Nintendo has announced a new Hyrule Warriors game. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is set a hundred years before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and will hit the Switch this November.
What is Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity?
Nintendo announced this new game via a new trailer uploaded to its official YouTube channel. The trailer shows off the game’s setting and some of its spectacular Warriors-style combat. Plot-wise, Age of Calamity will, as you might expect, take place before and during the titular Great Calamity. Players will get to experience Calamity Ganon’s ravaging of Hyrule and meet the heroes, villains, and ordinary soldiers caught up in the conflict. This one’s part of the main Zelda canon, too, unlike the original Hyrule Warriors. You can check out the debut trailer for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity right here:
Fans of the Warriors series - in particular Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors - will feel at home with the gameplay in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. The gameplay will focus on “performing combos and over-the-top special abilities”, according to Nintendo. You’ll also encounter environmental puzzles, unlockable weapons and skills, crafting recipes, and the ability to use Breath of the Wild’s Sheikah Slate in some situations. The visual style is also strongly reminiscent of Breath of the Wild’s, utilizing the same painterly aesthetic as the original game did.
Thanks to prominent Nintendo news source PushDustIn on Twitter, we also have a little more info about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Japan is getting a special edition of the game which contains an acrylic art plate, a Hang Glider-style blanket, and a metal charm, in addition to the game itself. Digital pre-orders of Age of Calamity will give you a special Lucky Ladle weapon, although physical editions will not have that. In addition, Age of Calamity will have Amiibo support, although we're not entirely sure which Amiibos will be compatible or what they'll give you within the game yet.
Is there any news about the Breath of the Wild sequel?
In the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity announcement trailer, series producer Eiji Aonuma also touched on the status of the Breath of the Wild sequel. Aonuma says Nintendo is “working hard” on making the game and that fans will have to wait a little longer for news. In addition, Aonuma says the team is planning to make Breath of the Wild’s “vast” world “even more impressive” to explore in the sequel. Watch this space for more news about it.
While you wait for Breath of the Wild 2 - or whatever it ends up being called - you can look forward to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which launches for Nintendo Switch on November 20th.
Quick Take
One of the biggest and most noteworthy strengths of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was how its world communicated a past without overly emphasizing it. I don’t think Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is taking the right path by revisiting the Great Calamity. It feels like an insult to players' intelligence to fill in gaps that worked perfectly well as draw-your-own-backstory beacons. The clue’s right there in the name: “Great Calamity”. While I’m sure the time period will lend itself well to the brainless hack-and-slash action of the Warriors series, it would have been preferable to keep this game out of the canon so the gaps in Breath of the Wild’s past could be left to the player’s imagination.
Are you looking forward to playing Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity? Let us know in the comments below!
