What parents need to know
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the latest installment in the Warriors series from publisher Koei Tecmo.
Remember that the “Warriors” series of games (called Musou, in Japan) is a series of beat’em ups where the player embodies a super-powerful character capable of hitting hundreds, if not thousands, of enemies in a few hits. The character goes through the different levels clearing each corner of the map, the enemies present and accomplishing the different objectives.
The Hyrule Warriors series is a variant of the original Dynasty Warriors games but set in Nintendo’s Zelda universe, instead of the medieval Chinese wars.
It is composed of the following titles:
- Hyrule Warriors (featuring elements from all Zelda games before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) (released on Wii U, 3DS and Switch 1)
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (set in the universe of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) (Available on Switch 1)
- And now: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (set in the universe of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) (Available on Switch 2 only)
The story of the game takes place during the War of Imprisonment that would change the kingdom of Hyrule forever.
It is a new story that is a prequel to that of Tears of the Kingdom and it allows us to tell the canonical events suggested previously in it.
Princess Zelda is at the center of the action this time around, she will have to protect the ancient Hyrule from the invasion of the demon king Ganondorf.
As in the other games in the franchise, you will be able to play as multiple protagonists such as King Rauru and the legendary sages, or the turbulent Korok Calamo among others. The game has many surprises in store for this subject, and I have not been stingy with surprising humorous characters to unlock.
The previous combat system is back, you press Y several times to land. Press X right in the middle of your combo to make another attack.
When you’ve typed enough, you’ll be rewarded with a new opportunity to strike, your magic bar is ready to be used, and you’ll be able to launch a character-specific super attack.
Also, for each big enemy you face, you’ll see this weakness bar displayed. The more you exploit it, the more you break it, and can deliver another devastating attack.
In terms of new features, there are attacks that allow you to call one of your allies when the enemy makes a big attack in order to use his weakness and interrupt him.
The other new attack is a combined super attack of 2 allies, which is possible after a new energy bar is filled.
All this results in very dynamic fights where you constantly oscillate between the different attacks and super attacks on enemies with far too many health points. Fortunately, the game constantly reminds us which button to press and when to press it.
Note that it is possible to change characters between the different allies present on a mission at any time, and to give them the order to go to a certain point.
It will sometimes be essential to cover a large part of the level of play by oscillating between the different allies well distributed.
The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes. It does not influence our opinion.
Details
Level of experience required
| Age | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginners |  |
|
 |
|
|
| Intermediate | |
|
|
|
|
| Experienced | |
|
|
|
|
Evaluation
The game consists of hitting, and finishing off all the enemies with multiple different types of blows: punches, kicks, bladed weapons, guns, magic.
Many fights between the main characters and hordes of monsters.
Characters can get hurt, look tired or die.
Effects of fire, ice, electricity and wind in some attacks.
Everything is very whimsical and looks like a very beautiful cartoon.
Nothing.
Long history of fighting and taking territory in so many wars.
You have to know how to read.
Many dialogues are dubbed.
Courage, perseverance, the power of friendship are constantly encouraged and recalled in the title.
Easy to play. We direct the character, and we hit by pressing the buttons several times.
However, having to steer the camera with the right stick constantly, can confuse people not accustomed to 3D games.
For the moment no DLC announced, but the first Hyrule Warriors had 3 different versions, the second had DLCs and Koei Tecmo (the publisher of the game) is known for its great monetization of its productions.
So it is likely to happen in the following months.
Local game modes
A story mode with a map on which you choose your mission.
At any time, a second player can join the game from a menu on the map.
Our opinion
What a pleasure to find the world of Hyrule Warriors in high definition and especially 60 frames per second!
The first episode was entertaining, the second one I liked a lot despite the missions being a bit laborious and an unbalanced Endgame. And especially with hundreds of enemies on the screen, the poor little Switch 1 struggled to maintain a stable refresh rate at 30 frames per second.
In this Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, everything is fluid and very beautiful. With each blow given, it is a firework display of light and enemies twirling. I understand that it can be confusing for some people, but I am delighted with it. We see Koei Tecmo’s expertise in the fights, in the visuals, in the staging, after twenty iterations of Dynasty Warriors.
The tutorial is a bit long to go through (several hours anyway), to remind us that you can press X, Y or A, but once launched, you go on between the different main and secondary missions, for hours without seeing the time pass.
By definition, this type of game is very repetitive: hitting everything that moves for hours.
However, Koei Tecmo did his best not to bore the player too quickly:
- There are many cutscenes to explain and punctuate the story
- Enigmatic new characters appear as we go along, and we want to know who they are and what is going to happen.
- The vast majority of previous playable characters have been changed, and if they are back, their attacks have been changed and revised.
- Lots of new playable characters.
- Different gameplay phases have been included such as collecting materials, and forging (fortunately well simplified), as well as phases of shooting in the air on rails (railshooter) among others.
And it’s all really well executed, you don’t feel friction or frustration. We move forward, we progress slowly, and it’s very pleasant.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a very high quality release, which will entertain you for at least thirty hours, if you are hooked on the universe.
