There is a moment in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker that I could never forget. Midway through his sea adventure, Link discovers the remains of Hyrule Castle hidden beneath the Great Sea. Within its walls, a battle rages in stasis. The Moblins and Darknuts froze in place, locked in the midst of the assault on the castle on Ganondorf's orders. We discover that this was an act of divine intervention when the gods flooded Hyrule and placed the castle in a protective, time-freezing barrier. The moment Link rips the Master Sword off its pedestal in the castle, everything comes to life. His job is to finish the battle that began many years ago.
Story matters in Zelda, and this truth is especially evident in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonmentwill be released on November 6 for Nintendo Switch 2. Another part of the spin-off game, which interweaves the action of Musou from Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors games with the history of Hyrulean. Age of imprisonment created to fill some of the gaps left Tears of the Kingdomtime travel story. We know how the final battle between Link and Ganondorf in this game ended, but one boss fight cannot tell the full story of a long war that spanned generations.
Every warrior mattered. Every sacrifice mattered. Every battle mattered, even if it wasn't always that fun to fight.
Instead of telling a divisive alternative story like in 2020. Breath of the Wild inset Era of Disaster, Age of imprisonment fits neatly into the Zelda canon. In fact, it's about Zelda herself. IN Tears of the Kingdomthe princess is separated from Link after a dehydrated Ganondorf awakens in the depths beneath Hyrule. Zelda falls through time and ends up in ancient Hyrule. From the memories Link finds on his adventure, we know that Zelda teamed up with King Rauru in the past to help imprison Ganondorf and find a way to help Link finish the job in the future. Age of imprisonment fills in the gaps between flashbacks to paint a more complete picture of the effort that went into the War of Imprisonment.
Age of imprisonmentRussia's adherence to this historical premise is both a strength and an obstacle. He refuses to fill the cast of playable characters with faces from Tears of the Kingdom or classic characters from other games. Link isn't even in the lineup. Instead, Zelda gets a real starring role alongside period-appropriate fighters like Rauru, Mineru, and other sages of the era. This decision gives the game a more focused direction rather than turning it into mindless fan service.
The trade-off is that to create a sizable enough cast, you have to invent a lot of new characters, which results in mixed success. On the other hand, we have a fantastic new hero in Kalamo, a pint-sized Korok who lends his sword to the war. He is also joined by a mysterious Zonai construct, a silent robotic sword that replaces Link. (It's a comical joke that suggests Link is so devoid of emotion that he might as well be a robot.) The relationship between these two misfit heroes is the crux of a story about trusting your allies. Less attractive are the other new characters created to round out the roster. Forgettable Gorons like Pastos or Hylian soldiers like Kino end up feeling like extra bodies created to fill the character select screen.
However, these bodies still endure a terrible struggle. Building superior combat in Era of DisasterThe team at Koei Tecmo's newly formed AAA Games studio (yes, that's the developer's real name) is having fun imagining the different races of Hyrule fighting as they destroy hundreds of moblins. Mineru stands out from the rest: she uses Zonai tools and uses her mechanical design to deal massive damage. Ardi, the Gerudo sage, uses a sword imbued with lightning to cut through his enemies. And Kalamo's power lies in the elemental berries that he can launch to create complete chaos. B-cast's move sets aren't as creative, but still offer some random twists that are all fun to experiment with. One Gerudo Warrior deals extra damage by timing his attacks perfectly in a mini rhythm game.
Based on these sets of characters, Age of imprisonmentThe essence of combat is to link movements together. Sequences of attacks are intertwined into subsequent strikes. Perfect dodges result in a flurry of attacks. Destroying a large enemy's shield opens the door to hitting weak points. There are unique skills that can counter a specific type of boss attack. Most interesting is the addition of synchronized strikes, which allow any two characters to perform devastating tandem attacks unique to each pair. (This is the most significant part of the fight, given that camaraderie is central to the story.) Despite all these offensive moves and more, there is never a break in the combat. A successful mission forces me to connect one ability to another, constantly performing flashy moves. This is Musou spectacle at its finest, and the added power of the Nintendo Switch 2 can I actually support this this time with smoother operation.
Age of prisonersIt adds another layer of creativity to this already strong system by integrating unique gameplay from Tears of the Kingdomalthough that leaves other great ideas on the table. Players gradually gain access to Zonai devices, which can be equipped in a sub-menu along with special attacks. Old tools such as flamethrowers and hydrants become elemental weapons that interact with each other and with the environment. If I drop a Frost Emitter in a puddle, it will freeze both the water and any enemy standing in it.
Tears of the KingdomHowever, Russia's core powers are underrepresented. The Ultra Arm, which allows players to create wacky gadgets in this game, is only adapted here in Rauru's moveset, where he can use his strength to grab and deflect projectiles. Weapon fusion is only tested in a system where characters can use monster parts in combat to unleash devastating attacks. This is something of a missed opportunity, given that the action is based on a deep role-playing system in which weapons can be upgraded and imbued with seals that grant perks. Creating fancy weapons from excess resources earned in missions and used to unlock character upgrades seems like the perfect twist for the Hyrule Warriors format.
Limited creative thinking is a constant problem that only prevents decisive action as the story continues. Most missions have my team of warriors taking out several captain-like enemies such as Stone Taluses and Hinoxes. Sometimes I need to capture an outpost along the way, but few missions feel like specifically designed scenarios. Several missions send me to Tears of the Kingdomdepths that are little more than a grim change of scenery. Some better ones send Kalamo into the sky, riding his Transforming robot buddy, for breaks in the gunfights. Nothing here reaches the same thrilling narrative heights when players pilot the Divine Beasts. Era of DisasterAlthough. I mostly just plow through the same monsters over and over again in missions that remain at a static difficulty level the entire time.
Yes, it's just the proudly repetitive nature of these types of games, but some of Koei Tecmo's other Warriors games have shown that much more can be done with this premise. This year Dynasty Warriors: Origins features several elaborate missions where I had to jump between different fronts to manage an evolving strategic attack by enemy forces. Some of these battles successfully prove that you are fighting a war.
Age of imprisonment struggles to convey that same feeling, even as you retake Hyrule's territories overrun by Ganondorf's minions. Perhaps it's a logical design, considering you're fighting waves of shambling monsters rather than an organized army. Ultimately, Ganondorf himself is somewhat of a non-factor as the leader in this whole affair, and he hardly gains much depth in his brief appearances. The feeling of destroying waves of enemies is there, but it never feels like I'm fighting a war.
Age of imprisonment still war storyhowever – one that is more satisfying than its fun but even battles would suggest. We know how the fight with Ganondorf will end. Tears of the Kingdom. It's a long build-up that leads to the lone hero facing a greater evil, as happens in almost every Zelda game. But Tears of the KingdomAn unusual journey through time allows us to understand that there is a history to this present-day battle. Hyrule and its people have spent thousands of years fighting an ongoing war. Link's adventure is just one battle in a long story that builds on all of his previous victories.
“If we don’t have each other’s backs now, when will we?”
It's the idea that Wind Waker captured that moment so well that stays with me to this day. Lynx enters a battle frozen in time, and it is his job to finish it. It’s as if the gods are passing the baton to him in a relay race. We have done our part in this fight, and now it is your turn. There is a sense of an unspoken alliance built over centuries, with generations strategizing with each other thousands of years apart. This is built into the very concept of Link, the Hero of Time, who reincarnates over and over again to wage a long war against Ganon and other recurring foes across all timelines.
Age of imprisonment makes good use of Zelda's lore to make this idea even clearer, even when the story leans too heavily on boring lore to tie together the unlockable memories presented in Tears of the Kingdom. At some point, our main heroes form an alliance with the warrior Rito. They seem a little surprised that he so easily swayed to their side after the battle. “If we don’t have each other’s backs now, when will we?” he tells them. When will we be? It's a defining moment in history, a reminder that our greatest battles take time and constant, united effort to win—something anyone struggling to feel hopeful about the present moment should take to heart.
You don't plant a seed thinking you'll live long enough to see it grow. You do this so that someone you will never meet can one day rest in the shade of a tree. One small Korok victory today could become someone's final boss tomorrow.
