About

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a hack-and-slash game that was developed by Omega Force, produced by Koei Tecmo and licensed by Nintendo. The game released on Nintendo Switch on November 20th, 2020, with a DLC Expansion set to release new waves of content in May, June and November of 2021.

Although Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is the second instalment to the Hyrule Warriors line in the Warriors franchise, the stories are not connected in any way, which means you do not have to play the original Hyrule Warriors (2014) in order to understand Age of Calamity.

Story

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity takes place in the same Hyrule as that of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The story retells the events of the Great Calamity, the impossible war against the wrath of Calamity Ganon 100 years ago. Although technically a prequel (in a sense) to Breath of the Wild, players do not have to play Breath of the Wild first, although it is strongly recommended in order to fully appreciate the game in of its context, characters and the numerous BOTW references. Age of Calamity comes with many twists and turns upon each chapter that undoubtedly keep the player on the edge of their seat!

Gameplay

Age of Calamity’s gameplay progression works on a chapter by chapter basis. The player is presented with the Map of Hyrule, where they can choose which battle to start: Missions progress the main story, while Challenges can reward the player with materials needed to complete Quests, which can help certain characters earn more heart containers, attack combos, bonus attacks and powers.

Age of Calamity has a large roster full of familiar Breath of the Wild characters to choose from such as Link, Zelda and the four Champions, along with many new and surprising faces. Each character has their own unique set of moves, but all attacks are mapped to the same button schemes. Each character has the ability to use the Sheikah Slate’s powers and elemental rods, which can be strategically used based on an enemy’s weakness or lull in their attacks. Additionally, characters have the ability to dodge and parry enemy attacks, which add a unique sense of fluidity to the gameplay.

Other Notable Features

Like in Breath of the Wild, Cooking is present in Age of Calamity. To give a character and other allies an advantage in battle, the player can create meals from ingredients collected from previous battles or bought from the travelling merchants across Hyrule’s Map. These meals can act as buffs to give characters more attack power, speed or become resistant to certain elemental attacks.

Just like the Champions are able to pilot the Divine Beasts in Breath of the Wild, at certain points in Age of Calamity, the player can operate these massive machines and destroy hordes of enemies in an instant! There is even a motion control option that allows the player to move their controller left or right, up or down, in order to aim and fire at enemies, making it feel like the player is actually controlling the Beasts!