Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (ゼルダ無双 厄災の黙示録, Zelda Musou Yakusai no Mokushiroku) 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 was released 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.

The game itself takes place in an alternate continuity, created when a Diminutive Guardian from the original timeline travels back in time to avert the damage of the Great Calamity.

Plot
Beginning at the flashback from Breath of the Wild when Zelda first unlocked her divine power, a small guardian leaps back through time just as Calamity Ganon begin to destroy Hyrule castle. The diminutive protector tries to protect Zelda from experiencing the anguish she did at Link's "mortal" wounds (BotW begins with Link's recovery from said wounds finally finishing). Alongside the princess and her knight, the heroes of Hyrule are gathered to try and foil Calamity Ganon's resurrection, while BotW Calamity Ganon's own power also arrives in the past, influencing others to ensure the future grants him his victory. The story told closely follows what happened in the BotW timeline until after Ganon's emergence, where it deviates dramatically.

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. Battlefields are redesigned similar to One piece: Pirate Warriors 4 to have a more naturalistic feel and less of an emphasis on securing strongholds and regular bases like it's predecessor.

Many of the game's features are returning mechanics either from Breath of the Wild or Hyrule Warriors. Food can be cooked before every battle to provide a boost that lasts as long as that conflict. The recipies are mostly the same from BotW, with similar effects. Although weapons no longer degrade, they can be fused together like in HW, increasing their might and passing on useful skills that increase combat ability. Both of these resources thrive off of the materials available from the battles, which are the same goods found in BotW.

Modes
All of the modes of Age of Calamity are contained on one world map of Hyrule, which is exactly like the map from BotW. There are, however, several different functions offered on this shared map.


 * Story Mode - consists of seven chapters and 20 battles. They tell the story of how Hyrule prepared for and fought Calamity Ganon. This story follows a parallel timeline to the one from BotW, with a different ending then what was seen in the other game.
 * Challenges - These are typically shorter battles with special stipulations, like time limits, character limits, or extra objectives to fulfill. They are similar to the Adventure mode from Hyrule Warriors, but more manageable compared to Hyrule Warriors complete edition's full collection of maps.
 * Quests - These are static events that the player while playing the story mode. They provide increased comboes, extra heart containers, etc. at the cost of their requested materials. Completing enough of these in areas of the map earns large rewards of rare materials.
 * Services - They are locations on the map that sell goods, train characters' level (up to the highest leveled character the player possesses), dye clothing, upgrade and smith weapons, and test out combos on a neutral battle map. They are unlocked and upgraded as the story progresses, including permanent discounts. The merchant shops are all travelling, so they only have a chance to spawn between battles at the different stables unlocked.

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

Non-Playable Characters

 * Purah
 * Robbie
 * Sooga
 * Astor
 * Harbinger Ganon

DLC-Unlockable Characters

 * Battle-Tested Guardian
 * Purah
 * Robbie
 * Sooga

Stages

 * Hyrule Field
 * Breach of Demise
 * Zora's Domain
 * Death Mountain
 * Tabantha Frontier
 * Gerudo Town
 * Hyrule Outpost
 * Great Hyrule Forest
 * Crenel Peak
 * Akkala Citadel
 * Yiga Clan Hideout
 * Damel Forest
 * Hyrule Castle
 * Lanayru Wetlands
 * Hyrule Ridge
 * Hateno Fort
 * Great Plateau
 * Hyrule Castle Town