Fans of the beloved gaming franchise, “The Legend of Zelda”, were exhilarated on Sept. 8, 2020, when Nintendo and Koei Tecmo announced a prequel to “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” that would be released on Nov. 20, 2020. The prequel game’s title is “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity” and is set 100 years prior to “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”.

10,000 years before the start of “Breath of the Wild”, the civilians of Hyrule created four divine beasts, in order to protect Hyrule from Calamity Ganon. After sealing away Ganon, the people of Hyrule buried the divine beasts. After receiving a prophecy, many years later, of Ganon’s return, Link, Zelda and the pilots worked tirelessly to prepare for the return of Ganon. All of Hyrule’s preparations were complete except for Zelda’s sealing ability. Due to this, Ganon was able to control the divine beasts and wreak havoc on Hyrule. Towards the end of Ganon’s return, Zelda finally gains her ability to seal away darkness, so she goes to Ganon and attempts to, but due to Ganon’s power, she is unable to and can only contain him from completely destroying Hyrule. 

“Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity” follows Terrako, a small guardian created by Zelda who awakens when Zelda accesses her sealing power, as he attempts to rewrite the Hyrulean’s failures. The game starts once Zelda begins her attempt to seal Ganon. Once Terrako awakens, he sees the destruction of Hyrule occurring. Witnessing the devastation, Terrako escapes through a time portal. The time portal sends him back to the beginning of Hyrule’s preparations to seal Ganon. If successful, Terrako can rewrite time and save Hyrule from Ganon’s return. If unsuccessful, Terrako does not rewrite time, and Hyrule remains a war-stricken land. When Terrako arrives at Hyrule, he begins his journey to rewrite time.

“Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity” allows the player to control numerous characters as they journey to rewrite time. Each controllable character has their own strengths such as power, healing, airiel, combat and well roundedness. The player must then choose which character to control based on the situation presented. When engaged in combat, the player must defeat hordes of enemies to progress to the next section of the storyline. After a player defeats enough enemies, the character can use a powerful attack for a short period of time to defeat enemies with ease. Occasionally, the player can pilot one of the divine beasts, when the story calls for it. Once the player defeats enough enemies throughout a specific battle, a cutscene is triggered to further progress the storyline.

“Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity’s” primary focus throughout the game is combat. For a game so centered on combat, it is disappointing how mediocre and lackluster it is. The number of enemies presented in the game is impressive and challenging at the start, but towards the end has the difficulty and uniqueness of a saltine cracker. Although performing powerful attacks are fun and engaging, they quickly become tedious and repetitive over time.

Despite the lackluster combat system presented, “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity” is a remarkable and engaging game. The outstanding voice acting of Zelda, Urbosa and Revali allows players to feel engulfed in the story. The stunning visuals and artwork throughout gameplay and cutscenes perfectly compliment the tone and mood. As the story and plot develops, the twists and turns are truly marveling for a storyline many assumed would be too linear and predictable.

“Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity” shocked many for outperforming expectations and leaving a fun and everlasting impression to many gamers. This game is great to play for “The Legend of Zelda” fans and gamers in general. ★★★★☆