Hyrule Warriors

Hyrule Warriors (ゼルダ無双, Zelda Musou) is a collaboration title between Nintendo and Koei set in the former's long-running Legend of Zelda franchise. Hisashi Koinuma and Yosuke Hayashi are the producers; Eiji Aonuma is the supervisor. The director for the Koei-Tecmo side is Masaki Furusawa. According to Aonuma, the developers consider the game a "celebration title" created by and made for Zelda fans. Kou Shibusawa is uninvolved with development but expressed hopes for the title to sell one million units worldwide.

Early buyers can receive a serial code for three "Courage" costumes that can be used in the game. The Premium Box edition has an illustrated databook, a Triforce table clock which plays a short version of the main theme as an alarm, and three "Wisdom" costumes. The larger Treasure Box edition includes the first print and the Premium Box bonuses with a Link scarf, a miniature treasure box replica that opens with the familiar Zelda tune for treasure, and two "Power" costumes. Consumers who order the game from Gamecity can receive an exclusive postcard set with their purchase. Wonder Goo is offering a limited edition strap.

The size of the downloadable version of the game from the Nintendo E-Shop is 7.8 GB.

Plot
The Triforce is an artifact of hope containing pieces of "Power", "Courage", and "Wisdom" with the power to grant any wish. Once long ago, when an ancient evil threatened to overtake Hyrule, a hero assembled the Triforce to defeat them. The villain's soul was sealed into four crystals. Three of the crystals were sealed to faraway lands via dimensional portals, and one was sealed within the divine Master Sword in the hopes that the threat would never arise again.

Cia is a witch who was tasked with maintaining the pieces of the Triforce. Although once a good person, Cia became infatuated with Link and envious of Zelda. Her jealous mind unleashes the once sealed evil onto Hyrule. She creates a world combining the Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Ocarina of Time realms. Link must rescue Zelda and save Hyrule from the clutches of darkness.

Gameplay
The basic controls and basic gameflow are similar to most Warriors titles, X being normal attack and Y serving as the charge. Some of the available maneuvers include evasive rolls (B) and back flips. It is possible to play the entire game GamePad only; Wii U Pro Controller and the Wii Remote + Nunchuk set up is supported in local multiplayer mode, though it is unknown if these devices can be used in single player. Online multiplayer is available.

Hearts indicate a character's overall health. Leveling up boosts a character's health capacity and attack power. Characters who fight can fill the Experience Gauge located under the K.O. Count by defeating foes. Players can increase the maximum health capacity for all playable characters by collecting heart pieces or heart containers scattered throughout each stage. These can often be found by the characters with an appropriate heart icon in the stage selection screen.

The green bar in the GUI is used for magic. The magic gauge fills up by picking up magic pots from defeated enemies. Players can activate a spell called Focus Spirit to enhance their character's strengths or agility once the magic gauge is filled. While under the effects of Focus Spirit, players earn bonus rupees if they defeat a certain number of foes.

Yellow bars serve as a character's Special Technique gauge which can be filled by finding Triforce pieces around the map or by hitting foes. Each character has a different Special Technique (A) when Focus Spirit is in active use. Leveling up during battle completely fills this gauge.

Players are encouraged to find a particular monster's weak point in their attack patterns. If successful, the monster will be stunned and a "Weak Point Gauge" hovers above them. The objective is to gradually chip away at the gauge's endurance before the monster recovers. Massive damage is dealt to the monster if the player completely destroys the gauge ("Weak Point Smash"). Bosses serve as the main threat for each level.

Most characters have access to various weapons and items from Zelda to eliminate enemies, which can be acquired by defeated foes or opening chests (Y). Players can only change their arsenal before a battle by visiting the following facilities at the bazaar.


 * Training Dojo - Pay a Rupee fee to automatically level up inactive characters.
 * Apothecary - Purchase potions with Rupees. Potions can only be used once in battle for various beneficial effects.
 * Badge Market - Create badges for boosting a character's abilities. Rupees and raw materials collected during or after battle are used here.
 * Junk Shop - Forge weapons with new skills. Can be used to extract raw materials from dismantled weapons.

The majority of the game is partly-voiced. Story and battle character dialogue are silent with limited audible utterances and quotes; the third-person omniscient narration is fully voiced. Downloadable content so far includes costumes.

Characters
Developers stated that "unlikely Zelda characters" will be playable. For a cohesive list of minor characters, please visit Unit Types (Hyrule Warriors).

Playable

 * Link
 * Impa
 * Princess Zelda
 * Midna
 * Lana
 * Agitha
 * Fi
 * Princess Ruto
 * Darunia
 * Sheik

Enemies

 * Cia
 * Wizzro
 * Valga
 * Zant
 * Ghirahim
 * Ganondorf
 * Argorok
 * The Imprisoned
 * King Dodongo
 * Gohma

Stages

 * Hyrule Field
 * Lanayru Gorge
 * Palace of Twilight
 * Eldin Caves
 * Twilight Lands
 * Land in the Sky
 * Sealed Grounds
 * Faron Woods
 * Death Mountain
 * Lake Hylia

Related Media
A playable demo was present at E3 2014 with additional playable characters (Zelda and Midna) revealed. An early peek of Nintendo's E3 Zelda trailer was posted onto Twitter before the main event. During Nintendo's E3 Nintendo Treehouse Live stage event, interviewers for this game asked who would win in a fight: Lu Bu or Ganondorf; Koinuma supported Ganondorf. The MCs questioned if this particular dream match would happen in this game and he responded, "Maybe in a Hyrule Warriors sequel." When asked about the number of playable characters, Aonuma stated there would be "a total of 52 different play styles." He later pantomimed a Cucco for fans on camera to answer that they are in this title.

A closed early trial in Japan will take place July 31st. Interested fans can sign up for it until July 24 and receive an original clear file for their trouble. Producer Hayashi presented the game during the second half of the July 24 Denjin☆Gacha! episode. Niconico users could watch the live broadcast starting 23:00 (JST). Niconico users can watch the completion conference live on July 31, 14:00 (JST). Kou Shibusawa, Shigeru Miyamoto, the supervisors, the producers, and Haruna Iikubo, Morning Musume. '14 member, are scheduled to appear for the presentation. The idol received a treasure box with Miyamoto's autograph and gleefully showed it off on the group's blog.

Nico Nico users can watch a follow-up program that includes a Twilight Princess Let's Play on August 1, 20:30 (JST). It will be the star title for the August 5, 12:00 (JST) Nintendo Direct episode.