Disclaimer: Spoiler Warning! This article may contain spoilers for the game, proceed with caution

On March 3 of 2017 the Legend of Zelda game, Breath of the Wild, was released. After that Nintendo went kind of quiet about the game but rumored at a possible sequel to the game. After three years of waiting fans got what they wanted, a prequel. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was released on November 20th of 2020 for the Nintendo Switch. This game gave context about what occurred 100 years before Breath of the WIld. 

What is this game based off of?

The game Breath of the Wild is kind of what Age of Calamity was based off of. Like previously mentioned Age of Calamity is a prequel to Breath of the Wild. For context Breath of the Wild is a post apocalyptic game that takes place in Hyrule. In the game your main goal is to save Zelda from Ganon but there are several steps you have to take to get there and a fun side quest of collecting Link’s memories. Through the memories you learn there were four champions that had died, 100 years prior, while trying to defend Hyrule and defeat Ganon. This game introduced a new way of playing as it was more open world. The creators of the game said “If you can see it you can go there”.

Gameplay and new features

In 2014, the game Hyrule Warriors was released and with it a new form of gameplay for Legend of Zelda games. It was a multiplayer game and was a new experience for players. Age of Calamity has the same style. You can play with up to two players and there are individual levels to complete. A fun thing about this game was that there was a main story but there were also side missions that one could do to level up and practice with different characters. You can also collect ingredients that can be used to either level up characters or make food dishes that can help you in battle. 

There were several similarities with the original Hyrule Warriors. When in battle the character can fill up a special attack bar and when it is full they can press a button and do a strong attack. Another similarity is before one enters a level they can choose what character that wants to be unlike a regular Legend of Zelda where you can only play as the main character, Link. 

Another thing added into this game is that you can play as the divine beasts. They actually play a large part in many levels. They are clunky and their controls can be confusing but many fans have said that they enjoy playing as these power houses. 

One can also change the difficulty at any time so that it best suits them and provides the challenge they need. The difficulties the game can be set to are easy, medium, hard, and super hard. No matter what mode is chosen the levels do get difficult the farther you get which is natural for all games. The ability to change the difficulty is so that all players can play at the level they are most comfortable with so everyone can enjoy the game and have a good time. 

Characters

Similar to the original Hyrule Warriors there are many playable characters. However unlike the original Hyrule Warriors the playable characters are specific to this Breath of the Wild. Despite the limited playable characters we were introduced to many new characters to just see. Some characters can be seen in Breath of the Wild. There is Link, Princess Zelda, Revali, Mipha, Urbosa, Daruk, Impa, Teba, Sidon, Riju, and Yunobo to name a few of the playable characters. Some familiar non playable characters are Robbie and Purah. A very important new character is a mini guardian that traveled back in time.

This game also had a new villain, normally in Legend of Zelda games the main antagonist is Ganon but both Hyrule Warriors games have strayed from that pattern. In Age of Calamity the main baddie is a man named Astor the prophet of Doom. He is working with the Master Koga and the rest of the Yiga clan. Another bad guy that was a new face was a yiga named Sooga, he is Master Koga’s bodyguard so to say. There are several more characters both familiar and new that are fun to play as or simply see. 

A cool thing about the characters that were in Breath of the Wild is that they were all voiced by their original voice actors. This isn’t too much of a shock but it was nice to hear their voices again. 

Story

The main story of this game seemed simple at first but it didn’t stay that way for very long. After traveling deeper and deeper into the story things began to become more complicated and it became apparent that all the events that occurred in this game revolved around the mini guardian, Terrako. After getting deeper into the story it changes from a “what happened” to a “what could have been”. Despite the craziness though the story is fairly easy to follow. Another cool thing is, at the beginning of each main story level there is a cutscene that helps lead into the main mission of the current level. 

Despite the fact that this is a different formatted game it certainly found a way to pull on the heartstrings and make many players want to cry. It also found a way to show even more of the characters and give them more dimension. The new characters introduced fit perfectly with the story and never felt like they aren’t supposed to be there. This game can keep players occupied for hours and it is strangely addictive. It’s the prequel fans didn’t know they wanted but realized it was the prequel they needed.