I do think that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will mean more to people who have played Breath of the Wild, and that's fine. For Zelda fans, there's no way they haven't played it anyway. For Musou fans coming to Age of Calamity from that angle, the sell's a little harder. The narrative that it weaves are great. The presentation is impeccable, and each and every one of the characters are fun to play with. It's just that where the original Hyrule Warriors felt like a love letter to the history and heritage of Zelda, Age of Calamity is more immediate, and that's just a little less of a celebration, though with the tradeoff being it actually contributes to the lore. For me, that's a worthwhile tradeoff, and I didn't even have the assumed knowledge going in.

Take a cornucopia of familiar Hyrule lands, add an absolutely fantastic soundtrack to each of them, and let a collection of amazing characters loose to tell a great story on the battlefield and off, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a game no Zelda or Musou fan should pass up.

Humorously, aside from the technical issues, a lot of my problems with Age of Calamity echo the ones I had with Breath of the Wild. The Divine Beasts are solidly the weakest part of the campaign and the inventory is a little clumsy to manage. That all being said, the totality of this Musou game is soundly enjoyable. The confidence on display in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity echoes the earned success Nintendo has found after Breath of the Wild and the Switch. This is a refined and tight action-packed experience that delivers an excellent mix of Zelda lore and creatively ridiculous brawler gameplay.

Whether it's sleek combat, character development, or a scattershot but intriguing plot, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is packed full of exciting content. It's exactly the type of thing that can hold over fans until the Breath of the Wild sequel is finally released and deserves a look even if its genre is a little more niche to some.

Like its predecessor Age of Calamity delivers an entertaining mass brawl in the Zelda universe, albeit one that is held back by some of the same problems that all of Koei’s Warriors face, mostly monotony setting in eventually.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a ton of fun, but handicaps itself with the occasionally abysmal frame pacing, wonky camera, and design of later missions. Still, it’s the perfect accompaniment to Breath of the Wild and well worth your time.

The best Dynasty Warriors style game ever made, which means it’s slightly north of mediocre, with simplistic combat, weak storytelling, and a whole lot of repetition.