Zelda Week: Hyrule Warriors: "Strength in numbers MEANS NOTHING TO ME!"

How do you like to relax? For me, it is something I can enjoy without needing to think too much about something. Whether that be a familiar book, movie or show, a video game franchise that I've been playing for so long that I don't need to think about the mechanics, or in this case, taking out red dots on my map by killing anything that moves, which is where Hyrule Warriors comes in. Because sometimes, it helps to have a relaxing game. And if you think that's cruel, do bare in mind, Pokemon and Kirby are also stress relieving games for me. So shall we build up that ko count?

There's a lot to talk about for this game, so let's start with the plot for the WiiU version. I should stress this here, Hyrule Warriors Legends, the 3DS version of the game, is not out yet. I have been playing the Demo so I can talk about its controls and looks, but I can't talk about the story for the specifics, brand new story for the 3DS version. So the main plot? Ganondorf wants the Triforce, you have to stop it. That's what the plot wants you to believe. What the actual story is this: A new baddie for this game in the form of Cia, wants the Triforce and Link, for Cia loves Link. Ganondorf uses this to warp her, turning her into a vessel for his conquest. You have to stop her while playing as iconic Legend of Zelda characters. After you do stop her, resulting in her death, Ganondorf revives himself and *insert the first plot summary here*. To be honest though, in terms of the gameplay, the plot means absolutely nothing. It's just an excuse to go to the missions, some of which are based on locations from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, along with new areas designed specifically for this game. As a result, if you have played any Zelda game or Smash Bros, then you can read right through this story, and know how to do anything in this. Shiek is in this story, and any Zelda fan knows that Shiek is just Zelda in disguise, and no that's not a spoiler, that's ripped right from Ocarina of Time. The plot's harmless though, bland, boring, forgettable, but means nothing to the game as well.

"Stand up, for what is right
Be brave, get ready to fight"

You know the saying "Strength in Numbers", well you can completely forget about that in this game. You are the only competent thing on the battlefield unless you're one of the giant bosses, which I'll get into later. You and your opponent's armies are barely competent, and even then, only when they have the majority of forces on the battlefield. You, have to do almost everything. You're the one who has to defend and capture keeps, which generate more forces for you. You have to take out the stronger forces like Lizalfos or other player characters, who are generals in missions. You have to hunt the Skultulas, which make your potion choices and wider and stronger, and above all else, you have to take out the giant bosses. So here's the breakdown:

• Standard mukes: Anything that does not have a health bar over their heads, also going by the name of Cannon fodder
• Elite mukes: about as weak as standards, but are slightly bigger and have health bars
• Generals: Your Darknuts, Stalmasters, Shield Moblins, Lizalfos etc. These know how to block, and have weak point gauges to quickly take them out once you have an opening.
• Playable characters: Darunia, Zant, Midna, etc. Anyone you can play as you can also fight against. In terms of combat, same as Generals, but have more moves and shorter windows for weak point gauges
• Giant Bosses: Your King Dodongos, Gohmas, (I still can't believe they called it this) Manhandlas etc. They're big, they're weak to specific weapons (Either Bombs, bow, boomerang, or Hookshot, all of which you get throughout the course of Legend Mode and are for all characters) Find the boss pattern, hit it with the weapon, deplete the weak point gauge, lather rinse repeat until it stops moving.

Each battlefield is split into several keeps and outposts. Having more of these allows you to get more cannon fodder... I mean troops. The battle ends when a specific goal is achieved, which is normally either taking a specific keep or taking out a specific enemy, more often then not, you can do both. What do you get by doing this? Experience to make you do it more efficiently, material to be used on badges, which help you do it more efficiently, new weapons to help you do it more efficiently and potential rewards for objectives being Pieces of Heart/ Heart containers which extend your health, or allowing a Gold Skulltula to spawn on the battlefield which, if you can kill it quickly enough, will give you a puzzle piece that will unlock more potions and another reward.

Yes, that comes from the game. Yes, they love to make sure you see her... design and yes, she has a personality to match

After the Legend Mode, there is also Adventure Mode, which is both where the meat of the game is, and where the game decides to show its teeth. Here, you can either go through a recreated map of Zelda 1, and it is actually a map this time, not a grey rectangle, to complete new missions to unlock more health, material, and weapons. Or if you have the DLC, you can go through other themed maps such as Twilight Hyrule Field, or Clocktown. As a tip, if you're not strong enough for the challenge, level grind until you are, as some of the challenges are insane (Looking at you Gold Skulltula number 2 for Link's Level 3 Ball and Chain and all your powered up Icy Big Poes). These can be hard if you don't have the patience and if need be, the level cap is 255, and you can spend rupees to level grind quickly.

Me every time I anger some of the dam poultry in this game. They're relentless in this

if you're looking for a more fulfilling game, a game that encourages you to think, to ponder life's mysteries, you will not find it here, what you see, is what you get, and what you get is a mashup of Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors. The game looks great, but the major flaw is that this game needed voice acting. I have no other problems with the presentation. Controls, for both WiiU and 3DS, are solid, it looks great and the soundtrack is amazing to listen to, but it needed voice acting for it, a good voice acting cast would have been the cherry on top of the cake for this, as there is a great narrator, but that's it. The game is a Junk food game, but damn is it fun and has made me want to look into the other Dynasty Warriors games, once I finish this one, as I do want to 100% this and the 3DS version. Stay tuned for more Zelda content this week.