Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has a fantastic opportunity to reverse one of the tropes that has cropped up in the most recent games. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have both proven themselves to be excellent additions to The Legend of Zelda franchise. Likewise, the Hyrule Warriors games have been a fun side series. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment should have all the necessary tools that it needs to succeed in its own right. It may be able to improve its chances by making use of what inverts it from the Breath of the Wild duology.
The trailer for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was a welcome surprise during April's Nintendo Direct. In a twist compared to past Hyrule Warriors titles, Link does not appear to factor into Age of Imprisonment, at least from early footage. Instead, the game focuses on Zelda as she travels to the past and experiences the War of Imprisonment, long before the events of Breath of the Wild would come to pass. It's good to see Zelda getting a starring role again so soon after Echoes of Wisdom. However, Link's absence isn't the only area where Age of Imprisonment can get creative with its roster.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's Biggest Twist Seems Like an Obvious Opportunity for Age of Imprisonment Mayhem
While the bulk of Age of Imprisonment’s action will take place during TotK’s Imprisoning War, it needs to fit one later event into gameplay.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment's Cast Could Contain Some Surprises From Hyrule's History
Age of Imprisonment's Cast Is From the Series' Past
As it stands, the roster for Age of Imprisonment could be one of the game's big surprises. Zelda, Rauru, and Mineru are obvious choices, as is Sonia. The thus far unnamed Sages are also obvious examples, and Age of Imprisonment could also finally give them names to boot. However, with the game being set in the past, that rules out most of the characters from the Breath of the Wild duology from making appearances. However, it also opens up a new possibility for filling out the rest of the cast. Ironically, it's one that would probably be familiar to Breath of the Wild fans.
Age of Imprisonment Will Feature a Previous Generation of Sages
Zelda fans should be familiar with Tears of the Kingdom's Sages at this point. In Breath of the Wild, players were introduced to the first group of sages, and over the course of the game, they also met the new generation. In Tears of the Kingdom, Link gets to meet the new Sages again, this time more settled into their roles. Age of Imprisonment will instead go the opposite way, letting players get more familiar with the Sages that came even before the first group introduced. However, they're far from the only characters that players could see parallels to from the past.
Both of Breath of the Wilds' other onscreen generations of Sages were already playable in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Age of Imprisonment Could Include Many Characters' Ancestors
The presence of other characters' predecessors and ancestors could make Age of Imprisonment much more interesting. A perfect example would be an ancestor of Impa and Paya, to represent the Sheikah warriors of old. Another good possibility would be the past equivalent of Robbie and Purah, to give players another good look at ancient Sheikah technology. For an even wilder option, a distant predecessor of the Yiga clan fighting alongside the forces of Hyrule could also be a very cool addition to the game. Hyrule's past is surely full of legendary figures, many of which could easily be connected to recent memorable characters.
Age of Imprisonment's cast could easily remind players of some famous faces from the past. Players shouldn't ignore Age of Imprisonment just because it's in a different time period from past games. While the core cast will be Zelda, the Zonai, and the past Sages, there's no reason that other characters' ancestries can't be present as well. They would definitely be different from their successors, but it would be a fun look at the past nevertheless. Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment could be a peek into many family trees.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 79 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
- Released
- November 6, 2025
- ESRB
- Teen / Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
- Koei Tecmo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
WHERE TO PLAY
Battle hordes of enemies in the untold story of the Imprisoning War
Fight the war for Ancient Hyrule! Step on to the battlefield as Princess Zelda, King Rauru, and other legendary heroes as you fight to reclaim your homeland—and live the story of Demon King Ganondorf’s invasion that was only briefly alluded to in The Legend of Zelda™: Tears of the Kingdom game.
Fight alongside new and familiar heroes to defend Hyrule from the Demon King
Princess Zelda is not alone in this war! Join Mineru, the Sages, and even some brand-new heroes in battles against Ganondorf’s forces. Combine powerful Zonai Devices with your heroes’ signature abilities to take down powerful bosses and their legions of minions.
Team up with a friend in two-player local co-op via split screen or GameShare
Join up with a friend for two-player local co-op, and you can spread out to cover more ground as the war unfolds—or stick together and combine your powers to smash the opposition. Play split-screen on a single system, or on two separate systems via GameShare*—either way, only one person needs to have the game.
Tap any The Legend of Zelda series amiibo™ for extra items
Scan any The Legend of Zelda series amiibo figure** to get in-game rewards including crafting materials and other items that you might find helpful in your quest to defeat the Demon King!
Use save data from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to get additional weapons
If you have save data from the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity game on your system when you play, you’ll receive a High Guard’s Claymore. If you have save data from the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game, you receive a High Guard’s Sword. These weapons can be redeemed after returning to the Hyrule map upon completion of The Howling Tempest mission.
- Genre(s)
- Action, Hack and Slash
