Can you save Hyrule from Ganondorf?
Fight the war for ancient Hyrule. Battle hordes of enemies in the untold story of the Imprisoning War! Experience the complete, true story of Demon King Ganondorf’s invasion that was briefly shown in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game. Defend the land from the Demon King. Fight your way through seemingly endless waves of enemies for control of ancient Hyrule! Prepare your loadout and step onto the battlefield as Princess Zelda, King Rauru, and other legendary heroes. Work together to take down powerful bosses and their legions of minions as a team. On the battlefield, Sync Strikes are powerful attacks performed by two allies working together. Different ally combinations will produce different kinds of Sync Strikes. Interrupt certain attacks from powerful enemies with Unique Skills. Counter correctly to expose the enemy’s weak point and really let them have it.
This is the 3rd entry in the Hyrule Warriors series, and the second based in the timeline of the Zelda games from the Switch era. This one takes place in the time where Zelda travels back in time to ancient Hyrule in the opening section of Tears of the Kingdom. Zelda finds herself with her ancestors, the founders of Hyrule and they work together to attempt to thwart the ambitions of Ganondorf.
It’s a tough story for those who played TotK as we all know what will happen at the end, but for those who haven’t by now, they might feel a bit mixed by the end. Either way, it’s an emotional ride for everyone is the point I’m trying to make…
If you’ve played a musuo game like Dynasty Warriors before, then you’ll know what to expect here. And if you’ve played a past Hyrule Warriors entry then you’ll be more prepped to approach the battlefield. You’ll get to play as characters such as Zelda, Rauru, a Korok, a mysterious construct and a host of different Gerudo, Zora and Gorons each with their own unique fighting style, finishing moves and sync strikes.
The world map pops up with different missions between land, sky and underground areas like in TotK. These can vary from simple side-missions taking territory, main missions or simply handing over resources you’ve collected to unlock new abilities, extra heart pieces or open up shops, training areas and so on. There’s plenty of extra challenges that pop up once you beat the final story mission as well, so your adventure is far from over once you get to that point.
It’s definitely the best Hyrule Warriors game in terms of handling and performance. The original game and Age of Calamity had their technical issues with framerate, while Age of Imprisonment runs like a dream with no slow down. It maintains the amazing art style from BOTW/TotK while adding in new cutscenes and reprising roles from the voice-cast who do an amazing job in expanding on the toughest period of Hyrule history.
The Verdict
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the best in the Hyrule Warriors series and ultimately, my favourite musuo game to date. It handles like a dream, runs smoothly as anything and takes place in ancient Hyrule. It has an emotional story woven through it that hits just right. I really hope this isn’t the last Hyrule Warriors entry we get, I’d love one to follow on from whatever direction Nintendo take the Zelda series in next.