Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity: Difference between revisions

While work progressed on {{BotW}}, Aonuma had already begun thinking of ways to explore another multiplayer ''Zelda'' title, this time using lessons the team had learnt from the development of that game.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= I would like to take what I learned from Breath of the Wild and see if we can somehow fuse those learning points into another multiplayer Zelda. For example, with Tri Force Heroes, which followed a similar format of Four Swords, there was a multiplayer involved in that game. That's definitely a possibility and we will continue to [experiment] throughout the Zelda franchise.|name= Eiji Aonuma|url= https://in.ign.com/the-legend-of-zelda-hd-158649/95944/news/zelda-producer-after-breath-of-the-wild-next-game-could-be-multiplayer|title= Zelda Producer: After Breath of the Wild, Next Game Could Be Multiplayer}}</ref> After development wrapped, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and art director Satoru Takizawa pitched Aonuma the idea of a second ''Warriors'' title, this time set in ''Breath of the Wild's'' past, against the backdrop of that game's "Great Calamity" event. Fujibayashi and Takizawa already had some sense of the kind of game they wanted to see, and the extent to which they had thought through their plans spurred Aonuma to discuss a second collaboration with Koei Tecmo.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= The idea came from Breath of the Wild’s director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and art director Satoru Takizawa. When they first pitched the “Great Calamity” as a setting for a Musou game, I was very interested but wondered if there would be difficulties when crafting the story. From there, we deliberated on how things would go, and the two of them already had plans in mind. Driven by how serious Mr. Fujibayashi and Mr. Takizawa were, I decided to consult with Hyrule Warriors producer Yosuke Hayashi.|name= Eiji Aonuma|url= https://nintendoeverything.com/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-devs-on-how-the-game-came-to-be-nintendo-wanting-it-to-be-a-new-experience-more/|title= Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity devs on how the game came to be, Nintendo wanting it to be a new experience, more}}</ref>

Omega Force collaborated much more closely with the team this time around, than they had on {{HW}}. Elements such as gameplay, graphics, the depiction of Hyrule, and all character dialogue were discussed with the ''Zelda'' team to ensure consistency with {{BotW}}.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= The previous Hyrule Warriors games were filled with Zelda conventions. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild broke these conventions entirely, and perhaps it's the same for everyone here, but for someone like me, who's been playing Zelda games for a long time, this was an extraordinary experience. It's a new, special title for me. Unlike the previous Hyrule Warriors games, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was developed by working closely with the Zelda team in every step of the process, including gameplay direction, graphics, world, and all dialogue. And while we maintain the distinct gameplay style of the Warriors series with exciting '1 vs. 1000' battles, and a wide variety of playable characters, this became the only game that will let you experience the world 100 years prior to the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild firsthand.|name= Eiji Aonuma|url= https://youtu.be/ifm8tpcO4vw|title= Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - A story 100 years before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Prior to development, Aonuma had requested that the ''Zelda'' team allow Omega Force a degree of freedom whilst creating the movesets for each playable character, which would allow them to explore more outlandish special moves for each.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= While the theming is that of Breath of the Wild, a combat-centric game like Hyrule Warriors may have things like ‘special techniques for tearing up hordes,’ and I wanted them to be able to go a little crazy with those things without having to be too conscientious of the frame work... That is the perspective I asked the Zelda team to take in their management of the project.|name= Eiji Aonuma|url= https://www.zeldadungeon.net/koei-tecmo-developers-discuss-the-freedoms-and-challenges-in-working-with-the-zelda-team-to-create-hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity/|title= Koei Tecmo Developers Discuss the Freedoms and Challenges in Working With the Zelda Team to Create Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity}}</ref> While designing moves for the game's cast, Omega Force based Link, Zelda, and Impa on existing archetypes—namely, a knight, a mage, and a trickster.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= As for Impa’s style, that came together smoothly. Both as a factor of fighting with Sheikah Tribe techniques, and for balance between the three starting party members: the orthodox knight in Link, the mage-like Zelda, and the third member being a ninja-styled character with tricky abilities fit perfectly. So I think it came together naturally.|name= Ryota Matsushita|url= https://www.zeldadungeon.net/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-developers-discuss-their-approach-to-combat-in-recent-interview/|title= Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Developers Discuss Their Approach to Combat in Recent Interview}}</ref> Of the three, Zelda proved hardest to design, owing to the fact that she was never intended to be a fighter in {{BotW}}, and that making her a combatant would potentially be at odds with her personality. The development team eventually settled on the idea of Zelda being driven by a sense of duty and taking up arms using the Sheikah Slate, using her backstory in {{BotW}} as a point of reference.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= In Zelda’s case, she remained a challenge throughout production. No matter how you cut it, she wasn’t really envisioned as a warrior-princess, so it wouldn’t do to suddenly have her performing these Warriors-style actions. However, she is a person driven by her sense of duty, so what emerged as the action she should take in her situation was the Sheikah Slate-based combat.|name= Ryota Matsushita|url= https://www.zeldadungeon.net/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-developers-discuss-their-approach-to-combat-in-recent-interview/|title= Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Developers Discuss Their Approach to Combat in Recent Interview}}</ref> In contrast, Impa's moveset came together more smoothly, as a byproduct of her being from the ninja-like Sheikah tribe.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= As for Impa’s style, that came together smoothly. Both as a factor of fighting with Sheikah Tribe techniques, and for balance between the three starting party members: the orthodox knight in Link, the mage-like Zelda, and the third member being a ninja-styled character with tricky abilities fit perfectly. So I think it came together naturally.|name= Ryota Matsushita|url= https://www.zeldadungeon.net/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-developers-discuss-their-approach-to-combat-in-recent-interview/|title= Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Developers Discuss Their Approach to Combat in Recent Interview}}</ref> According to the developers, the individual Sheikah Slate abilities for the rest of the cast were easy to derive from their personalities as well.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= That came together unexpectedly smoothly. The individual personalities and fighting styles of Breath of the Wild’s characters are consistently unique, so it was easy to give them that distinction. For instance, if we ask ourselves, “What would Revali do if asked to fight using the Stasis Rune?” we could get very strong, detailed, opinionated answers that, “Revali would obviously use it like this!” which we were able to piece together to create his actions. Everyone was able to give an answer quite readily. [laughs]|name= Ryota Matsushita|url= https://www.zeldadungeon.net/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-developers-discuss-their-approach-to-combat-in-recent-interview/|title= Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Developers Discuss Their Approach to Combat in Recent Interview}}</ref>

During development, the team used its learnings from having worked on the first {{HW}}, but encountered challenges while deciding how to integrate the open-world design of {{BotW}} into the stage-based style of a ''Warriors'' game. The development team ultimately chose to design each stage to be more three-dimensional, with height or interconnected terrain, to create the feel of a more expansive world.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= A lot of the direction for how we integrate the Zelda setting and its rewarding gameplay into the Warriors systems came from our prior experience with Hyrule Warriors, but we encountered new challenges this time when deciding how to integrate the open-world systems of BotW into the stage-based design of Warriors. Basically, instead of changing the stage-by-stage structure of the game, we designed each stage to be more three-dimensional (with height or interconnected terrain) to create the feel of a more expansive world than before.|name= Eiji Aonuma|url= https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2020/11/20/why-the-hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-team-made-a-breath-of-the-wild-prequel|title= Why The Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity Team Made A Breath Of The Wild Prequel}}</ref> Omega Force found that working on {{HWAoC|-}} required less trial-an-error than its predecessor, as it had already understood how to incorporate ''Zelda''-like concepts into a ''Warriors'' game, and was instead able to allocate resources towards creating a game that was of higher quality.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= The previous game was a challenge in terms of incorporating the concepts of one game into a different game, and we went through a lot of trial and error on the ground. As a development team, we had a number of things that we weren't able to achieve or would've done differently in hindsight. We didn't need to repeat that trial and error for Age of Calamity, and I think that allowed us to allocate those resources towards increasing the quality of the game.  

|name= Yosuke Hayashi|url= https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2020/11/20/why-the-hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-team-made-a-breath-of-the-wild-prequel|title= Why The Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity Team Made A Breath Of The Wild Prequel}}</ref> All throughout development, the ''Zelda'' team reviewed each aspect of {{HWAoC|-}} to ensure that the game inherited the look and tone of {{BotW}}.<ref>{{Cite person|quote= To ensure that the game inherited the look and tone of BotW, we asked the Zelda team to review every detail of what we made. They consistently suggested ways to make the game exponentially more fun, while simultaneously showing great respect for the ideas the Warriors team had for this game as an action game.|name= Ryota Matsushita|url= https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2020/11/20/why-the-hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-team-made-a-breath-of-the-wild-prequel|title= Why The Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity Team Made A Breath Of The Wild Prequel}}</ref>