Cadence Of Hyrule

Wandering into a group of Octoroks and Darknuts is like stepping onto a chequered dance floor

Oboe, maracas, glockenspiel and bass guitar: Cadence Of Hyrule’s unusual selection of musical instruments says a lot about the kind of game it is. And no, we don’t mean it’s the equivalent of an insufferable covers band performing twee versions of Zelda standards – which, in fairness, it could so easily have been. Rather, it understands how a series that’s always marched to its own beat could still benefit from a fresh sound and a change of tempo.

Delightfully (and rather damningly for Nintendo) it’s also the first Zelda game where you can play as the princess from start to finish. Well, almost – a short prologue casts you as Cadence, whose working-class hero credentials are established by her weapon of choice: a shovel. Finding herself in a Hyrule under threat from new antagonist Octavo (think Skyward Sword’s Ghirahim with a music-school scholarship) she gets to choose whether to first rouse a slumbering Link or Zelda. The other can be woken later, and once you’ve visited Cadence enough times, she becomes playable, too – you can switch between the three at Sheikah Stones scattered across Hyrule, which double as checkpoints and fast-travel locations. But if only for novelty’s sake, we stick with Zelda for the six hours plus change it takes us to reach the end.