Koei-Tecmo’s brand of Warriors games – hack-and-slash spectacles wherein one character takes on entire armies – are, to my mind, excellent stress-relievers. They are not the most polished or ambitious on the market, but their elaborate power fantasies are instant addictions, the thrill of smashing through endless platoons and capturing bases instilling a bountiful catharsis. This isn’t to say the games are doormats – the various missions and down-to-the-wire missions engage us to the point of anxiety, but overcoming such odds is what makes them constantly satisfying to play.
I confess my experience with Warriors is limited – while I’ve played the entire One Piece: Pirate Warriors trilogy and extensively played both Nintendo-themed offerings (Hyrule Warriors, the game we’re reviewing today, and Fire Emblem Warriors), my experience with series progenitor Dynasty Warriors is limited only to the aged Dynasty Warriors 2. A mistake I aim to rectify in the future, but the point is, it is not uncommon at all for fans to claim Hyrule Warriors – a Nintendo and Koei-Tecmo collaboration based on The Legend of Zelda – is the best of them all. Even putting aside the celebrated mechanical improvements, the Wii U game is an insane labor of love and passion from developers clearly enamored with Nintendo’s famous fantasy series, with two years’ worth of DLC culminating with a boatload of content, a 3DS version with exclusive features (Hyrule Warriors Legends), and a Switch version collectively including all aforementioned content (Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition).
