To begin with, Nintendo has just given the gaming world a big surprise. No, it was a much bigger one! The producer has presented to us Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment—the date is November 6th. But what is the most crucial aspect of it all?? This is not mere chance concerning a random spin-off. The whole, real, canonical, and complete chronicle of the Imprisoning War that we merely got a glimpse of in Tears of the Kingdom is coming for sure.
Rauru is taking the spotlight, and he looks rather intense in the trailer, emitting a powerful “Stand back. I got this” vibe. And really? Probably it is the case. This is the battle that determined everything in TOTK, the one that happened ages ago before Link was ever unsealed. So finally, we will have a clearer picture of it all.
At the same time, readers’ comments opened up the question about where the gamers always have opinions. The first thing that comes to mind is whether or not this is the right way to go with the Switch 1 at all. One user, Angeliczelda44, very candidly claimed they don’t believe that TOTK was meant for the Switch 1, so why would this new game be any different? And oki contributed some tech reasoning to the debate, saying “They scaled the game’s content to fit what NS2 is capable of. NS1 would just need a huge downgrade or even completely unplayable, remember AOC’s performance.” Oof. The very thought of Age of Calamity’s not-too-great framerate is something that one can easily empathize with.
Then, on top of that, there is the whole thing about demos. A user under the name JustGoneHere made a request for a demo like Age of Calamity, where players could start and transfer the progress. However, Angeliczelda44 then responded with this wild news that you are actually able to play a demo RIGHT NOW at Walmart or Best Buy if you head to a Switch 2 kiosk. Wait, what? So there are demos at retail kiosks but no public eShop one? That’s quite an interesting, and indeed quite a puzzling choice, Nintendo.
The canon debate is yet another issue. You see, the last Hyrule Warriors game, Age of Calamity, was a “what if” scenario. It was not part of the official Zelda timeline. Nevertheless, players were quick to point out the difference this time around. Xyro77 explained it very well: “Age of Calamity is a ‘what if’ game related to BotW. It’s not canon. Age of Imprisonment is canon and a prequel to TOTK.” And Kelfrito simply joined the conversation with “This one is actually confirmed canon.” Thus, this is huge. These are the official stories, folks.
Not everyone is thrilled, though, and they are not keeping quiet about it. Rell8718 just called the game “slop”, which is… quite harsh. Xyro77 kind of backed the genre up, illustrating “It’s a Musou game. You are slashing and killing thousands of enemies with just one or two buttons pressed. It’s a strange genre where you either like them or hate them. It’s not for everyone.” That’s a valid point. You either love the power fantasy of taking out hundreds of bokoblins or you find it boring. No middle ground here.
Some interesting tidbits are circulating. Dxj15231 mentioned “Rauru has the same voice actor as Dimitri in Fire Emblem.” That is a nice little crossover for the FE fans to enjoy. Then, as expected, the comments started with the wish list. AjthreetJ is hoping that the game will give a complete historical outline of the war and will present Ganondorf’s true motivation as in the original Japanese text of TOTK. That would be an extremely deep storyline for a Warriors game.
And then there were the ones who are already thinking about the future. LostLead8R just casually asked for “Nintendo switch 2 achievements please.” Can we at least get the first game first, maybe? However, it does indicate where the minds of everyone are. The Switch 2 is a shadow looming over the whole release. Some gamers even say that the current-gen console has been limiting the potential of next-gen titles like TOTK and now AOI. It is the never-ending console transition debate.
So, what is the final verdict? Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is releasing on November 6th, a canon prequel to Tears of the Kingdom, and it is stirring a lot of conversations about performance, demos, and what it means for the future of Zelda on new hardware. Whether you are a Musou fan or simply a Zelda lore enthusiast, you can also check out the latest PlayStation and Xbox news.
