat of things, it’s important to note that new weapons (such as Chomp, the chained, dog-like being from Super Mario 64, and the moon from Majora’s Mask) have been added into the game, along with hidden golden skulltulas. They’ll accentuate the title’s combat-focused gameplay, which allows players to find, equip and even fuse different weapons together. That said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention its newly-revealed badges, as they’re a way for users to upgrade their chosen character’s stats.
Outside of some great-looking moves, large-scale bosses and a bunch of annihilated goons, the aforementioned livestream also introduced cuttable grass, cuckoos, mouse-shaped bombs and the game’s previously-teased Adventure Mode. These are all things that pay homage to classic Zelda games and give Hyrule Warriors extra flair. For instance, grass can be chopped away at to reveal rupees, heart pieces and more, while cuckoos will attack the player after being hit enough. Conversely, if used properly, they can become allies in battle, attacking everything that comes near them. The bombs, on the other hand, don’t really need much of an explanation.
Perhaps the most interesting of all of these announcements is the existence of Hyrule Warriors‘ NES-themed Adventure Mode. By offering gamers a chance to test their skills at different challenges (ie. “Kill 300 enemies in under 10 minutes”) and the opportunity to find secrets within a grid-like map, it’s destined to become a real time sink. Of course, it helps that hidden characters and special weapons can be found within its 8-bit domain.
Last, but certainly not least, is the game’s two-player local co-op mode, which allows friends to team up and fight together. Although the co-op itself is not news, the fact that the game’s screen resolution drops whenever it’s activated is. Apparently a reduction is necessary, in order to make the campaign playable on two screens, those being the GamePad and the TV.
So, there you have them, the most vital notes from Monday night’s Hyrule Warriors-themed Nintendo Direct. Feel free to check out the entire, 26 minute-long presentation for yourself as you wait for the game’s September 26 launch date.