Hyrule Warriors, come out to Play! Let's Play HW Definitive Edition!

[Red Silvers]

Cia's Tale - The Dragon of the Caves

We go back, back to the beginning, back to before the beginning... Cia's Tale runs parallel to the main story, but from the villain's perspective. In this case though we start prior to the invasion set during The Armies of Ruin. Cia has started summoning her horde of monsters from across time, but she realizes that her army is need of a general. She decides that Volga, the dragon knight of Eldin Caves, will be the perfect general. I think it's implied this is possibly because he already commands the Lizalfos and Dinolfos Chieftains. While looking for Volga, she encounters a group of Gorons who are guarding a cursed ring. Seeking out the cursed ring, she ends up summoning Wizzro. Both of these generals give Cia their own difficulties before she can subdue them and recruit them to her cause.

Cia's Tale was originally added in a patch to the Wii U version alongside the Master Quest DLC pack. In the Wii U version they did not include Heart Pieces or Skulltulas, that was updated in the 3DS version.

Map: Eldin Caves
Coming from the opposite end of the map compared to The Sheikah Tribesman, otherwise this is the same map we've seen before.

 

[Red Silvers]

Cia's Tale - The Invasion Begins

With her new generals under control, Cia prepares her army. It is at Wizzro's suggestion that her army begins by capturing the Fairies of Hyrule so that they cannot help the heroes when her assault begins. While they have some success, when some fairies (including our future companion Proxi) escape, they follow them to Hyrule Field, where they find Lana and the Gorons working to protect the Fairies. While Lana and the Gorons are the immediate target, soon the battle catches the attention of the army at Hyrule Castle, with Impa and Zelda joining in. The endstate of the level sets us up for the first Scenario, The Armies of Ruin, to begin immediately after this battle.

Map: Hyrule Field
Again, there doesn't seem to be any difference between our first battle here and this time around, but given the time of the narrative it makes sense. Notably the starting army locations mirror The Armies of Ruin.

 

[Violentvixen]

Huh, I'd completely forgotten they added Cia's tale later. I think by the time I got to the game it was available.

 

[Red Silvers]

Huh, I'd completely forgotten they added Cia's tale later. I think by the time I got to the game it was available.

Yeah, the Master Quest pack was the first DLC pack and that's when Cia's Tale was added. I seem to recall some people on TT complaining about their weapon upgrades requiring the DLC.

 

[Red Silvers]

Cia's Tale - The Usurper King

We jump ahead in the story until after the first battle in the Valley of the Seers, when Cia uses the Triforce to open the gates to the three eras. Sensing a strong power coming from the Era of Twilight, Cia decides to investigate if there was an ally to control, or an enemy to destroy. When she arrives at the Palace of Twilight, she finds Midna and Zant locked in battle. (As Midna is already in imp form, it would imply she already encountered Midna prior to this battle?)

While both armies are attacking at the start, Wizzro is recommending that Cia ignore Zant to start, and focus on Midna, though by the end both of them will need to be dealt with, and even Agitha and Argorok make appearances.

Map: Palace of Twilight
Again a repeat map without many changes to the default, though unlike Lana's mission here the bridges aren't taken out so there's no need to Hookshot on the bridges.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Koholint Island Map

No, that's not a typo, today we're going to completely different Adventure Mode map. This is partly to celebrate hitting 25 videos and partly just for a change of scenery. So since the original Adventure Map was based on the first Legend of Zelda, we have some different rules for the Koholint Island Map.

The Koholint Island Map was originally added to the 3DS version as part of the Link's Awakening DLC, and is not present in the Wii U version at all, and includes Marin as a playable character. The map features eight Item Cards that represent the Instruments of the Sirens, and they need to be played to dispel Nightmares on the map so we can advance. Each Instrument needs to be played at least once to make the final battle accessible. I will say, the 8-bit redraw the map doesn't look amazing, taking the square shape of the Link's Awakening map and squishing it down. It looks passable, but there are certainly some better looking maps to be seen still.

Here are some new battle types present in this video:

Challenge Battle - Stop the enemy merger!
These battles feature captains named Lord of the Horde, who are a specific enemy type and surrounded by Dark versions of the same captain (like Dark Moblin or Dark Big Poe). After a certain timeframe, the Lord of the Horde will merge with their matching Darks and become more powerful, so clearing out the Darks in time is the key.

Challenge Battle - Defeat the shuffling forces!
In this battle type, a specific Captain or Commander is hiding among a group of fake look-alikes, and defeating the incorrect one will cause them to heal and the 'real' targe to shuffle. Defeating the Magic Troops on the map will remove one of the fakes until you narrow it down to a lone target.

 

[Red Silvers]

Cia's Tale - The Demon Lord

After forcing Zant to join her army, Cia senses another strong power coming from a different era, in Skyloft. So her army heads to Skyloft, only to find Fi and the Skyloft forces locked in battle with Ghirahim and even The Imprisoned. While Cia carries nothing for the villagers, she does want to make Ghirahim's power hers, and so they pose as allies to the Skyloft forces hoping to use them to weaken Ghirahim. Though how well will this ruse work as things progress?

The timing of this stage sets it right before the events of Link's visit in Land in the Sky and sets the stage for that level at the end. I do wish that Cia's Tale had a bit more interaction with the other villains and the original Trio, but don't worry, Zant and Ghirahim still have more time to shine.

Map: Skyloft
Like other Cia's Tale stages, there doesn't seem to be any differences like change of weather or time of day.

 

[Red Silvers]

Cia's Tale - Darkness Falls

We jump ahead in time again. Jumping to after the events of A War of Spirit and before Shining Beacon. The Hyrulean Forces have defeated Zant, Ghirahim, Volga, and Wizzro, and Link has obtained the Master Sword. Ganondorf, who still doesn't have all four fragments of his spirit, has followed Cia from the Temple of Souls to the Valley of the Seers, intent on taking back the Triforce of Power by force. Desperate, Cia taps into her own life force to power up her forces. Risking her life in the pursuit of victory.

As fitting a 'final' battle for the story, aside from Ganondorf and even some light betrayal, Cia gets to deal with a few giant bosses. Fortunately for me, Cia happens to be THE boss killer I spent the most time with back in the Wii U version.

Map: Valley of Seers
Still the same version of the map we saw before, but as the stage that we saw with two different themes, this notably uses the first theme song Eclipse of the Sun, as opposed to the theme from Shining Beacon, Eclipse of the Moon.

(Apologies if the audio sounds off, OBS was fighting with me)

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Adventure Map

Today we make more progress in the Adventure Map, making our way toward LEVEL-2, but more importantly we still have three characters on the Adventure Map to unlock: Tingle, Skull Kid, and Twili Midna. While we don't unlock one this time, we do visit an important Zelda 1 screen, featuring 'The McClain Bush' The story behind this screen comes from when Brickroad and others used to stream the Zelda 1 Randomizer. There was a screen with a line of bushes where you could burn the bush from the left side of the screen but only enter it from the right. This led to McClain in the audience constantly pointing out that they had opened the bush but not actually checked what was hidden there. To this day I will always think of that particular bush as The McClain Bush.

Whimsy aside, making progress deeper into the map, and soon enough we'll be using all the characters at my personal mood (I've been deliberately not using characters we haven't played in Legend Mode generally). I hope the general way I've peppered Adventure Mode periodically between Legend Mode sections has been entertaining.

New battle types? New battle types!

Adventure Battle: Defeat the warriors of time!
A standard battle where the gimmick is that your opponents are Ocarina of Time characters (in this particular map they count Impa as one of them)

 

[Red Silvers]

Ganondorf - Ganondorf's Return

Link and the Hyrulean forces have defeated Cia in the Valley of the Seers and Lana has claimed the Triforce of Power. The gates to other eras have been closed off and the heroes from those eras have returned home. Finally, peace returns to Hyrule.

Well, not so fast. Remember that the Master Sword's pedestal was also a seal, guarding the fourth soul fragment of Ganondorf, and while the seal wasn't broken immediately, finally it has broken free and reunited with the previous three. His body whole, Ganondorf sets his sights on the Gerudo Desert, the center of his power, which has been occupied by various monsters. Arriving in the desert, he summons forth the spirits of Ghirahim and Zant, telling them to obey his commands or perish again. He has an army to raise. Because once Ganondorf is finished in the desert... he has the Triforce to pursue...

Map: Gerudo Desert
Finally a new map! Well, new if you ignore our time in the Adventure Mode, but nonetheless! Gerudo Valley and Gerudo Desert have appeared in numerous games, but this particular incarnation the map takes inspiration from Twilight Princess, featuring parts of the Arbiter's Grounds.

 

[Red Silvers]

Ganondorf - March of the Demon King

With his army built up, Ganondorf turns his attention toward obtaining the Triforce. Marching with Ghirahim and Zant, his first target is the Triforce of Power, which he wielded before and sees as his birthright. After Cia's defeat, it was Lana who took the Triforce of Power, and Lana has fled to the Valley of Seers to hide from Ganondorf, holding out for support from the Hyrulean Forces. While Zant and Ghirahim attempt to held seize the Sanctums that control the area, Lana's efforts to stall until Impa can arrive do leave Ganondorf having to show why he's the one in charge.

This stage does include an instant-loss mechanic, and we'll get to see it... A bit more than I would have liked.

Map: Valley of Seers
While we've seen this map in a nighttime or twilight setting before, this time we get a midday look at the stage.

 

[Red Silvers]

Ganondorf - Battle of the Triforce

Now that Ganondorf has seized the Triforce of Power, his army marches on Hyrule Field to confront Link and Zelda, wanting to claim the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage. Link takes the battlefield early while Zant and Ghirahim work on taking sections of the battlefield, while Impa tries to appeal to the Great Fairy and Zelda works on a plan of her own. With Link even bringing the might of the Triforce of Courage against Ganondorf, how can he overcome?

Map: Hyrule Field
Back to the first stage, but one visual difference is you can see the repaired hole in the wall where King Dodongo broke through a keep before.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Adventure Map

Today I had three major goals for Adventure Mode. 1: Unlock Skull Kid, who we reached on the map before but hadn't played the level to unlock. 2: Finding more Fairy Food to unlock. 3: Work toward new item types since we need Ice Arrows and Water Bombs eventually. Well, we get the first two taken care of as well as finding a Dark element My Fairy to go along with our newly unlocked Magic Beans.

Skull Kid is the only 3DS character found on the Adventure Map, as the other three unlockable characters in Adventure Mode are all the Wii U DLC characters. He does get an appearance in Linkle's Tale but otherwise doesn't show up in the main story.

New battle type!

Adventure Battle: Run swiftly across the battlefield!
The idea here is that there are targets all over the map that need to be dealt with, like escorting Cuccos and handling Manhandla Stalks.

 

[Red Silvers]

Grand Finale - Enduring Resolve

In the aftermath of the battle at Hyrule Field, and with the Triforce lost to Ganondorf, the Hyrulean Forces plan a counterattack against Ganondorf's stronghold in the Gerudo Desert. Ganondorf has vanished with the Triforce, but Zelda hopes that dealing with his generals Ghirahim and Zant will help them to locate him. The heat in the desert weakening their army, and Ghirahim and Zant acting suspicious, the army is forced to North Oasis and South Oasis. Even when Ghirahim and Zant are defeated, the monsters seem well organized, and ultimately recalling our other heroes is the only way to proceed.

Map: Gerudo Desert
While the same map we saw before, this time the Desert Heat mechanic weakens the army while not in possession of the nearby Oasis keeps.

 

[Red Silvers]

Grand Finale - Liberation of the Triforce

After the victory in Gerudo Desert, the Hyrulean Army returns to Hyrule Field in order to locate Ganondorf. Upon arriving, they find that Hyrule Castle and the surrounding area have been warped into a dark and foreboding place in Ganondorf's image. As Ganondorf draws on the full power of the Triforce for an inner-awakening, the Hyrulean Army and their allies from across the ages march toward Ganon's Tower, with the fate of Hyrule at stake.

The battle starts with a bang as two Argoroks swoop in to distract that army and buy Ganondorf more time. As various things happen the morale of the armies can be affected in numerous ways putting pressure on the Hyrulean Army, and Ganondorf himself is also nearly unstoppable until you weaken him. But the ritual is not stopped, and soon in Ganondorf's place stands The Dark Beast Ganon. Bringing the might of all the Giant Bosses we've faced so far to bear, and with only a weakness to Light Arrows, can the Hyrulean Army win the day?

Map: Ganon's Tower
The final stage type seen in the Wii U version, Ganon's Tower is a twisted variation of the Hyrule Field map with the same layout, but with its own unique stage music, 'Eclipse of the World' (the Ganon boss fight, or Adventure Mode Ganondorf battles, also use a variation of this music)

 

[Red Silvers]

Linkle's Tale - The Other Hero

In the aftermath of the battle against Ganon, Link and Zelda depart to return the Master Sword to its pedestal, and the allies from across the ages have once again been returned home. It was thought that this would be the start of peace in Hyrule... but despite the lack of a clear leader, the monsters of Ganon's army have regrouped and attacked Hyrule Castle in an unorganized rage.

It is at this time that Linkle finally arrives at Hyrule Castle. Seeing the Hyrulean Army struggling without rest, Linkle takes charge of the situation and rushes in to save the weakened soldiers. Teaming up with Impa, it is time for Linkle to fulfill her destiny.

Map: Ganon's Tower?
Odd case here where the stage select in Legend Mode refers to the stage as Ganon's Tower but the cutscene before the level calls it Hyrule Field. Either way the level is a kinda in-between state (also the wall in one keep has been removed).

 

[Red Silvers]

Wind Waker: A New Disturbance

It was thought that after Ganon was defeated a time of peace would come to Hyrule, but some time after, Lana is attacked in the Valley of the Seers while trying to find some clue about Cia, and this unknown dark force that attacks her opens a new series of rifts, connecting across dimensions to pull in fragments of The Great Sea from Wind Waker... and pulling Tetra in with the town when they do. Meanwhile Zelda and Impa, seeing the newly opened rifts, send Link to investigate. Finding Tetra being attacked by monsters, Link rushes to her side.

Map: Forsaken Fortress
The first of two new 3DS map types, the map named Forsaken Fortress represents a series of islands from Wind Waker pieced together from various rifts. Forsaken Fortress, Windfall Island, Star Island, Dragon Roost Island, and a Great Fairy island are all featured.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Great Sea Map

With the Hammer item secured from Legend Mode, finally we can head into the second Adventure Mode map, The Great Sea Map from Wind Waker. Technically you don't need the Hammer to progress, but that will require relying on using your Magic and Focu Spirit to expose the Helmaroc King weakpoints.

Laid out like the Sea Chart in Wind Waker, we start near the middle north on the island representing Windfall Island. While the map looks a little wonky when you see it all laid together like this, you can still see the care made to make islands match the general designs, even if they look a little squished together on the map. Also the main mechanic of the map are the blue headwinds you see making up barriers. These require finding and using the Wind Waker item card to remove the headwind, otherwise you can't progress in that direction regardless of clearing the map adjacent.

Also notable is that the Great Sea map is home to most Level 2 Weapons that weren't found in Legend Mode, with the exceptions are the weapons that were DLC for the 3DS. Also there are different battle types, though some of these were in the DLC maps in Wii U and have been retroactively placed earlier on.

New battle types!

Challenge Battle: Team up and defeat the enemy forces!
In these stages, you start with two Commanders on the map and choose one to recruit, the other leaves. Then two more appear and you chose one to one to fight against, and the other will ally with you. Afterward both commanders you did not recruit will return and need to be defeated. Different characters fill different archetypes, like Morale boosting or Boss Summoning.

Challenge Battle: Defeat (X) before the Rogue Forces do!
A yellow army made up of enemy Commanders is in a KO competition with you and you need to meet your goal before they do. Though you can also fight the Commanders to interfere with their own ability to deal KOs.

Adventure Battle: Get to those troops before the others do!
This stage features a yellow army you have to defeat, but also a red army that will target specific allies in your army. The main gimmick is that the yellow army will target the captains targeting your allies, and if they defeat the red captains they will steal your allies instead.

 

[Red Silvers]

Wind Waker: The Search for Cia

Prior to the start of the Wind Waker arc, Lana had been investigating Cia's disappearance earlier, when she was attacked and the Triforce of Power seized from her, leading to opening of Gates to Wind Waker. However Lana also senses Gates opening in the Gerudo Desert, and travels there to investigate, also sensing she may find clues to Cia's disappearance. Not even the appearance of a mysterious giant bird seeking a nest will distract her from the appearance of multiple Gates.

The bird, the Helmaroc King, still had Tetra in his talons, and is still being chased by Link, hilariously meaning it appears Link ran across the entire southern end of Hyrule. But this leaves our heroes to deal with the multiple Gates, as well as the Helmaroc King nesting in the desert.

Map: Gerudo Desert
No notable difference in the map this time.

 

[Red Silvers]

Wind Waker: Reclaiming the Darkness

After the battle in the Gerudo Desert, the heroes are approached by King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, King of the ancient world of Wind Waker, who tells them that the darkness that attacked Lana was a dark force from their world that was trying to steal Cia's magic. The heroes travel to the Temple of Souls, Cia's previous stronghold that is now being occupied by Dark Cia, the darkness trying to take Cia's magic. Lana still senses that the real Cia is around somewhere,

Map: Temple of Souls
I thought we'd see more differences in the 3DS maps but once again no noticable differences.

 

[Red Silvers]

Wind Waker: Watchers of the Triforce

Having rescued a powerless Cia, the heroes learn the one responsible for stealing the Triforce of Power and opening the new Gates: Phantom Ganon. Stealing Cia's power was how Phantom Ganon learned of Lana and had targeted her. With the balance of the Triforce shifted and the risk of Cia disappearing forever without her magic, time is of the essence.

Heading to the final new map, The Wind and Earth Temples, they find Phantom Ganon filling the area with lightning and spread out to capture the key Sage keeps. Meanwhile Cia is isolated in the center of the map and a target for Phantom Ganon, requiring the heroes to connect the paths together to reunite in the center with the keeps secured. Leading to the final showdown with Phantom Ganon.

Map: Wind and Earth Temples
This map takes inspiration from both the Wind and Earth Temples from Wind Waker (bet the name gave that away!) and the two temples seem merged together similar to how the various Wind Waker islands were merged together in the Forsaken Fortress map.

(A summary of the finale of the story will be forthcoming.)

 

[Red Silvers]

The End of the Story

I meant to do this little write up sooner, but life has been a little stressful. So let's go over the end of the story quickly.

The heroes Link, Lana, Tetra, and King Daphnes gather to protect Cia from Phantom Ganon, and once the four team up to defeat the Phantom he vanishes away, either returning to the Wind Waker world or possibly just fading away. Leaving behind the Triforce of Power, Lana uses it to restore Cia's power to her. Tetra and King Daphnes also return to their own world, and Link, Zelda, Lana and Cia return to Hyrule Castle to use the full Triforce to once again set the world right, returning the fragments of the Wind Waker world to it's own world. Still protecting the Triforce of Power, Lana and Cia return to the Valley of Seers, resuming Cia's original role as a Watcher of the Triforce, but now as the two halves working together rather than the original lone woman who became obsessed because of her loneliness.

Notably, with the Wind Waker storyline being added in the 3DS version, the ending for Lana and Cia gets a little more optimistic. In the Wii U original the story ends with Cia vanishing away and implied to die, and Lana preparing for a life of isolation. Which can make sense, Cia was the villain and villains don't normally get the happy endings. But here instead we get Cia freed from the influence of Ganon and the two working as a team to set things right. As someone who put in a lot of time maining Cia as a boss killer in Adventure Mode I enjoy the happy ending.

I've seen some interesting opinions about the ending and about Lana and Cia as characters. One comment I've seen is how Cia splits into two to deal with her isolation which is maybe not my exact read but it's certainly how the end result ends up. Another interesting read is that Cia and Lana represent different types of fans of the franchise, given Cia's Link shrine and controlling attitude and wanting to make things work her way coming off like a toxic fan, while Lana represents the more good and earnest fans who are giving and work with the community and show creativity, while some fans are actually a mix of both somewhere in the middle. Again not necessarily my read but I thought it was at least an interesting enough perspective to share here.

So with this post that's the end of Legend Mode for now. Eventually I'll head back in to get the Hard Mode Skulltulas, but for now it is time to dive deeper into Adventure Mode, as there is a lot to unlock, such as characters like Tingle, Toon Zelda, and Medli, as well as a bunch of weapon styles such as Link's Horse and Great Fairy, Zelda's Dominion Rod, or Linkle's Boots.

So now let me address the elephant in the room, since you've probably noticed the sudden slow down of videos. This isn't me not wanting to work on the series, rather it's dealing with Real Life at the moment, while trying to find a new place to live. Still dealing with that but hopefully in a good position right now. There is more videos incoming, including the next one already being recorded.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Adventure Map

Today, it's time to head deeper in the Adventure Map with the goal of adding a new member to our playable cast: Tingle! Tingle was originally added in the Wii U DLC as part of the Majora's Mask pack alongside Young Link, and thus was part of the base game in the 3DS version. In the original game, Tingle was one of the few Commanders that you could play as, but would never battle against, so you wouldn't see his 'before battle' animation, despite it being in the trailer for the DLC. As a playable character, a lot of Tingle's moveset is goofy and seems to rely on him dealing damage to surrounding enemies by accident while 'hurting' himself. It's silly, and fun.

No new battle types this time, but notably we do clear the location of LEVEL-5 on the map, so that's 2 of 8 down.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Adventure Map

We start out by correcting our failure at the end of the last video by NOT using the Glass Cannon fairy skill while fighting Darunia and finishing the stage we lost before. Moving on, there's still some weapons nearby to hunt down on the Adventure map, with Zelda's Baton nearby, before working our way toward the twin locations of LEVEL-2 and LEVEL-8.

No new battle types, but even then the game can show just how rough it is being locked in a room with The Imprisoned.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Grand Travels Map

Taking another detour to peak at a later map, today it's the second 3DS DLC map, based on the games Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks!

Compared to both the Great Sea and the Koholint Isle Maps, Grand Travels is huge, taking up the full 8x16 grid of the map like the Adventure Map, so there's 128 stages here, though the center 8 squares are not accessible until near the end of the map. (For comparison, Great Sea is 7x14 and Koholint is 6x14!)

The left and upper part of the map is the Spirit Tracks section while the lower and right part makes up Phantom Hourglass, while the center is taken up by the Actual Phantom Hourglass with a gimmick that eventually makes it harder to traverse the map. The two halves use their own searchable items with the exception of the standard Compass and the Cannon that both sides use. There are also boat and train items that give various perks like making travel easier or removing character restrictions.

Also notable is that this map has two starting squares. One in the ocean near the unlock for Toon Zelda, the new character that came with the map, and another square in the lower left that isn't far away from Toon Link's Sand Wand weapon that was also new to the map. Sadly we don't quite unlock either of those this time, but made some progress all the same.

But one nice thing about a new map? A taste of some new battle types!

Challenge Battle: Defeat the Copycat Soldiers!
This battle type features a handful of Commanders, with Captains named Copycat (and later Advanced Copycats) that can eventually transform into a Dark copy of one of the Commanders. You might think this would be good for farming a specific character's drops, but it generally takes too long for the Copycats to transform to make it worth that effort.

Challenge Battle: Put an end to the enemy's divisive plan!
This battle type isn't new to the Grand Travels map but this is apparently the first time we've seen it in this Let's Play. These maps start with 1, 2, or 3 Dark Commanders, and as you weaken them they will divide into two, and then those two will eventually divide in two as well. Dividing also lowers their health, but eventually a healer will come in and fully heal them if you take too long, so you can end up with 4, 8, or 12 fully healed Commanders if you're not fast enough. Notably, these are usually where you'll farm specific character drops, especially the higher level versions with 2 or 3 starting units, and every single character except Marin gets a battle like this.

Challenge Battle: Thwart the supercharged enemies!
These maps start with a group of Commanders being boosted by special Magic-Stash Troops (a name I will struggle to say out loud). The more Magic-Stash Troops, the stronger the Commanders, so the trick is to defeat all the Troops and take down the Commanders while they're nerfed, but they can summon more as they go.

Adventure Battle: Defeat the warriors of Twilight!
A standard battle where the gimmick is that the opponents are all characters from Twilight Princess. This particular battle in this video involves a Keep contest with the yellow army where you need to capture six keeps before the yellow army does.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Adventure Map

Once again on the Adventure Map, our goal today was to explore the rest of the forest area leading to LEVEL-2. While we've explored a nice circle around it, the little nook LEVEL-2 is stashed away in does require going in and around to reach it. But the game gives a lot of hints it wants us in this area, as aside from LEVEL-2, a nook nearby and the closeby LEVEL-8 tiles have new weapons for Link, the Horse and Gauntlet weapons just waiting to be unlocked in the same area.

While we don't focus on those weapons, pushing toward LEVEL-2 gives me some time to practice just how broken Sheik can be, and we even do a very basic use of the Apothecary to try boosting our chance of getting some higher Star drops on weapons. Sadly the really good Apothecary mixtures are still sealed away (You need more Skulltulas to unlock the higher tiers of mixtures there) but that might be for the best since those better mixes want rarer materials like Gold quality drops.

So one thing I really like about Hyrule Warriors and part of why I sunk so much time into the 3DS and Switch versions is that the Adventure Mode stages are quick and punchy. When the higher time limit on a stage is 15 minutes and some are much shorter, it makes a great game for break time at work, or quick bus rides. Translating that to these videos, it can be nice to just set a goal to work toward in a specific video and work in that direction.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Adventure Map

Continuing in the same area we stopped in last time, there are two weapons we didn't snag before in this area, including one at LEVEL-8's location, and there's also new Fairy Food to be obtained nearby on the coast, so with goals in mind we know where to focus on for today's video. Unlocking Link's Horse and Gauntlet weapons, and getting the Lon Lon Milk fairy food unlocked (and a bonus Water Fairy as well!). (I had planned to go for the Weird Egg food just north of the Lon Lon Milk but as you'll see in the next video there's a reason I didn't go for that yet.)

While most battles are variations of ones we've seen, there is something new!

Adventure Battle: Watch out for falling artillery fire!
The gimmick of this battle is that three Manhandla Stalks appear at the start of the map and start raining attacks on our location. These Stalks appear in random Keeps. And at the second half of the map (once you complete the starting objective of the map) three more Stalks will appear and also target our location.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Adventure Map

Last time we snagged the Lon Lon Milk unlock, with the goal of moving north along the coast for another Food unlock, but that's not where we are heading this time. Why? Because that coastal map requires an Item card we haven't found yet, the Ladder. And while I COULD just do the stage without getting the A Rank reward without the Ladder, I decided instead to shift gears and move toward that Twili Midna character unlock. (For the curious, since you can't see it in our map, that Ladder item card is found in one location: the LEVEL-7 pond.)

Twili Midna is located in the mountain area northwest of LEVEL-1 and while we won't make it all the way to her in this video, making progress in that direction snags us the new-to-3DS Trident weapon for Ganondorf and also puts us close to Lana's third and final weapon, the Summoning Gate.

Adventure Battle: Deal with uninvited guests!
Seems like the gimmick here is the pop-ups of 'guests' like Manhandla Stalks or units that will call reinforcements.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Lorule Map

Today we're going to the 3rd DLC map from the 3DS version: the Lorule Map, based on A Link Between Worlds (which in turn means a little bit of A Link to the Past is in there too). Lorule Map is also home to my major contribution to the Hyrule Warriors community, as when the DLC came out for the 3DS I was the first one to map out the locations of all the Fairy Food locations.

First of all? 8-bit Hyrule and Lorule look amazing. Both Grand Travels and Lorule Maps look really good especially compared to how goofy and off Koholint looks in this style. So as you can see, the map is divided into two 8x8 sections: Hyrule and Lorule. You basically get two maps in one here, with the gimmick of using Wall Paintings to travel into fissures to unlock the corresponding screen in the opposite map. Since the two maps are not identical and you can travel differently in the two maps. the puzzle of how to traverse the map is fun and interesting.

The other gimmick of the Lorule Map is the Nice Powers system. Every item card you use will give you a perk, like added a Recommended Element globally or perks like an Attack Boost or Rupees boost. Coupled with the Lorule Map having an innate increase to Weapon Drops and this makes Lorule a great place for farming in the endgame.

Lorule Map is home to the final two new characters: Ravio and Yuga. Both are easy enough to snatch up, though in our case Yuga is buried behind a Medli required map, so Yuga will have to wait until we spend more time on the Great Sea Map. But for now: new battle types!

Challenge Battle: Scour the battlefield in pursuit of victory!
The gimmick here is that the Commanders will hide in a group of Captains and you have to track them down. It can take a moment for them to appear after defeating the correct Captain so don't run away too quickly.

Challenge Battle: Hunt down and defeat your foe!
This is your basic 'defeat all Giant Bosses' map with a twist: your allies are trying to take them out with Bombchus that will do a bunch of damage to the bosses. You can ignore the Bombchus and fight the bosses the traditional way, but I think they have a health boost to encourage you to use the Bombchus.

Adventure Battle: Get more allied keeps and defeat the enemy!
The goal here is to hit a specific number of keeps, while the enemy will focus on taking yours and get a morale boost when they do.

 

[Red Silvers]

Adventure Mode - Great Sea Map

In a first for this series, we're returning to a map that isn't the Adventure Map for a second visit. Since our trip to Lorule showed that Medli was blocking us from being able to recruit Yuga, it seemed prudent to come back to the Great Sea and unlock Medli. Aside from that, there's lots of costumes waiting, as well as yet another Level 2 weapon: The Kokiri Spear, the upgrade for Lana's Spear.

We have some new costumes so let's discuss the references here! These are recolors, not exact copies, so its more about the color reference.

Great Sea Map
Link - Toon Link's Pajamas
Zelda - Wind Waker Zelda
Fi - Wind Waker Great Fairy
Tetra - Niko

Lorule Map
Tingle - Ravio

This list is not including the Link and Zelda Breath of the Wild costumes or Link's Classic Tunic since those are more direct copies of older outfits.

And of course, new battle types!

Challenge Battle: Win the KO competition!
Great Sea Map loves to put you up against the Rogue Forces and compete. Here you have yellow Captains fighting the red army and it's a KO competition lasting until the timer runs out. If you take out a yellow Captain then additional weak red units will appear with low morale, allowing you to boost your KO total.

Adventure Battle: Defeat the enemy celebrities!
I have no idea why this battle for Lana's Level 2 Spear is called this, it's the same battle type as Get to those troops before the others do! where the Rogue army will try to recruit your allied units. I guess the celebrities are the Rogue captains?