Hyrule Warriors: New Look, Same Dynasty - Preview

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Hyrule Warriors is a curious blend of traditional Dynasty Warriors combat and thematical elements from the Zelda series. With the recently-revealed Wii U Zelda game undoubtedly far from release, Hyrule Warriors is exactly the sort of game that could sate fans of the series in the meantime.

While my time with the demo was brief (encompassing about 10 minutes of gameplay), I was nonetheless able to get a pretty good feel for the game on the show floor. Players were able to choose between Princess Zelda or Link, both with their own unique set of moves. While Link and Zelda's moves were vastly different, neither seemed to have the upperhand on one another in regards to combat or killing abilities.

Controlling your protagonist is relatively simple and the moves are quick to learn. The d-pad is used to cycle through your Zelda-themed items, such as bombs. Two buttons are assigned to a heavy or light attack, and a special move is done through the click of a button after powering up your focus meter. Borrowing from the Zelda series is the ability to "Z-target" enemies by pressing the 'L' button. This feature helps to target some of the stage's many bosses or larger foes.

At the end of the demo was a short, but enjoyable fight with King Dodongo. Unlike Dodongos from the Zelda series, this iteration actually posed an interesting challenge and brought a level of chaos to the playing field. Actually defeating King Dodongo was sadly no different from doing so in Ocarina of Time though.

Littered throughout the demo were magic jars, used to fill your focus meter, which enables your character to unleash an impressively powerful attack. This ability will surely come in handy against some of the game's many bosses.

The demo at E3 was extremely short, but it did give a big enough glimpse of the initial premise behind Hyrule Warriors to confirm that it is both sound and vastly enjoyable.

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