2014 was not the best year for gaming, as it was filled with hyped games that came away as disappointments, and games that turned out good, but didn't define the generation in the way many expected them to (I'm looking right at you, "Destiny"). As the first full year of the eighth-generation of consoles, it's safe to say that things started a bit more disappointingly than anyone expected. Even so, 2014 was home to some pretty great first-party Wii U games like "Mario Kart 8," "Bayonetta 2," and "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U" that made it a solid year to be a Wii U owner, even despite the long droughts between game releases and the sheer lack of third-party support. The one "black sheep" of the first-party Wii U games in 2014 (in that the review scores were the lowest of the Wii U exclusives) was "Hyrule Warriors," a combination of the "Dynasty Warriors" gameplay and the story/characters of "The Legend of Zelda." Odd combination, but it works pretty well overall.
"Hyrule Warriors" has some pretty great things going for it: it's visually gorgeous, it's faithful to the "Zelda" series, the game controls well, the combat is solid, and it's filled to the brim with fanservice that should make any "Legend of Zelda" fan excited. You can tell that the developers at Koei Tecmo are huge fans of the series, and their faithfulness to the original games shows in the final product.
Unfortunately, the game is bogged down by one pretty large issue: repetitiveness. Though it starts off pretty fun when you are beating up enemies and destroying everyone in your path, it does get pretty stale after a while and it becomes kinda boring, even though the story and characters make it exciting. On top of that, the game doesn't really deviate much from the "Dynasty Warriors" formula, so aside from the "Zelda" coat of paint, it's nothing you haven't played before, which could be a bit of a turnoff to those that have played previous "Dynasty Warriors" games.
All told, though, "Hyrule Warriors" is a good game in its own right, and while it may not be worth a purchase at full price, it's still an enjoyable adventure for fans of the "Zelda" franchise.
Final rating: 7 out of 10 "Good"