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 game's downloadable version is 7.8 GB. Its narrator for the Japanese dub is Mie Sonozaki.

Plot
The Triforce is an artifact of hope containing pieces of "Power", "Courage", and "Wisdom" with the power to grant any wish. Long ago when an ancient evil threatened to overtake Hyrule, a hero assembled the Triforce to defeat it. The villain's soul was sealed into four crystals. Three of the crystals were sent to faraway lands through dimensional portals and one was sealed within the divine Master Sword.

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, Y being normal attack and X 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. On the GamePad, two preset button schemes are selectable - one each tailored for Zelda and Warriors players.

The Morale system returns and is represented by characters on the field glowing with energy. Allied forces glow blue when morale is high, enemy forces glow red when their morale is high, and third party forces glow a bright neon yellow when morale is high. All forces glow a dim murky green when morale is low.

In Zelda fashion, in place of a regular health bar are a collection of Hearts, and health capacity can be increased for all playable characters by finding Pieces of Heart or Heart Containers in the various stages, though these can only be found by characters with an appropriate heart icon in the stage selection screen.

Leveling up boosts a character's health capacity and attack power, and characters who fight can fill the Experience Gauge located under the KO Count by defeating foes.

The green bar in the GUI is the Magic Bar from the Zelda series and functions similar to the Fury Gauge in Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. It fills up by picking up magic pots from defeated enemies, and once it is filled, players can activate a spell called Focus Spirit to enhance their character's power or agility. While under the effects of Focus Spirit, players earn bonus rupees if they defeat a certain number of foes.

The yellow bar is the character's Special Technique (Musou) 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 and can range from rival charactors to familiar giant bosses from the Zelda series such as King Dodongo.

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). True to Zelda, in many cases, these items play critical roles in defeating giant bosses (for example, in a sequence playable in the demo, King Dodongo is vulnerable if players throw bombs into his mouth while he charges up a breath attack.) 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.
 * Smithy - 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. Updates includes costumes, characters, and weapons. Developers are currently open to suggestions for DLC characters; the scrapped female Link is a popular choice. A new mode is made available via a patch.

Legend Mode
Main story mode separated into seven chapters. Clearing this mode unlocks the second Gold Skulltula on a map and Harder difficulty.

Free Mode
Reprise of other Warriors titles.

Adventure Mode
Board game experience which uses classic Legend of Zelda NES visuals. Event cards are used to proceed on a 16 x 8 square grid. The main objective for each map to defeat the boss. Players must search for the key to the boss's dungeon in order to complete the map. Fairies can be rescued on the side to protect the player character from traps. Secondary objectives may be present based on the selected player character. Score A or S ranks in the map's battle sequences to obtain rare items. Exclusive battle scenarios and opponents are present.

This mode must be played to unlock materials, weapon upgrades, heart pieces, and additional characters. Online multiplayer is available only in this mode.

Challenge Mode
Planned to be available after September 1 update in Japan. Includes multiple battles with specific restrictions or conditions.

Characters
For a cohesive list of minor characters, please visit Unit Types (Hyrule Warriors). One effect of the collaboration is that many of the playable characters are either playable for the very first time (such as Impa, Ruto and Darunia) or for the first time outside of Super Smash Brothers (such as Zelda/Sheik.)

Playable
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Hyrulean Forces & Allies

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

 * Zant
 * Ghirahim
 * Ganondorf
 * Cia (DLC)
 * Volga (DLC)
 * Wizzro (DLC)
 * }

Non-Playable Enemies

 * Argorok
 * The Imprisoned
 * King Dodongo
 * Gohma
 * Manhandla
 * Beast Ganon

Stages
Most of these stages are taken from three different Zelda titles: Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. Each one has a recommended element which may influence how players choose their characters and weapon styles.


 * Hyrule Field
 * Eldin Caves
 * Faron Woods
 * Valley of Seers
 * Death Mountain
 * Lake Hylia
 * Twilight Field
 * Palace of Twilight
 * Skyloft
 * Sealed Grounds
 * Temple of the Sacred Sword
 * Temple of Souls
 * Gerudo Desert
 * Ganon's Tower

Medals
Bronze Medals
 * Destructive Force - Defeated 1,000 or more enemies in one battle.
 * Marathon Man - Dashed a total of 42.195 km or more.
 * Serious Adventurer - Attained "A" rank in Adventure Mode.
 * Big Bro - Helped 10 Network Links in Adventure Mode.
 * Craftsman - Completed a battle using only items.
 * Cuccoo's Revenge - Managed to get defeated by a Cuccoo.
 * Superstar - Activated all Focus Spirit bonuses.

Silver Medals
 * Hyrule Warrior - Defeated a total of 100,000 or more enemies.
 * Lawn Mower - Cut a total of 1,000 or more clumps of grass.
 * Hero in the Green Tunic - Completed Legend Mode.
 * Bug Catcher - Defeated 50 Gold Skulltulas.

Gold Medals
 * Millionaire - Acquired a total of 1,000,000 or more Rupees.

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. It was given coverage during E3 Nintendo Treehouse Live and an after show session.

Producer Hayashi presented the game during the second half of the July 24 Denjin☆Gacha! episode. The completion conference was broadcast live on July 31, 14:00 (JST). Kou Shibusawa, Shigeru Miyamoto, the supervisors, the producers, and Haruna Iikubo, Morning Musume. '14 member and sub-leader, were appeared 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 could watch a follow-up program that included a Twilight Princess Let's Play on August 1, 20:30 (JST). It was the star title for the August 5, 12:00 (JST) Nintendo Direct episode.

A closed early trial in Japan took place July 31st. Participants received an original clear file for their trouble. On August 30th Nintendo will be hosting an event at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel by Marriott where players can play the full game, interact with a Zelda cosplay actor hired by Nintendo, and gain access to merchandise.

Weekly Famitsu included a digital compilation within its September 4 issue. Two guidebooks are planned. The first includes Legend Mode maps and general combat tips while the second has tips for Adventure Mode. Purchase the limited Gamecity Shopping offer for both guidebooks to receive a fabric poster of the main visual.

It was announced by Koei via the official Zelda Musou Twitter that they will be hosting a competition for Hyrule Warriors players at the upcoming 2014 Tokyo Game Show. They will also be unveiling an upcoming large expansion patch for the game, and will even feature playable demos of whats to come.

Trivia

 * The Materials Book reveals an unused female Link lookalike named Linkle (リンクル, Rinkuru). The concept echoes a Western Internet misunderstanding regarding Link's gender in the E3 2014 teaser for The Legend of Zelda.