Age of Calamity Will Feel Familiar to Breath of the Wild Fans.
Revealed earlier in September, gamers eagerly awaiting Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity were treated to a sneak peak at the Tokyo Games Show, with a full 13-minute gameplay demo.
Instantly recognizable was the gorgeous cell-shaded art style from Breath of the Wild, Age of Calamity looks something like a Studio Ghibli movie come to life. This is the Hyrule you remember from the smash hit Breath of the Wild, but set prior to the tragic events that lead to Link’s century long slumber. Watching the Hyrule Warriors footage it is impossible not to be hit by a wave of nostalgia, as Link bashes his way through battalions of bokoblins. This is the same Hyrule field, but instead of ruined heaps of stone, we see a Hyrule Castle Town in all its glory.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is brought to us via a collaboration between Koei Temco and Nintendo, and developed by Omega Force. The second crossover between Nintendo’s titanic Legend of Zelda franchise and Koei Temco’s wildly popular Dynasty Warriors, Age of Calamity features the hack and slash gameplay that is the core of the Warriors formula. This time around, the developers have included music and sound effects that will be familiar to anyone that played Breath of the Wild, as well as a cast of characters we have mostly only seen in flashback.
The footage unveiled at TGS showed Link battling alongside a legion of Hylian soldiers to defend the land from a hoard of Bokoblins. He uses a lot of the same tools as in Breath of the Wild, but here they are incorporated into a combo system featuring sword attacks, bombs, and even the freeze ability. Link is not the only playable character, however, as the gameplay footage showed fan favourite character Impa tearing through enemies. A descendant of Hyrule’s ancient Sheika civilization, Impa is 120 years old in Breath of the Wild, and so it is a real thrill to watch her at her prime in Hyrule Warriors, using ninja-like attacks combined with advanced Sheika technology to gain the upper hand.
Slated for release on November 20th, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is coming to Nintendo Switch for up to 2 players. Are you excited to find out what happened before Breath of the Wild? Which other characters do you want to play as? Sound off in the comments below.