Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a hack and slash video game for the Nintendo Switch developed by Koei Tecmo Games and Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and by Nintendo worldwide. It is a sequel to 2014's Hyrule Warriors in terms of gameplay, but is seen as a prequel of sorts to 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The game is set for release on November 20, 2020. Unlike the previous Hyrule Warriors which was a celebration of the Zelda franchise and had it's own original story, Koei have worked closely with Nintendo to ensure that the story and gameplay mechanics are fully canonised within the Breath of the Wild continuity.

Gameplay
Like the previous Hyrule Warriors, Age of Calamity mixes the hack and slash gameplay of Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors series of video games with settings, characters, and other elements from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series. In addition to retaining the combat, material crafting, and weapon-upgrade systems from Hyrule Warriors, the game incorporates environmental puzzle solving and the use of the Sheikah Slate tool from Breath of the Wild. Confirmed playable characters include Link, Princess Zelda, the Four Champions – Daruk, Mipha, Revali, and Urbosa – and the Sheikah warrior, Impa. The game will also feature compatibility with Nintendo's amiibo figures, with figures of the Four Champions re-releasing alongside the game.

Compared to Breath of the Wild, the game is not completely open-world but still rewards the player for completing missions and side quests in specific areas of Hyrule. The weapon durability system is also removed (in the original Breath of the Wild, all weapons except the Master Sword were breakable, and even that had a durability mechanic in the form of charges). Also, compared to the previous Hyrule Warriors, the Badge and Fairy systems are also removed, with quests now giving the rewards of added combos and Hearts.

Plot
The game is set 100 years before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The story depicts the Great Calamity, a great war previously alluded to in Breath of the Wild between the armies of Hyrule and the forces of Calamity Ganon. The story opens with Princess Zelda sealing a corrupted Guardian away after unlocking her inherit sealing powers, Calamity Ganon breaking free from his prison as his forces lay ruin to Hyrule. But a small white Guardian whirls to life in Zelda’s bedroom in response to her power, conjuring a portal to travel back in time to days prior to the Calamity to save Zelda. But as the Zelda and Link gather their Champions, they face a prophet named Astor who uses the Yiga Clan to carry out his goal of reviving Ganon.

Development
The game was revealed via a trailer that was released on September 8, 2020, presented by Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and Koei Tecmo producer Yosuke Hayashi. The game features the same art assets as Breath of the Wild, but uses the more combat-focused gameplay style of the previous Hyrule Warriors game. More info was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show on September 26.

According to Hayashi, the game came into reality when Aonuma approached him to make a new Hyrule Warriors game about the events of the Great Calamity, which were never properly shown in Breath of the Wild. Aonuma felt that the battles would complement well with the style of a Warriors game. Nintendo's Zelda developers worked more closely with the development team at Koei Tecmo than on Hyrule Warriors, providing advisement and assistance on Age of Calamity 's gameplay direction, graphics, world, and dialogue.

Characters

 * Link
 * Zelda
 * Impa
 * Urbosa
 * Mipha
 * Daruk
 * Revali
 * Hestu
 * Sidon
 * Yunobo
 * Teba
 * Riju
 * Maz Koshia
 * Master Kohga
 * King Rhoam
 * Great Fairies
 * Terrako
 * Calamity Ganon

Non-playable Characters

 * Astor
 * King Dorephan
 * Robbie
 * Purah
 * Sooga