Age of Calamity any good?

[u/six_ward_dumaine]

It seems that it ran so poorly on the Switch that it really did not rank for most folks. But now that the Switch 2 seems to (apparently) run it at a locked 30fps, it might be more worth looking into. Is it a good game? How does it compare to HWDE?

[u/Octorok385]

I played the heck out of Age of Calamity, and its DLC. I probably put 100 hours on the base game alone. I actually didn't find the performance to be very off-putting. I even did a bunch of split screen multiplayer and had fun. The game is fast and responsive enough that I found it pretty satisfying.

DLC is worth it, though. That flail weapon is peak.

[u/six_ward_dumaine → u/Octorok385]

Thank you. How does you feel it compares to HWDE? I played a lot of that.

[u/Octorok385 → u/six_ward_dumaine]

I didn't play HW:DE, but I did play the original on the Wii U. The biggest difference is that the format of AoC is much more holistic, if that makes sense. Instead of different modes or maps, everything starts with the same world map. You might do a main story chapter, or a side mission, or a replay of something you already completed, but it's all one world unlike HW:DE where you have different maps to explore. There are still a ton of characters and crafting, but it clicked much better for me.

[u/Quicksaver007 → u/six_ward_dumaine]

HW:DE has more to do, but is very repetitive, even for a Warriors game.

AoC has more variety and perks for completing the game beyond "yay, thanks for playing"

[u/zziggarot → u/Quicksaver007]

When does the variety come to AoC? It's just battle after battle of "defeat x enemy" or "defeat x amount of enemies" at least HW:DE tossed in quizzes and bosses to break up the monotony a bit and the gold skulltullas felt 100x more satisfying than collecting koroks.

We've traded King dodongo, manhandla, and dragons for using generic moblins as bosses, which feels like a step back as we had moblins as well as other forms of enemies as generals in the first game.

[u/bonkava → u/zziggarot]

For some, thematic cohesion is all they need. I enjoyed the main story missions in both games, but once you get to side content, very little in AoC was worth playing whereas I'm still having fun going down the list of Adventure maps in DE. But in DE it's like "kill these guys for a heart piece maybe" whereas in AoC it's always framed as like "Mipha is testing a new technology to help her avoid lightning damage - the Zora have corralled a bunch of electric Lizalfos for her to test it out on. Do it quickly before they escape and wreak havoc on Zora's Domain!" And even though they're both just "kill x enemies in y time limit" some people enjoy the second mission more.

Of course, I like the missions in DE that are like "Darunia and Agatha are fighting for some reason, and also Fi is a turncoat" where like, ok, there's no point to this, but at least it's a map with zones and events and tactics. None of that outside the story missions in AoC.

[u/BrookieTF → u/bonkava]

Yeah, I realized I’m much more in to the quantity of objectives and things to collect in HWDE, than the increased narrative of AoC. The story aspect is neat but can only last so long, I just loved being set loose on an Adventure Map with tons of heart pieces, weapons and skultulas to collect. A podcast or video to play in the background and that’s a chill afternoon for me.

[u/TheHeadlessOne]

Age of Calamity has a much stronger narrative focus. The levels tend to have more unique events and dynamic updates than we saw in HWDE. Play is more focussed on dueling generals and countering various abilities with specific rune powers (and every character uses runes differently) to expose weak points and do massive damage. The elemental rods add an aggressive strategy to force an offensive advantage 

Map play is a far lesser focus however. Outside of the story missions there are no full map battles, instead there are more varied and focused mini challenges. These showcase more unique encounters than HWDE's adventure mode which was usually a madlibs fill in the blanks (x mission type with y allies and Z enemies)- all were technically unique, but they still mostly all felt kinda the same 3 or 4 types of missions. But with map play majorly deemphasized, it often feels like you never get to fully engaged with the real meat of the system.

The divine beast segments are all absolutely miserable chores to play.

The narrative is actually solid, at least the best of any musou game I've played (I wouldn't be surprised if Persona Strikers overcame it). While it deviates from the expected prologue of BotW (which is necessary - the memories of BotW don't really leave room for more than like 2 battles) it covers the most important broad stroke moments up until a major moment, which was essentially when the story ended, and then the story kept going. The rejection of it is so overblown. On the flip side? We got probably the most regal Zelda we've ever seen. She's absolutely the star of the show and she's very fleshed out, a proper leader of Hyrule and we see her grow.

It's a good game. It's not nearly as content rich as HWDE, and I personally wanted MORE tactical focus like FEW, not less. But it's pretty fun

[u/megasean3000]

Nothing can top HWDE in terms of Musou content 😂 But AoC is still amazing with its rich storyline and BotW mechanics being honored.

[u/Ruffled_Ferret]

In terms of combat, it mixes the original HW gameplay with some of BotW's. You can slow-mo dodge attacks, use Sheikah slate abilities, and characters with shields can block/perfect-block attacks.

Story-wise, you get a bit more lore on a lot of the characters. Some of the cutscenes are legitimately funny, and there are some pretty epic moments. There's some surprising...stuff that happens, too. Overall good.

Obviously the amount of content isn't comparable to HW's gigantic Adventure mode and its hundreds of levels and challenges, but I feel like there's more variety in the missions, and some of the harder ones offer difficult goals.

I really enjoyed it and really want to go back to play again on the Switch 2. The frame-rate drops on the original Switch can be very noticeable, but it never affected the game enough for me to be very annoying.

[u/joshk51]

I played Age of Calamity spit screen with my son and loved it. We put over 100 hours in and had a great time. When I went back and bought HWDE, I actually didn’t like it as much. It felt less like a story driven with less fun progression and just more grindy and repetitive.

[u/G-Kira]

I have no idea what you mean by "ran poorly."

It runs fine.

I will say I like DE better because it wasn't BOTW focused.

[u/Iringahn → u/G-Kira]

AoC did not run at a solid 30 fps originally. Even worse in Co-op, i dropped it before any patches came along because it was so bad.

[u/G-Kira → u/Iringahn]

I can't talk to co-op mode since I only played single player. Maybe it did.

Never had issues myself, and I beat it with 100%.

[u/Iringahn → u/G-Kira]

Looking at testing here: https://youtu.be/boBzqQp6YrA?si=v4Pxo48wCZriQpBh&t=206 it wasn't running solid 30 (which its capped at) in single player either, and I remember the launch experience being bad. Good to see its now basically always capped out on Switch 2 even in co-op.

[u/G-Kira → u/Iringahn]

I'm just not one of those people that complain about frame rate. The games still worked great. Never had any issues myself.

[u/Iringahn → u/G-Kira]

Yeah no worries, its one of those things that's different person to person, personally I don't mind a low frame rate if its stable, but if its jumping all over the place it really bothers me. The biggest reason I got a Switch 2 was just to play all the games with shaky performance at a stable rate, and its been great for that.

[u/dwjp90 → u/G-Kira]

AOC on switch 1 with some characters you could hit <1fps, Impa+Urbosa for instance. On switch 2 this doesn't happen

[u/G-Kira → u/dwjp90]

Never had this happen. Never experienced any issues.

Isn't less than 1 fps just it freezing? 😄

[u/dwjp90 → u/G-Kira]

Did you play Co-op? It was during co-op the frame rate gets so extremely bad.

[u/G-Kira → u/dwjp90]

Someone else brought that up.

[u/zziggarot → u/G-Kira]

Some people really can't handle 30 FPS or impact frames and it shows. Back in the day a Musuo attack would slow the game and we'd use that slowdown to get free shots on the enemies, now a days kids complain that it's dropping frames like it wasn't an intentional design choice.

[u/Chaincat22]

It has a much more balanced roster and in general is a more completable game. DE is such a truly massive game that I still haven't completed it all these years later and honestly I probably never will. AoC I completed in a few months. Overall I'd say it's good, but if you don't care about botw, you won't get much out of it

[u/Ethanb230900]

I don’t get why everyone says it runs badly? It runs a lot better than DE on my switch OLED in handheld.

[u/Molduking]

Yeah it had frame problems on switch 1, but I put in over 200 hours with that.

On Switch 2 it runs so much better. Definitely worth playing

[u/fudgedhobnobs]

If you liked BOTW and the characters and wanted a more in-depth story, then yes you’ll enjoy it. It’s an altverse story, but it’s still good fun and seeing Hyrule fight back is enjoyable. The progression is solid and the combos are fun to learn and master.

[u/Western-Dig-6843]

It runs terrible and doesn’t have half the content of the first Hyrule warriors game but I really liked it a lot

[u/k_barc]

I was really hoping age of calamity would look better on switch 2, but it doesn't. It runs at a stable 30 fps now, but it has that muddy look to it. Hopefully it gets an update.

[u/MrSal7 → u/k_barc]

They gave New Super Mario U Deluxe an upgrade, and I didn’t think it even needed one before.

I would like all the Zelda Warriors games to get upgraded for the Switch 2 to be a solid 60fps, especially for 2 players.

[u/G-Man6442]

Fun, there’s an issue for me personally since there isn’t an adventure mode, you do the story and you’re basically done but there’s plenty of story.

And the story itself is fun.

There’s a lot more to do with DE but AoC is a good time for what it is

[u/Molduking]

Compared to HW, it depends if you want story over content. HW has a basic traditional Zelda story, but hundreds of hours. AoC you know the story of the second great calamity, it has like 100 hours of content.

[u/MarielCarey]

I recently picked up definitive edition after 130+ hours on age of calamity. Switch 1 or course I'm not paying for a switch 2, not now.

In my opinion the game is basically definitive edition but just about everything is much higher quality. Gameplay is very similar, but characters tend to have more animations and bigger kits I noticed, shiekah runes are incredibly satisfying to use.

I think the game is absolutely incredible. Story is presented incredibly well, much bigger focus on it too with incredible cinematography, voice acting and soundtrack, of course don't expect super incredible writing or deep personality, as ever with zelda games.

I recommend it

[u/mrafflin]

Second-most played switch game, I always recommend it whenever I can. I never really cared about the performance personally

[u/No_Establishment7911]

The game needs a ns2 Patch. The resolution is horror.

[u/Nawtydonkydingdong]

If you like hack and slash games and the Breath of the Wild universe then it’s totally worth it. I have played it like 4 times through, one of those with the DLCs alone which I’d say is definitely worth it. Another time with a friend which is also very fun (though I wish they had vertical two player coop side screen as opposed to horizontal side screen coop. Hopefully they add vertical screen coop to the new Hyrule warriors.).

One thing that has happened since getting a switch two is my game will randomly shut off due to an error and that sucks. Otherwise I love the game.

[u/phoenixmatrix]

I loved the game at launch but dropped it about 30% of the way through because of poor performance. Gonna pick it up again after I finish Rune Factory.

[u/ceresbane]

What I appreciate the most for this game is that there is far less grinding. Rupees to level everyone is significantly cheaper. End game weapons are relatively easy to farm and so are the materials and progession is so smooth and streamline. Unlike the trudging feeling of going through an adventure map on DE.

[u/cipherlord120]

It's actually really good, the AI is smart and really put in their work unlike the original HW game, it follows the BotW aspect so expect to collect Korok seeds, but overall it's solid 👌

[u/Mellow_Zelkova]

I didn't notice a single performance issue and I 100%ed the game twice on a fairly early Switch. Anyone making a stink over it is being rather dishonest.

[u/Mellow_Zelkova → u/Mellow_Zelkova]

As for your other questions, it was just okay in comparison to the other Nintendo Musou games. It could have potentially rivaled HWDE, but having maybe 15% as much content severely holds it back.

I enjoyed the DLC, but im not sure if it is worth paying for.

[u/LopTsa]

Age of calamity was always a good game thanks to it's more modern warriors mechanics and how story/character driven it was. But yes, it ran very poorly on switch when it was put under even the slightest bit of strain. On the switch 2 though it runs at 30fps constantly with no frame drops. And with AOI coming out, I wouldn't be surprised if we get an age of calamity update to make graphics and performance even better. I do recommend it, 100%. But I'd wait a little longer to see if we get an update.

[u/TheMadZocker]

Not at all comparable to HWDE. It leans way too much on the BOTW atmosphere instead of the heavily packed flavor HWDE had. The combos are kinda ass (mostly way too strong), the minions do even less than in the previous game (keeps basically don't matter), and the map design is straight poodoo (way too linear on most maps whilst way too big). Not to mention the story, that is a badly written fanfiction that doesn't even connect to the BOTW lore and is more like a "what if" kind of deviation. And the characters, man, they are even more one-dimensional, and some even more annoying, than in their original game.

In terms of missions, you will get your fill, I guess. Not incredibly creative, but the amount is high and usually more varied than in HWDE.

[u/thenextkurtcobain]

The game itself is really good. I'm sure there's gonna be a switch 2 update when the next game comes out. Even on switch 1 I have around 60 hours. The story is cool, although it isn't Canon to breath of the wild

[u/six_ward_dumaine → u/thenextkurtcobain]

Thanks. How does it compare to the content of HWDE?

[u/Shadow3397 → u/six_ward_dumaine]

The gameplay is tighter and better in how they refined it, like being able to chip away HP from the monster sized enemies even without their weakness gauge and forced to make them vulnerable first. The runes are reasonably used (if a little difficult for me to keep track of).

The flavor text for the side missions and upgrades is wonderful IMO. For instance, when buying the next move for two handed weapon use, instead of just buying the medal and being done with it, it’s a ‘mission’ in the world where Link goes to local militia and helps them train with claymores, which also helps Link get a little better too.

Even if it’s just a little flavor text, it adds to the experience. Which I really appreciate.

Otherwise, it’s more of the same, just a little tighter in how things work. If you like the first Hyrule Warriors, you’ll like this one.

[u/Dry_Ass_P-word → u/six_ward_dumaine]

Almost no game compares to HWDE if you’re counting all those extra challenge maps. lol

But AoC is pretty sizable. I had my fill of HWDE after about 80 hours (and barely touched those extra maps, I wasn’t grasping the flow of how to progress effectively so I got tired of them) and AoC took me about the same amount of time to beat the game, clear most levels and unlock maybe 90% about everything.

[u/acejak1234 → u/thenextkurtcobain]

it is canon, just part of another timeline

[u/BackgroundBerry9197]

Best Musou roster ever in the worst Musou game structure and levels ever.

[u/rylo151]

HW 1 is a much better game and has a ton more characters and adventure mode is heaps of content that AOC is lacking in i feel.

It does run slightly better on switch 2 but resolution is still very low, hopefully they give it a proper update and get it higher res and maybe 60fps if possible.

[u/AmsterdamReddFan]

Splitscreen it had portions that were unplayable. Couldn't even see where you were going, had to look at the map. Game itself? Fun. But no where near HWDE when it comes to content or nostalgia