Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Review – Great Action, Weak Story

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Given that Tears of the Kingdom was released just over two years ago and Echoes of Wisdom came out last year, a brand new Zelda game probably won’t be available when the Nintendo Switch 2 launches. However, Nintendo is working with Koei Tecmo and their studio, AAA Games, on another Zeldathemed Warriors* game to give fans a reason to consider buying the new console.

Similar to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which retold the story leading up to Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment revisits past events – but this time, it focuses on the timeline of Tears of the Kingdom. Both games are action-packed ‘musou’ style titles.

This is the third Hyrule Warriors game, and the fifth Warriors game based on a Nintendo franchise, so most players probably know what to expect. These games aren’t really like the series they’re based on. If you’re hoping for the traditional Zelda experience – adventure, exploration, dungeons, and item upgrades – Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment won’t deliver that. Instead, it focuses on large-scale battles with many enemies, capturing and defending objectives, and fighting powerful bosses. This formula is all here, and, like Age of Calamity, the game’s style fits well with its war setting.

This is the most polished and visually impressive Hyrule Warriors game to date, and could even be considered one of the best Warriorsstyle games overall. Previous titles, like Hyrule Warriors and Age of Calamity, were noticeably limited by the technology available at their release. Age of Imprisonment*, however, looks and runs smoothly. It consistently aims for and achieves a frame rate of 60 frames per second, which is particularly remarkable given its frequent use of visual effects like transparency, color, and explosions – far more than its predecessors.

Even during busy moments, the game’s frame rate only dips slightly, staying above 50 frames per second. These small drops often feel like a natural part of the action, similar to the brief pauses after being hit, rather than a sign of poor performance.

As a fan of the Hyrule Warriors games, I can confidently say this is a good one to pick up – it looks and runs better than anything else in the series right from the start. However, it’s not perfect. The graphics are surprisingly low resolution – around 720p to 900p when docked, and even lower than 600p in handheld mode. Honestly, I was hoping those kinds of resolutions were a thing of the past! Koei Tecmo hasn’t always been known for pushing the technical limits, and the Warriors games especially tend to fall a little short of what you’d expect.

Generally, the resolution isn’t a major problem, similar to the framerate. You’ll mainly notice it when the game switches between in-game action and pre-rendered cutscenes. The cutscenes appear to be at a lower resolution, making them look less sharp. They also seem to run at 30 frames per second, unlike the rest of the game, which makes the difference even more obvious.

While the game isn’t perfect visually or technically, the issues are relatively minor this time. Previous games, especially Age of Calamity, were notorious for their poor performance and graphics on the Switch – it’s still one of the worst-looking and performing games on the system five years later. Age of Imprisonment does have some flaws, but it’s a significant step up from what came before.

This game’s character selection is easily the most enjoyable and unique in the entire Warriors series.

This is consistent with other aspects of the game. The core gameplay feels like the best it’s ever been in the Hyrule Warriors series. However, Age of Imprisonment focuses solely on characters and locations from a small portion of Tears of the Kingdom. This significantly restricts one of the Warriors games’ biggest strengths: the diverse cast of characters and their unique playstyles.

The first Hyrule Warriors game was great because it brought together characters from all throughout the Zelda series’ history, which spanned decades. It was fun seeing both popular and obscure characters reimagined within the Warriors gameplay style. Age of Calamity wasn’t as expansive, focusing only on characters from a single Zelda game. However, it did a good job of including a diverse cast from that particular game, and because it didn’t strictly follow established storylines, it was still able to offer a wide variety of playable characters.

Age of Imprisonment has a few rough spots, but it really shines when it comes to reimagining characters and their abilities for its fast-paced, Warriors-style combat. For instance, Mineru, a character originally from Tears of the Kingdom, is a playable hero here. In Tears of the Kingdom, she was a construct with deep knowledge of ancient technology. Age of Imprisonment translates that into gameplay by letting her constantly build and summon devices to defeat enemies. This game is full of clever moments like this, where familiar elements are brilliantly adapted to fit the action-packed style.

The main drawback is the limited number of characters you can actually use. You’ve got Zelda, Queen Sonia, and Mineru, and that’s mostly it in terms of well-known faces. While other characters join your team – like Koroks, Gorons, and Gerudo – and there’s even a construct that plays just like Link, giving you access to his moveset without breaking the story, these additions are all genuinely fun, well-developed, and offer really unique abilities.

From a gameplay perspective, this game has the most enjoyable and unique group of characters in the Warriors series. However, most of them are completely new creations that weren’t in Tears of the Kingdom, or only had minor roles. While I enjoy playing as them, it’s hard to feel invested in their stories because I have no established connection to who they are. They’re fun to control, but lack the narrative weight of characters we already know and care about.

The main issue with Age of Imprisonment, in my opinion, is the story. I’m going to briefly discuss some general spoilers for Age of Calamity, the previous Hyrule Warriors game which showed what happened before Breath of the Wild. If you haven’t played Age of Calamity and don’t want spoilers, please skip ahead.

When Age of Calamity was first revealed, it was described as a prequel to Breath of the Wild, showing the events that happened 100 years earlier. This was particularly exciting because many players found the backstory and history hinted at in Breath of the Wild to be the most compelling part of the game, and the idea of seeing that story fully developed was very appealing.

When this game came out, its place in the overall Zelda story wasn’t clear, so fans were eager to learn more about its connection to the other games. What made it especially interesting was the story of what happened 100 years before Breath of the Wild – it’s a really sad tale where things go terribly wrong for everyone. The heroes don’t win, which explains why Link is left to fix everything on his own a century later. The idea of a Zelda game with such a dark and tragic storyline was genuinely exciting.

I found the story to be the biggest letdown, mainly because it held the game back in other areas.

Surprisingly, Age of Calamity wasn’t a true prequel as many expected. Instead, it presented a different take on the past, showing what might have happened if the heroes had won the fight against Calamity Ganon. This was achieved with the help of characters from Breath of the Wild who somehow traveled back in time. Essentially, it wasn’t a story that fit neatly into the existing timeline, but more of a fun way to bring together a large cast of beloved characters. While it was a letdown not to get the prequel story fans anticipated, perhaps it was unrealistic to expect that from a *Warriorsstyle spin-off game.

I’ve explained all of this to highlight what sets Age of Imprisonment apart. Unlike Age of Calamity, everything in this game fits perfectly with the established Zelda story – it’s a true prequel. However, despite that, it doesn’t really offer much of a new experience. Zelda games always have interesting stories that provide a backdrop for the adventure and inspire a lot of discussion about the timeline, but at their core, they’re fairly simple. They’re like classic fairy tales – told with big, recognizable themes and characters, and focused on universal ideas that resonate through time.

The story in Tears of the Kingdom worked the same way: the game hints at a past conflict called the Imprisoning War, but you learn everything important about it within the game itself. Age of Imprisonment doesn’t really add anything new; it just retells the same major events. This isn’t compelling enough for a game of this length. And, unlike Age of Calamity, we now know these games don’t significantly impact the larger Zelda timeline – they’re mostly self-contained, which makes the story even less interesting.

I found the story to be the biggest letdown, mainly because it held the game back in other areas. If the developers hadn’t been so focused on following existing lore, we might have seen beloved characters return and I would have been more invested in the new events. For instance, we could have had the real Link instead of a robotic version. However, they prioritized staying true to the established story, and unfortunately, the result was a rather uninspired narrative.

It’s particularly frustrating because this is easily the most enjoyable Hyrule Warriors game to date. However, pairing such strong gameplay with a weak story and uninspired characters feels like a missed opportunity. Honestly, even a completely over-the-top and silly story, like the first Hyrule Warriors, would have been preferable. I just couldn’t bring myself to care about what was happening in this one – the story was that unengaging.

Honestly, I’m starting to feel a bit tired of this Hyrule, Zelda, Link, and the overall Zelda story as it’s been presented recently.

I believe part of the problem is that we’ve spent a lot of time with this series. Breath of the Wild is a fantastic game, possibly one of the best ever, but we’ve been immersed in its world for almost ten years now. Considering the original game, its expansion, Age of Calamity, Tears of the Kingdom, and now Age of Imprisonment, there’s been a constant stream of content.

I’ll be honest, I’m starting to feel a bit tired of this familiar Hyrule, Zelda, and Link. What always made the Zelda series great was how different each new game felt – new stories, characters, worlds, and art styles. But we’ve had the same version of Hyrule and Zelda with Breath of the Wild for a while now, and I’m really ready for something fresh. It’s not that this game is bad, but the fact that it doesn’t break new ground is a little frustrating, especially when I’m craving something different.

I’m really looking forward to when the Switch 2 finally gets its own brand new Zelda game. I’m hoping it’ll be something totally fresh and kick off a new chapter for the series. But if you’re like me and want a Zelda experience to show off your new Switch 2 right now, Age of Imprisonment is a solid choice. Seriously, it’s packed with stuff to do, looks amazing, runs super smoothly – better than any other game in that style, honestly – and I think the gameplay and overall design are the best they’ve ever been.

While the story and character selection aren’t perfect, fans of Breath of the Wild will likely still find plenty to like in Age of Imprisonment.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch 2.

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2025-11-14 22:16