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. 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, and three "Wisdom" costumes. The larger Treasure Box edition includes the first print and the Premuim 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 with their purchase.

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. Link must rescue Zelda and save Hyrule from the clutches of darkness.

Gameplay
The basic controls are similar to most Warriors titles. Some of the available maneuvers include dodge rolls and back flips. It is possible to play the entire game GamePad only; Pro Controller and the Nunchaku + Wii Mode set up is supported in multiplayer mode, though it is unknown if these devices can be used in single player.

Hearts indicate a character's overall health, yellow bars serve as the game's Musou gauge, and the green bar is used for magic. The magic bar slowly fills up over time as enemies are defeated, when full players can activate a spell to enhance a characters attack strength, speed, and defense. While under the effect of magic, players are able to use a different type of Musou attack.

Like most Warriors titles, it is encouraged to gain every tactical advantage while protecting the commander or main camp. Included in the game are boss-type enemies that serve as the main threat for each level. To defeat these foes, players must find weak points in their attack patterns and exploit them for maximum damage.

Characters have access to various weapons and items from Zelda to eliminate enemies. Rupees and other goods can also be collected to upgrade weapons or create badges for the purpose of boosting a character's abilities.

Downloadable content so far includes costumes.

Characters
Developers stated that "unlikely Zelda characters" will be playable. Many enemies are monsters –both large and small– from the Zelda universe.

Playable

 * Link
 * Impa
 * Princess Zelda
 * Midna

Present

 * Great Fairy

Enemies

 * Cia
 * Wizzro
 * Valga
 * Ganondorf
 * Stalchild
 * Stalmaster
 * Bokoblin
 * Lizalfos
 * Darknut
 * King Dodongo
 * Argorok
 * ReDead Knight
 * Moblin
 * Cucco

Stages

 * Hyrule Field
 * Lanayru Gorge
 * Palace of Twilight
 * Eldin Volcano

Related Media
A playable demo is scheduled to be present at E3 2014 with additional playable characters. An early peek of Nintendo's E3 Zelda trailer was posted onto Twitter before the main event. During Nintendos showing of Hyrule Warriors during their E3 Nintendo Treehouse Event it was asked by interviewers who would win in a battle; Lu Bu or Ganondorf. Hisashi Koinuma stated that it would likely be Ganondorf. When asked if there might be a chance for Lu Bu to participate in a battle against Ganondorf, he responded saying "Maybe in Hyrule Warriors sequel." Later during the event, when asked how many playable characters there would be, Eiji Aonuma stated there would be "a total of 52 different play styles".