Hyrule Warriors First Impressions SPOILER ALERT

Over the weekend we picked up a copy of Hyrule Warriors, a spin-off title in the Zelda franchise that mixes gameplay from Dynasty Warriors with the Zelda universe.

I have never played Dynasty Warriors and I was skeptical about Hyrule Warrors, as some of the gameplay trailers were impressive but it felt like a bridge to the new Zelda title coming out later this year. After having a blast playing on the Wii U over Christmas however, we were looking to expand our library of multiplayer games, and we're also big Zelda fans, so we decided to embark on yet another journey to Hyrule.

The game focuses on epic battles so each map is populated with hundreds of enemies for you to cleave your way through, but there is some strategy involved. The aim is to control as much of the map as possible, and to do this you need to take over enemy keeps and outposts by defeating their captains. Each map also has its own objectives and victory conditions, e.g defeating bosses, collecting items etc, but if you control more of the map the easier completing these objectives will be.

Hyrule Warriors is brimming with Zelda fan service. There's levels set in eras all over Hyrule's timeline,  fantastic weapons and items plucked from pretty much every game in the series, and warm, fuzzy nostalgia taking you all the way back to the Legend of Zelda for NES. You can even play as a wide range of characters (besides Link); including Zelda, Ganondorf, Impa, Fi, Midna and so many more you'll feel spoiled for choice.

In multiplayer one person uses the television and controls their character using a Wii Remote/Nunchuck or the Pro controller, while the second person uses the gamepad, allowing each player their own screen. Apparently the graphic quality is dumbed down to allow for the additional player, I couldn't tell the difference, but there was occasional lag when certain bosses arrived on the battlefield.

I can imagine Hyrule Warriors being pretty dull when going through the game solo, at its core it's a basic hack 'n' slash fest, and being a Zelda fan is essential before even considering buying it. So if you and a buddy are completely barmy about the world of Hyrule, and you have always dreamt of battling hordes of demons and monsters on a GARGANTUAN scale, then Hyrule Warriors will certainly be your cup of tea. ^_^ 

Nintendo at E3 2014

I spent the majority of yesterday glued to my computer watching the Nintendo Digital Event livestream and I've got to say I was pretty impressed. I don't want to get into the whole 'who won E3' debate, but I want to give you my own thoughts on some of Nintendo's announcements.

Smash Bros- Let's get Smash Bros out of the way as this was clearly the focal point of Nintendo's conference, and rightly so because if this isn't a system seller, nothing is.

We discovered that Mii's will be playable characters and it was pretty much expected. It's allowing you to inject some of your own personality into the game, which is a design ethic that Nintendo has been proudly delivering throughout many of their recent releases.

Pac Man was also revealed to be a playable character, again not very surprising seeing at the game is being developed by Namco Bandai. And after all was said and done we got treated to a stunning anime of Link dueling with Pitt, which then turned out to be another character reveal for...Lady Palutena.

My first impressions were "Really??? This is what they're saving till last." Then I saw the amount of effort they had put into this reveal, as previously mentioned the stunning anime, with the well scripted dialogue reminiscent of Kid Icarus Uprising. Lady Palutena then silenced doubters by showing off one of the most impressive movesets of any member of the Smash Bros roster, leaving enemies obliterated and me appropriately stunned.

I was a little disappointed to find that Smash Bros has been delayed from July until October, but I'd rather that the game was polished and performing at its best. We learned that the 'amiibo' toys are going to be an released alongside the game (more on those in a moment), there's also a gorgeous line of Gamecube controllers being released alongside Smash Bros (I'm going to be so bankrupt), and they've even brought back the digital trophy collection last seen in Smash Bros Melee.

There was little gameplay footage during the Digital Event but there didn't need to be any. The Smash Bros Invitational was going to provide a whopping 2 and a half hours of live footage, I'm watching it now as I type, and suffice to say I can't wait for October to arrive so I can finally join the fight.

Amiibo- Ever since Smash Bros Melee was released on Gamecube fans have dreamed of collecting their own Nintendo figurines. Now the dream has finally been made a reality in the form of Nintendo's line of amiibo toys; wallets ready.

The toys can be used in conjunction with Smash Bros, along with other future Wii U/3DS releases, and they allow the character to leap into the game to beat the living daylights out of your opponents...that's when I became confused.

I thought these figures were going to be similar to Disney Infinity and Skylanders; where introducing the figure will allow you to PLAY as the character and not just watch them on screen. They're almost like a virtual pet as you can train them by introducing them to various games, and customise their movesets and abilities to make them your own. Either way the amiibo look fantastic and it's going to be interesting to see how they fare against the likes of Disney Infinity and Skylanders.

Splatoon- The Wii U finally has a first party shooter...but it's not Metroid. Splatoon is a third person shoot em up where two teams of four try and graffiti a variety of levels with their own colour of ink. The team who has gained the most territory ultimately wins, but covering ground also allows you to transform into a Squid so you can quickly traverse your ink and get to where the action is to fend off your opponents.

It's nice to see Nintendo delivering a new IP and I'm really excited to play this one. The art design has a great sense of attitude, reminiscent of Jet Set Radio, with the gameplay style of one of my own personal favourites; De Blob.

Zelda Wii U- We were treated to a cutscene of the brand new Zelda game for Wii U and it was nothing short of stunning. There wasn't much information provided but we do know it's going to be an open world adventure, it has a similar art direction to Skyward Sword and I don't know about you but the weapon designs look amazing. It's scheduled for release sometime in 2015, it's going to be a long wait...

Hyrule Warriors- ...In the meantime however, we have Hyrule Warriors, which I was quite skeptical about this considering it's a hack 'n' slash title rather than a traditional Zelda adventure. The reveals were very persuasive however, as Nintendo revealed there will be four playable characters (Link, Zelda, Impa and fan favourite; Midna), and there will also be two player co-op. Since Smash Bros has been delayed this is arguably Nintendo's biggest release until then, let's hope it delivers the exciting experience it promises.

There's a ton of other stuff I could go into but this blog is already long enough.

Nintendo have come under a lot of criticism as of late, but whether you love them or hate them, they delivered a fantastic performance at E3 2014. In fact the show's still going on as they're still making new announcements throughout the whole of the convention, but will it be enough to persuade the masses to go out and buy a Wii U? Only time will tell.