Once again, Nintendo catches everyone off guard with another unannounced title. The company has officially announced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which is being developed by Koei Tecmo, the studio most well known for the Dynasty Warriors series. You might recognize the name Hyrule Warriors, and that’s because this will be the second iteration of the hack-n-slash genre spin-off series of The Legend of Zelda. However, this time it will only pertain to one specific Zelda title, Breath of the Wild. In fact, this game will be a full prequel to the title, taking place 100 years before the events of the original game, and it launches this year for the Switch on November 20.
Fans of Breath of the Wild will recognize the premise here, as the events in the original game are shaped by the events of the Calamity that shook the very foundations and set up the narrative. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will be a full-fledged experience for players to go through this Great Calamity, which we already know ends in a bittersweet situation. Since this is a tried and true Hyrule Warriors title, you’ll be able to play as other characters besides Link, more specifically the other four champions from Breath of the Wild; Daruk, Mipha, Revali, and Urbosa. In addition, the art style will be more geared towards the Breath of the Wild motif, as opposed to the Hyrule Warriors art decor that was established when it originally came out.
Nintendo also seems content on keeping the Zelda mechanics in place here as the company also mentioned that players will be able to solve puzzles, a longtime staple of the franchise, and not something you would normally see in a Dynasty Warriors type game. Speaking of which, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will also feature many staples of the hack-n-slash genre such as unlocking new weapons, unlocking new skills, craft new items with materials, buy items from shops, and a brand new mechanic, utilizing the Sheikah Slate from Breath of the Wild which granted the user numerous physical/time bending powers.
Contrary to what we were probably expecting at some point, it’s important to note that this is not the sequel to Breath of the Wild that was announced during E3 2019. Unfortunately, it looks like we’re still going to be waiting on that one as longtime producer Eiji Aonuma stated in the reveal trailer that we’ll “ have to wait bit longer before we can provide more updates.” Still, it’s very exciting to know that we’re getting a prequel to one of the greatest games of all time. Nintendo also confirmed in the trailer that they will have more Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity information later this month on September 26.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on November 20.