When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom released, the one thing I was waiting for was a new Hyrule Warriors. After all, Breath of the Wild got a Warriors game focused on its backstory. Even if an alternate version of it. Two years later, my wish is real. Age of Imprisonment sets out to tell the full story behind the Imprisoning War that we only got certain details of in Tears of the Kingdom. And Koei Tecmo have delivered another great Warriors game here.

Starting the story immediately with Zelda in the past being discovered by King Rauru and Queen Sonia, the first outing for combat pits me against the shades that plague this past version of Hyrule. As usual with Warriors games, there’s the light attack and strong attack. Each light attack can combo into another or to a heavy attack for a finisher. There’s a lot of combinations to play around with, especially with later additions to combat.

Each character feels different, and not just from their weapon of choice. Zelda utilises light powers for a combination of melee and ranged attacks. Rauru uses his spear to devastate enemies at close range. As for Mineru, she gets a unique combat form that utilises the zonai parts and constructions that could be made with them in Tears of the Kingdom. It’s ever so fun crushing enemies underneath a giant platform with spiked wheels.

Introduced with Age of Imprisonment are the sync strikes. When two characters fight close together, they build a bond that can be released. Once activated, the two will perform special moves together to deal a lot of damage. Each sync strike is different, so it pays to experiment with different characters. Zelda and Rauru has been my go-to, with their beams of light being easy to direct and deal a lot of damage.

Replacing the rune attacks from Age of Calamity are unique skills and zonai devices. These can be customised for each character, with the unique skills being the way to counter strong enemy attacks. Though certain zonai devices can be effective at that. With only four slots, with both zonai devices and unique skills sharing the same command menu, there’s a strategy in choosing what to have on it.

Zonai devices can also be accessed from the inventory menu, which also includes battery charges, food, and other helpful things used in combat. Speaking of useful things, campgrounds can be found on maps. These restore the health of all party members. They can also be supplied with items to boost special attack charge, EXP gain, and movement speed.

Flurry rushes for getting perfect dodges on an enemy attack remain, as do the special attacks. All of this comes together to make for a great combat core. It’s ever so satisfying to come up against a boss, utilising various attack patterns to quickly dispatch them. Even more so when multiple party members are together. During a strong enemy attack, a quick switch to a character who can counter it, breaking through their shield gauge, then performing a weak-point attack to finish them off.

When it comes to the story, it is nice to see this past version of Hyrule. There’s plenty of great interactions to be found, and a connection forged with them. Particularly when it comes for all hell to break loose with Ganondorf becoming the Demon King. There’s greater emotion to be felt when I’ve seen more than a few snippets of these characters. Along with the linear storytelling forging that connection with them in a way Tears of the Kingdom’s non-linear structure couldn’t.

There are other characters involved in this war than just those seen in Tears of the Kingdom. The Goron, Rito, Zora, and Gerudo feature with more than just the sages learnt of in that game. There’s even other Hylian leaders that join the roster, along with a Korok and a mysterious construct. Those last two are together on their own journey, helping out in the war in their own way. Much like Link in Age of Calamity, this construct can change what weapon they use, along with having a moveset very similar to that of Link.

Even with the side quests, whether battling or supplying, there’s some nice story beats here that come from the journal entries used with them. Side quests provide combat upgrades for characters, so it pays to not just mainline the main quests. Sometimes side quests need to be completed before the next main one can be started. With this being a war, the map is split into territories controlled by Rauru or Ganondorf. Certain of these side quests need to be completed to keep territory, allowing supply quests to stay active.

There’s a lot great about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. The combat is as great as ever, with the new additions keeping the action flowing well. Even the side combat style available in certain missions is a lot more fun. Along with some nice quality of life additions, and the story that allows connection with these characters, Age of Imprisonment is an easy recommendation from me.

Images Taken From:
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment | Nintendo Switch 2 [Docked]