Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a worthy companion to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I’ll admit that I wasn’t all that hyped for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. While I enjoyed my preview of the game last month, and I really dug its predecessor, 2020’s Age of Calamity, I also felt like 2023’s Tears of the Kingdom was the perfect swan song to this iteration of Zelda. That’s to say nothing of how busy the end of the year tends to be with many other games to occupy my time.

But as I played more of Age of Imprisonment, I found myself changing my tune. Not only did it feel like the right game for the moment for me, but it also serves as a meaningful companion to the Breath of the Wild subseries.

Above all else, I think the “turn off your brain” hack-and-slash “Musou” gameplay of Hyrule Warriors is actually a nice change of pace from the holiday rush. It’s not something that necessarily requires a huge investment; you just pick it up and mow your way through hordes of enemies. It’s cathartic. And because the game has a mission-based structure, I’ve enjoyed being able to tackle a few here and there at my leisure.

And beyond that, I appreciate what it adds to Tears of the Kingdom, to which it serves as a prequel. Where Age of a Calamity was a wild alternate universe tale, Age of Imprisonment is actually canon, and it uses that connection to great effect. In particular, we get to follow Zelda as she travels back in time and fights in the Imprisoning War which was briefly depicted in Tears of the Kingdom. In this conflict, Zelda teams up with King Raaru and other allies to imprison Ganondorf and tee up Link to ultimately defeat him.

Right off the bat, this is a refreshing change of pace for the Zelda series, as it gives the titular princess a rare starring role, and in a more narrative-driven experience than last year’s Echoes of Wisdom. But on a deeper level, it recontextualizes everything in Tears of the Kingdom. Link is only able to achieve his mission in that game because of all of the struggles and sacrifices of Zelda, Raaru and friends in this game.

And it’s not just the royalty who gets their moment to shine. Over the course of the nearly 20-hour story, Age of Imprisonment shows the everyday people who did their part in the war, from the Gorons and Gerudo to the Zoras and Hylians. But the real highlight is Calamo, a mischievous Korok who has a mysterious construct that is more than a little reminiscent of Link. The dynamic between the two is arguably the best part of the game, especially in rail shooter sections with them that shake up the pace of the game.

But for the most part, this is a traditional Musou experience, for better and worse. Like Age of Calamity, Age of Imprisonment does a stellar job of marrying that well-worn hack-and-slash combat with the staples of Breath of the Wild. At a base level, that means retaining the same lush cel-shaded aesthetic and familiar menus and sounds, but it goes farther with things like perfectly-timed dodges that let you execute powerful Flurry Attacks. Otherwise, this plays, at its core, just like any other button-mashy Musou.

Admittedly, that means it can feel repetitive and monotonous at times, especially in fairly copy-and-paste side missions that recycle the “capture this outpost” kind of objectives. And while the aforementioned focus on ancillary characters from the various Zelda races enhances the narrative, it does also make the core combat somewhat less interesting. In Age of Calamity, you got to play as many of these same archetypes, with the added benefit of them being characters you likely knew and liked from Breath of the Wild. But returning to those same wells as more generic faces isn’t so appealing.

That said, there are some genuine flashes of inspiration among the 19 playable characters. Raaru, for instance, feels like a beast with his mix of heavy spear attacks and energy projectiles. The pint-sized Calamo, meanwhile, amusingly makes up for his tiny sword with the same elemental fruits that Link would cook with in the main games. But the highlight for me was Mineru, the scholar who wields Zonai Constructs. It’s a genuine delight having her use many of the contraptions you might have come across (and even built) in Tears of the Kingdom, like giant spikey balls, four-wheeled vehicles, catapults and even the mechanical soldier enemies.

Age of Imprisonment also rewards playing around with the full cast through the new Sync Strike mechanic, which lets characters perform special team-up attacks. (When the CPU doesn’t make them stupidly wander away from you, anyway.) With Mineru, Zelda will ride a giant Zonai mech and energize it with her magic, allowing you to brutally pummel the enemy. Raaru and Zelda, meanwhile, shoot concentrated energy beams that you can individually aim with each analogue stick. There’s a lot of fun in discovering what sort of uniquely over-the-top Sync Strike you’ll get next.

But my favourite new wrinkle that Age of Imprisonment introduces is actually the one that’s most inspired by Tears of the Kingdom. During battle, you can use various Zonai devices that run on a battery, just like they did in the main game. For a quick intense burst of damage, you might throw down a flamethrower. For crowd control, there’s the Frost Emitter that can freeze both enemies and pools of water. And for quick traversal, a rocket can both zip around the battlefield and explode at your command. It’s an ingenious way to capture the on-the-fly thrill of tinkering with the Zonai devices that was such a highlight of Tears of the Kingdom.

And that’s ultimately the feeling that Age of Imprisonment leaves me with. While I do find some of the moment-to-moment gameplay dull both from a mission design and character diversity standpoint, it overall feels lovingly authentic to Zelda thanks to the winning mix of sharp visuals and audio and awesome team-up attacks and Zonai arsenal. And beyond that, the story made me actually better appreciate Link’s journey in Tears of the Kingdom, incentivizing me to replay that seminal game at some point. But for now, I’ll enjoy playing a mission here and there as my boy Calamo. He’s the best.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is now available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2.

Image credit: Nintendo