Hyrule Warriors has been a guilty pleasure of mine since the first game dropped on Wii U. So when a third game in the series - Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was announced for the Switch 2, I was extremely happy to say the least.
Taking a leaf from the Dynasty Warriors playbook, Koei Tecmo's Omega Force and Nintendo brought a fantastic mash-up to Zelda fans that somehow just worked. Yes, the original Hyrule Warriors had a multiverse-like plot, but the original game was mostly focused on the battles and fighting hundreds of enemies as you tried to save the day.
The follow-up, Age of Calamity, felt more like it was part of the main Zelda series than the spin-off feel of the first game. Telling the story of the war and featuring characters from the Breath of the Wild time period, Age of Calamity was a fantastic way to explore a key plot point. Using the engine Koei Tecmo's Omega Force developed for Dynasty Warriors was a genius-level move.
It seemed like the perfect fit, a natural progression of the lore and world, while using the war as a backdrop. However, they somewhat compromised the narrative when they told the story in this one by opting for an alternate timeline rather than making it canon.
The good news is that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has been confirmed as canon. This may not matter to everyone, but for those of us entrenched in Zelda lore, it’s a very important clarification.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a fantastic full plunge into the pool from Nintendo after dipping just a toe with the last game. The game naturally aligns with the Tears of the Kingdom storyline, filling in the details of what exactly happened when Zelda fell into the past during the opening cutscene. Now there will be some spoilers here for Tears of the Kingdom, so if you haven’t wrapped up the story there involving the Light Dragon, skip to the score and read the rest once you have finished that part.
Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom begin here.
Ok, so the Light Dragon turned out to be none other than Princess Zelda herself! You spend most of the game trying to find her, only to discover that she had consumed a Zonai Secret Stone in the past in order to restore the Master Sword. She became immortal but was trapped in the form of a dragon, with all her memories erased… pretty grim and heartbreaking stuff.
For those of us who collected all the tears to discover this plot point, Age of Imprisonment is here to fill in the gaps of the story. I don’t want to ruin anything about the plot or the twists and turns, but just know that if you are as into the lore as I am, you are going to love this game. The story takes center stage here, more so than in the other two Hyrule Warriors titles. Arguably, the story beats we get here are meatier than even those found in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
Gameplay-wise, Age of Imprisonment plays just like a Warriors game. This may be the deal breaker if you haven’t enjoyed this style before. However, for fans of Zelda, I would say stick with it; the story alone is worth the admission fee, and the battlefield combat makes sense here where it wouldn’t quite fit with the mainline style.
The gameplay loop in these games involves scenarios such as rescuing soldiers or defeating boss enemies, then returning to upgrade your warriors and progressing to the next phase. While this may seem simplistic, the addition of stipulations such as time-based missions and the interjected story keeps things far fresher than before.
You may not have the full-blown free roam of the mainline games, but the entirety of Hyrule from Tears of the Kingdom is here, from the dark depths to the sky islands in the clouds; the play area feels huge despite missions breaking it all into smaller chunks. Getting to see Hyrule during this era is a real treat; you get to witness the fall of the kingdom after the rise of Ganon/Ganondorf and fight alongside the leaders of each race as they fight to save their land.
At times, the nicely paced mission structure does become a bit padded. While there are no barriers forcing you to do the side missions, failing to use them to level up your team will result in failure on the next main mission. These smaller side missions let you gather materials and items that can be used to upgrade weapons or restore parts of Hyrule, such as training areas and stores that can also benefit in the long run.
While all the items may become a tad overwhelming, using them in the camps ala Monster Hunter battle prep is crucial for making things easier. You can throw a bunch of items in or use the auto-select to add them tailored towards your play style. Camps are also found on the maps, as well as before missions, and give you a well-needed rest point mid mission before heading for that boss monster causing problems.
Of all the collectible items, the most useful are the Zonai artifacts. Similar to the ones found in Tears of the Kingdom, these items can be assigned to a button like a normal move and used during battle. I found them highly useful against stronger opponents and would use them to clear out the many minions that chip away at your health if you aren’t careful when taking on the bosses.
Now, as for characters, Zelda is technically the main focus here. Her fated destiny to turn into the Light Dragon is a looming shadow for those familiar with the lore. However, it was the side characters that I found most intriguing; there are two, especially, who will likely become fan favorites once the game is released for all to play. The problem is, I don’t even want to say too much about them as their story unfolding was the best part of the entire game for me. Theorizing as I went about what they would both become was a huge highlight of my playthrough, and I won’t take anything away from your enjoyment by ruining it. Let’s just say that if you are disappointed that Link isn’t in this, these two characters will more than fill that void for you.
I have nothing against Zelda; however, while playing as her, I just didn’t feel the same weight behind her attacks like I did with King Rarou or the other initial playable characters. She controlled and felt appropriate based on her character, but for me, I need a bit more oomph behind my hits in these games. My favorite to play as wasn’t Zelda or the two mystery characters I mentioned, it was the King's sister, Mineru. Her fighting style uses constructs during combos and is an absolute blast to play. She is such a badass that the game should have placed her as the main character!
Fighting here is much more combo-focused than before. Stringing together complex moves is crucial to mastering them early on, allowing you to take on the enemy hordes. As you level up, you will learn more moves and also incorporate the Zonai devices, and their elemental powers can be used to give you the upper hand in battles. You will also be able to do stronger and longer combos as you rise through the ranks, giving you more options, yet making things more complex as you progress.
There are also team-up moves between different characters that you can unleash once you build up the meter and are close to that character on the field. Once everything falls into place, battles become a flowing ballet of clashing weapons and explosions. For those who have played the main games and can perform a dodge into a flurry rush, you are going to get on just fine here.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment feels like it was designed from the ground up for those of us waiting for Nintendo to go all in on a side game being canon. While the first two games were testing the water, what we have here feels like a natural extension of the Zelda franchise, and I hope it’s successful enough to warrant more ventures and collaborations to expand things even more.
I can highly recommend this game for any Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom fan looking for more from the story. It certainly isn’t as RPG-heavy and is far from an open-world game; however, it still retains the feel of both main titles and doesn’t stand out as a separate entity.
Despite some padding with the side missions, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is an essential part of the ongoing saga that was started in Breath of the Wild, and hopefully, the start of much more. They have absolutely nailed the crossover to the point where it just feels like a natural part of the series. Pick this one up, or you will be missing out on a huge part of Zelda lore.
