Hyrule Warriors Legends

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“Surprisingly, Hyrule Warriors does a good job of tying together the combat of Dynasty Warriors and the revered characters and lore of the Legend of Zelda series in a way that makes me feel powerful in a world I love. Character customization adds unique flavor to the simple combat, and the satisfying weapons, rewards, and story make it a fun alternative to the typically serious Zelda games. It’s just a shame you can’t share the action with a friend without significant slowdown.”

Read the original Hyrule Warriors review here. Most of this still holds true for Hyrule Warriors Legends, but the shoddy performance of this 3DS port makes it a lot less desirable, particularly when compared to the New 3DS version. You can read our full review of that version here.

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While Hyrule Warriors Legends runs fine on the New 3DS, the choppy performance on 3DS and 2DS make it extremely difficult to enjoy. This is a repetitive action game that puts dozens of enemies onscreen at once for you to attack, but each successful sword swing and item toss felt hollow because of the awful amounts of slowdown. The terrible framerate takes nearly all of the fun out of Legends’ crowded skirmishes, making them feel double the length that they should. When you factor in the shabby graphics, lame effects, and noticeable pop-in of this port, it’s difficult to recommend this game to owners of the standard 3DS.

“ ...the choppy performance on 3DS and 2DS make it extremely difficult to enjoy.

Technical failings like these suck the wind out of a game that, otherwise, is brimming with fanservice for Zelda fans. Take the epic scale of the first boss fight with Dodongo. Rather than charge through the wall with an effective explosion, the barricade simply vanishes on contact, resulting in a cheap-looking setup for a big moment that feels incomplete. It’s a brief but jarring example of how slipshod this port can feel at times, and even ignoring that, Dodongo and the rest of the bosses look equally lame thanks to hideously low-resolution textures. Rather than make use of the 3DS’s graphics capability to make textures that look good at lower resolution, this port simply scales down the Wii U textures until they’re a blurry mess. Even a lot of the menus look bad because of horribly smudged or blurry art.

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The sad thing is that these issues spoil a few smart changes that make this mindless action game a much better experience on a handheld. A quick-swap feature lets you instantly switch characters mid-battle, and you can even direct fellow soldiers like Zelda and Impa on the map using the touch screen. This change has a major impact on how you control the flow of battle: it goes from a frantic dash from place to place to a much more strategic flow. You can now spread out your units and switch your attention to skirmishes that need immediate action when appropriate. Legends also introduces Owl Statues that can be activated with a handy Ocarina item, which helps you teleport quickly around the map. I felt more well-equipped to handle waves of foes that had given me trouble in the Wii U version.