Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Review: A Beautiful But Repetitive Hack & Slash Legend of Zelda Prequel

The popular Legend of Zelda spin-off, Hyrule Warriors, is back with Age of Imprisonment, featuring significant updates. This third game in the action-packed series tells a story that fits directly into the timeline before Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. It reveals the complete story of the Imprisoning War and Zelda’s involvement. While it keeps the core gameplay from previous Hyrule Warriors games, it also introduces new elements to keep the experience fresh.

In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, the game takes Zelda on a journey to the past where she encounters her ancestors. Set in the early days of Hyrule, the story pits players against Ganondorf, the recurring villain from The Legend of Zelda series. While the overall plot isn’t entirely unexpected, it still manages to create some touching scenes. However, the game struggles with combat that becomes repetitive. Despite this, Age of Imprisonment is a fun experience thanks to its engaging story, quick action, and growing roster of playable characters, even if it’s not flawless.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Pros	Cons
Beautiful graphics and smooth animations	Core gameplay loop can sometimes feel repetitive
Overall flow of combat is fast-paced and fun	Map UI isn’t very intuitive
Variety of characters and ways to power them up

Age of Imprisonment Makes Hyrule Warriors Canon With a Compelling Prequel Story

While past Hyrule Warriors games took place in separate timelines, Age of Imprisonment is a genuine prequel that’s officially part of the main Legend of Zelda story. The game explores the historic Imprisoning War. Despite being a new story, it still delivers the familiar, action-packed combat that Hyrule Warriors fans enjoy. Through stunning cutscenes before and after each battle, Age of Imprisonment strives to tell a captivating story and expand on the lore of Hyrule.

If you’ve played any Legend of Zelda game before, you’ll immediately recognize the villain. From the start, it’s obvious who the antagonist is. However, even though the story is predictable in that respect, it’s still engaging and emotionally resonant. The game features both beloved characters returning from previous titles and some fresh faces. While longtime fans will recognize elements from the Imprisoning War lore established in other Zelda games, there are still unexpected twists and turns.

Overall, the story is enjoyable, though it doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It expands on the lore of Hyrule and gives us deeper insights into important characters, even some previously lost to time. Despite the predictable outcome, the game still manages to be emotionally engaging, with several truly impactful moments. Be prepared, though – you’ll face a lot of combat to reach the end.

Hyrule Warriors Combat Isn’t Groundbreaking, But Age of Imprisonment Has Some Satisfying New Tricks

The combat in Age of Imprisonment will be instantly recognizable to fans of previous Hyrule Warriors titles. It’s quick, rewarding, and each character has their own special moves that can be improved as you play. Essentially, the game focuses on fighting through large groups of enemies, and a running total of defeated foes keeps track of your progress. While fun, it doesn’t really change up the formula for this type of game.

Despite its flaws, Age of Imprisonment introduces some fresh ideas that make gameplay more engaging. A new feature called Sync Strikes allows characters to combine their powers for devastating team attacks. Plus, each character has unique abilities, giving players more variety when selecting who to play as. These abilities are especially helpful for taking down tough bosses and maintaining a good pace during battles.

When you’re not fighting, you’ll study the map of Hyrule to plan your next steps. This involves strategy, as you’ll need to decide how to best use your resources. You can use supplies to make your characters stronger or unlock new abilities and weapon upgrades. Plus, you’ll have to manage time-sensitive battles to avoid losing the territory you’ve already captured, giving you another thing to think about between fights.

The map interface can feel confusing at first, because the controls don’t always work like you’d expect in other games. However, once you learn how it works, it’s actually a simple system that adds more strategy to the combat. This is just one example of how Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment tries to keep players hooked.

Despite Its Best Efforts, Age of Imprisonment Still Feels Repetitive

My biggest issue with Age of Imprisonment is that it becomes quite repetitive. After choosing a mission, you’ll find the scenarios are often frustratingly alike. The variety of monsters is limited, and many are only found in certain areas. Most missions involve capturing outposts to control territory, and even the mini-bosses aren’t very diverse. Combined with characters having similar controls despite different abilities, this can make the game feel a little dull between story moments.

Nintendo tried to address the repetitive nature of Hyrule Warriors by consistently unlocking new characters with different fighting styles as you progress. This, combined with changes in enemies and gameplay depending on the area, keeps things somewhat fresh. Side quests and missions that require collecting items or completing specific tasks also add variety. However, I occasionally questioned if the effort needed to unlock the next part of the story was truly worth it.

If you enjoy quick, action-packed fighting, you’ll probably enjoy this game. It’s satisfying to unlock new characters and improve their abilities. However, while some missions feature interesting map designs, I wish the game had focused on those more. Repeatedly capturing bases can become dull, but the moments with unique challenges felt really good. Adding more varied maps and objectives would have made the game much more engaging overall.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Frequently Asked Questions

Wondering if you should play Age of Imprisonment? Here’s what someone who’s completed the game has to say, answering some frequently asked questions.

Is Age of Imprisonment Canon?

Nintendo has officially stated that this new Hyrule Warriors game will be part of the main storyline, unlike previous entries which were considered separate from the core universe.

Is Link in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment?

No, you can’t play as Link in the original version of Age of Imprisonment. However, the game does mention him, and you’ll definitely feel his impact without me giving away any details!

Does Age of Imprisonment Have Multiplayer?

You can play Age of Imprisonment with a friend! It features a 2-player mode where you can either play together locally on the same screen (split-screen) or play online using Nintendo Switch Online or the GameShare feature.

How Long is Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment?

The game has plenty of optional things to do, so how long it takes you to finish will depend on how much you choose to explore. I completed the main story in about 23 hours, but I didn’t do all the side quests. You can always come back after the story ends to finish anything you missed.

How many playable characters are in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment?

The game begins with a few characters you can control, but as the story unfolds, you’ll unlock a team of 28 different allies.

The game Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment comes out on November 6th for the Nintendo Switch 2. We received a review copy of the game from the publisher.

2025-11-04 17:13