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Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is an exciting prospect for die-hard Breath of the Wild fans, as it’s set 100 years before the events of that game, in the lead-up to the Great Calamity. That means we'll get to see the Champions in their prime, we'll get to visit a familiar but very different Hyrule and we'll learn a whole lot more about exactly how Ganon was once more unleashed upon the world.
After playing the pre-release demo for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – which you should play before you read this, incidentally - there’s some debate about whether this game will be in the Breath of the Wild timeline or represent a new split, as... well - SPOILER ALERT – time travel is involved. We’ll get into that shortly, but regardless, there’s a heap of things to be excited about for Breath of the Wild fans. 54 in fact!
(Oh, and please be aware – the video companion above was published before the demo became available, so we’ve obviously found out more since then. The written feature incorporates all the new info.)
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Not pictured: 100 years earlier.[/caption]
It's even cute in 2D.[/caption]
That's Zora's Domain alright.[/caption]
1) It’s Official!
Age of Calamity is effectively an official prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and that’s a huge deal. Yes, it’s a Dynasty Warriors-style game, but unlike the previous Hyrule Warriors games, the developers at Koei have been collaborating with Nintendo’s Zelda team at every step of the way, on game elements including gameplay direction, graphics, the world and all dialogue. That means that the Zelda team has approved how Age of Calamity will be handling the Great Calamity. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/08/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-official-trailer"]2) More Lore, Blimey!
From a story perspective there’s so much to explore here. Obviously I’m excited to find out who is pulling the strings behind the resurrection of Calamity Ganon, but I’d also like to know more about the background of the Yiga clan. Perhaps we’ll also find out more about what happened to Zelda’s mother, who passed away when she was only six. There are a number of important relationships between characters that can be fleshed out as well. Urbosa, for instance, is something of a mother figure for Zelda, while Link and Zelda, Link and Mipha, and Purah and Impa, all have a lot to potentially delve into. And then there’s all the story wrapped up in Age of Calamity’s possible re-imagining of events. As we see during the demo, when Zelda’s power to seal Calamity Ganon awakens – just after Link has passed out, and all hope seems lost - the radiant light also wakes up a “diminutive Guardian” who uses a portal to travel back in time to a point before Calamity Ganon has arisen. Team Zelda quickly discover some images stored on it showing the devastation of the Great Calamity, and thus get a big heads-up about how things are going to go down. Can they change their fates? Or will the outcome still (largely) be the same as what we were shown and told during Breath of the Wild? We don't know, but this Guardian does seem be a source of uncorrupted Sheikah power that can help fight the spread of the calamity. It appears to be the reason that friendly playable characters are able to use Sheikah runes in battle, and it’s also able to power Sheikah tech, such as in the demo when it animates dormant Guardians to then target a corrupted Guardian Stalker. Of course, the reason there’s an evil Guardian Stalker on the loose is because some malice came back through the portal after the egg Guardian, but hey, waddaya gonna do? Oh, and the last point on story – it appears there is also an Evil Diminutive Guardian (see slideshow below)... assumedly with a goatee. Is this the same Guardian? Just from the present as opposed to the future? Time will tell. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=age-of-calamitys-diminutive-guardian-and-its-evil-twin&captions=true"]3) I Want to Go (Back) to There
The iconic Breath of the Wild world map is back and from it we’ll be roaming far and wide across a Hyrule one hundred years younger. A lot has changed on the ground, but from on high key locations like Hyrule Castle, the Korok Forest and Death Mountain are exactly as we remember them.4) A Life Before the Destruction
Age of Calamity will give us the chance to visit locations that were thriving during this time period, but only scrappy ruins by the time we came across them in Breath of the Wild. Of course, we’ll likely be fighting our way through many of them, so it’s not exactly sightseeing, but still, I’ve always been curious to know what places like Mabe Village and Goponga Village were once like. [caption id="attachment_2433018" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Not pictured: 100 years earlier.[/caption]
5) Large, Varied Battle Maps
In Age of Calamity we don’t actually get to explore the world as a continuous landscape like we did in Breath of the Wild, but the mission maps themselves can be quite large, and for an action game in the Dynasty Warriors milieu, hopping directly to our destination is no bad thing.6) A Towering Presence
When you’re on the map during the demo, by the way, Link is actually at Central Tower, so when you choose a mission that takes him somewhere else in the game world, you’ll see him teleport away from there. It’s likely that there will be a tower that functions as a hub location in each of the main areas of the map, as a different tower is briefly visible during the first shot of Vah Naboris in the Gerudo Desert in the trailer showcasing the Divine Beasts (below). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/28/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-official-demo-trailer"]7) The New Loading Screen
Remember Breath of the Wild’s loading screen? As you completed each Divine Beast it showed up on the loading screen, so by the end of the game you had a little elephant, lizard, bird, camel and motorbike bopping along. Here it seems as though the loading screen shows the characters you’ve unlocked, so you very quickly have Zelda, Impa, the new mini-Guardian and Link (see screenshot below), and it's not long after that they're joined by the four Divine Beast pilots as well. Nice! Best of all, the egg Guardian can be controlled! You can use L and R to move it left and right, while double-tapping either makes it run and B makes it jump. So. Cute. [caption id="attachment_2433002" align="alignnone" width="1920"] It's even cute in 2D.[/caption]
8) You’ll Make Progress Across Whole Regions
Coming back to the map, the world itself is formally divided up into large regions, so missions and subquests completed contribute to your progress in the area as a whole, unlocking more options as you go. As an example, the Gerudo Region takes in the Desert, the Highlands and the mountains to the east and south-east, while Necluda encompasses Deya Village, Karariko Village and Hateno Village.9) Familiar Locations, New Gameplay
It seems silly to get excited about how much some of the locations in Age of Calamity look like their Breath of the Wild counterparts, but still – they really do! Gerudo Town, for instance, is spot on. It even has the bar where we had to eavesdrop to hear the Gerudo Secret Club password. The screenshots below show a comparison, but to see Age of Calamity's Gerudo Town in motion, check out this part of the Nintendo Treehouse presentation. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gerudo-town-snapshots&captions=true"]10) Iconic Sights
It’s also cool being able to easily place yourself in the world. The Yiga Clan hideout, for instance, is still instantly recognisable. As is Korok Forest, thanks in no small part to the Great Deku Tree. And areas like Zora’s domain are as distinct as ever. [caption id="attachment_2432986" align="alignnone" width="1280"] That's Zora's Domain alright.[/caption]