Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity designers talk about Breath of the Wild follow-up

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which launched on Nintendo Switch last week, is a curious thing: a successful release that is both a sequel and a prequel. This is a follow-2014 Hyrule warriors, a game that combined the fantastic kingdom of Hyrule with the action-packed gameplay of Warriors of the dynasty series. But it is also a game that takes place before the pivotal events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which makes it a key part of the lore for die-hard fans.

To learn a little more about the creation of the game and how developer Koei Tecmo has teamed up with the Zelda Nintendo team, I was able to ask a few questions Age of Calamity producer Yosuke Hayashi and director Ryouta Matsushita. Here’s what they had to say about the making of the game and why weapon durability hasn’t made a comeback.

(And if you are looking for more Zelda insight, be sure to check out our lengthy conversation with the directors of Breath of the wild.)

How did the idea of ​​making a prequel to Breath of the wild come? What made this calendar / frame a good fit for the Hyrule Warriors-type experience?

Hayashi: Nintendo explicitly suggested the idea of ​​using Warriors of the dynasty gameplay to show the great calamity in Breath of the wild. We also appreciated Nature’s Breath as fans, and I thought we could make a really fun game with the idea. So I don’t remember really worrying much while we were consolidating each spec.

Were there specific ways you wanted to take advantage of or change things from the original? Hyrule Warriors?

Hayashi: What we achieved with the previous game was that we wanted to create a story that revolved more closely around the Link, Zelda, and Ganon trio. While I would like everyone to experience the rest of the details for themselves, I think we even managed to get there on the first one. Hyrule Warriors.

Since this game is so closely related to Zelda Lore, does he need a more direct collaboration with Nintendo? How would you describe the way Koei Tecmo and Nintendo are working together on a project like this?

Hayashi: Previously, Hyrule Warriors was a spinoff game where Koei Tecmo had some development freedom. However, since we are describing the hitherto unknown environment 100 years before Nature’s Breath here we needed the full cooperation of the Zelda Nintendo team. During the construction of the project, we received feedback on various areas of the Zelda team, including visuals, storyline, sound, and game direction.

Matsushita: To make sure the game inherited the worldview and tone of BOTW, we asked for in-depth reviews from the initial design phase. Creating a world that does everything together Breath of nature, at a high level, is not possible without this collaborative effort. For the gameplay system, we tried to respect the gameplay of Koei Tecmo Warriors series while integrating new gameplay elements to meet the expectations of the Zelda team.

It is likely that a lot of gamers come to this game after playing BOTW and not necessarily Hyrule Warriors. Is this something that you took into consideration? Is the game designed to facilitate access for new players?

Hayashi: Our development policy Age of Calamity was to create a game that would be fun for Breath of the wild players. So I think it’s fun even if you haven’t played the previous one Hyrule Warriors.

Matsushita: It is an action game where you fight enemies, but you can also use creative methods such as objects or environment besides fighting techniques to defeat powerful enemies. I think we created these elements so that they have easily recognizable clues to fans of the The legend of Zelda series.

Aside from the frame, were there any specific elements of BOTW that you wanted to integrate into this game? Were there key elements of BOTW it just didn’t work in a Warriors of the dynasty experience?

Hayashi: One system that obviously doesn’t work well is weapon durability. Although it was very effective Breath of the wild, Age of calamity assumes you are boosting your weapons as you play, so we are using a system unique to this game.

Matsushita: Using limited resources, such as weapons or food, was a unique element of Link in Nature’s Breath. Since this game is about a war that encompasses all of Hyrule, we needed ways to describe a different side.