Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Age of Calamity boasts compelling combat, a stack of content and a clever remix of Breath of the Wild's Hyrule.

Age of Calamity improves on the combat and structure of Hyrule Warriors, but saps much of the weight from Breath of the Wild's backstory as it fills in its gaps.

Zelda gets the Dynasty Warriors treatment once more, folding in inspiration from Breath of the Wild for the best musou spin-off yet.

The game never fully embraces the potential opportunities of its time-traveling premise, but I was still hooked throughout. Possibly it helped that Breath of the Wild already did such a good job of establishing the stakes. Age of Calamity didn’t have to do much to pull on the same heartstrings. Sometimes, a short cutscene with a pained glance or a wavering voice was all it took to reinvigorate the drama of it all.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is an ace accomplice to Breath of the Wild, providing charming backstories to its colorful cast of characters while carrying forward the spirit of experimental gameplay with impressive results.

The action is tedious, but cutting through swaths of Bokoblins and single-handedly clearing a battlefield is still rewarding

Bash and slash your way through umpteen morphing enemy hordes in this moreish Dynasty Warriors-Legend of Zelda crossover

A hugely entertaining love letter to Breath of the Wild let down by uneven performance that scuppers the game’s ludicrous highs.

Successful at what it sets out to do, however – providing a fun, interesting and exciting new adventure that fans of that game will surely enjoy. It won’t stay your appetite for Breath of the Wild 2 – but it’ll keep you occupied happily enough all the same.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity brings some of the same "Warriors" baggage along with it, but as someone who was always into these Omega Force romps, the juice was worth the squeeze. The story was genuinely enthralling throughout and it serves as a great companion piece for Breath of the Wild, while forging its own identity in many respects. I suspect a lot of the alterations are going to be controversial, but I like that they took some big swings and really went with it.