Sunday, August 3, 2014

Hyrule Warriors: Chapter Analysis

So, the latest demo showed us a portion of the game's early chapters including all the known stages. Let's take a look:

The game starts with Link at Hyrule Field, where Zelda disappears at the end and Impa joins Link. Then at Eldin Caves they meet Sheik and at the Faron Woods they meet Lana. The four heroes then confront Cia at Lanayru Valley. That's where her crazy magic happens and she merges all the different areas to one. The heroes decide to split up with everyone investigating a different area.

Impa and Sheik head to Death Mountain, where Darunia joins them. The three characters then visit Lake Hylia, where they meet Ruto. Lana explores the Twilight Lands, where she meets and recruits Agitha. She has the Butterfly of Guidance that could lead them to Cia, but then Midna interferes and steals it. Both girls then chase Midna into the Palace of Twilight, where they probably can free Midna from her brain washing.

Link's quest brings him Skyloft, where Fi is happy to find a first master for practice. They both then visit the Sealed Grounds, where it's more then likely that they will be joined by Groose. Otherwise this would be the only stage save for the Lanayru Valley plot twist, where noone gets recruited. And why shouldn't he be there? At this point they might also tease Demise as one of the final antagonists.

So, now let's think about, how my Final Five would fit in here...

Team Impa will most likely meet another sage from the Ocarina of Time era, Nabooru at the Desert Colossus. This is also the perfect timing to tease Ganondorf as an antagonist. And at the end of their arc they bring Goron, Zora and Gerudo forces (definitely the most productive team!). Team Link continues to the Sand Ship and recruit the Skipper and his army of little robots, who absolutely love, love, love Fi and would do anything for her, including heading into battle.

Team Lana might continue to Termina lands. I just don't see, how the Twilight Princess arc would continue after the Palace of Twilight – it's really the pinnacle. And meeting the Deku Princess at Woodfall would be a perfect fit for Lana and Agitha. Maybe not for Midna, however, here Majora's Mask and the Skull Kid will be teased as yet another scary villain. And Midna could be very interested in Majora's Mask, since it might be connected to the Fused Shadow... So, putting Woodfall at this spot might work nicely.

In each branch they would recruit three new heroes and tease one final villain. After these additional chapters in the branches, all the heroes meet again to join forces and to experience yet another big plot twist involving the already teased higher ranked villains. At this time previous stages will be reused to tell new stories and scenarios, like Midna and Zelda battling Argarok and Zant at the Palace of Twilight.

One of the late endgame stages could be Clocktown, where Link receives the Fierce Deity's Mask to fight Skull Kid. Fierce Deity Link will be the final "hero" character to be unlocked. And this won't happen until the final chapters, because his character will be imba.

Playable villains may not get unlocked until after you beat the campaign. Instead they will be available in Free Mode in their own little roster.

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