Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Has Tall Task in…

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment’s story about the imprisoning war seems to star Zelda, but it must have a strong supporting cast in order to fill out the character roster. Some of the characters who will play an important role in the story are that era’s sages, but they need to be much more interesting characters in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment in order to stand out to players.

In Tears of the Kingdom, it was established that while Link was preparing to fight Ganondorf in the present, Zelda was in the midst of battling him in the past. Aiding her in the imprisoning war were King Rauru, Queen Sonia, and the rest of the sages from that era in Hyrule’s past. These ancient sages played a critical role in Zelda’s story, so Age of Imprisonment seems primed to unmask the secrets of the Tears of the Kingdom's sages by fleshing out their characters more. Where the sages from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom all had excellent characterization, most of the ancient sages appeared very flat in comparison. This places Age of Imprisonment in a predicament, as it must depict their personalities in order to hook players, but they shouldn’t be too different from the ghostly images that were present in the previous game.

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By Justin Skiles

The Age of Imprisonment Sages Need More Character Than in Tears of the Kingdom

As players might remember, the ancient sages appeared to Link and his friends in Tears of the Kingdom in order to pass their responsibility on to the current generation. However, this representation of them lacked the strong and varied personalities that players have come to expect from sages in the Zelda franchise. It’s unclear why exactly the developers decided to portray them this way, but maybe as spirits, they are only a shell of their former selves. Whatever the case, that version of the characters would make for a dull party during the imprisoning war. It may be a tall order to fulfill in Age of Imprisonment, but the sages need more personality than they were given in Tears of the Kingdom.

How Age of Imprisonment Can Improve the Sage’s Personalities

The tricky part about giving more personality to these sages is that, whatever they might be like, it shouldn't clash with the way they are portrayed in Tears of the Kingdom. The best hope might be to find a middle ground between the blank slates that they were in that game and the boisterous personalities of other sages like Sidon and Daruk.

Some clues to what fans could expect might still come from the series’ past, though. Sages are a common occurrence in the Zelda games, and there are many examples of great sages from previous Zelda games. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom both presented their sages as main characters with bombastic and powerful attributes, but not every sage in Hyrule’s past has been like this.

The best way to move forward with the Age of Imprisonment sages might be to emulate the style of sages in games like Ocarina of Time and A Link Between Worlds. In these games, the sages were important characters with unique personalities, but they didn’t hold the weight of carrying the story like the more recent versions have. A blending of the past and present might be just what the ancient sages need. The more muted, but still unique, personalities of sages from older games could be mixed with the powers of Tears of the Kingdom’s sages in order to bridge the two archetypes that the series has introduced.

Age of Imprisonment could be one of the most explosive titles of the Switch 2’s first year, but only if every piece of the puzzle fits into place. Characters like Rauru, Sonia, and Mineru are already stellar examples of what the new sages could become. With characters as strong as them and Age of Imprisonment taking advantage of the Switch 2's capabilities, it would be a shame if the game fell flat because of a lackluster supporting cast.

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