Game review: Hyrule Warriors - Age of Imprisonment (Switch 2)

The first Hyrule Warriors game was a big deal in 2014 because it was the first Dynasty Warriors-like title based on the popular Zelda franchise. While the Wii U wasn't successful itself, Hyrule Warriors still ended up being a best seller for the console. 

Due to the popularity of Hyrule Warriors, the franchise was eventually ported to the more successful Switch console. A sequel in 2020 called Hyrule Warriors. Age of Calamity, but it wasn't without controversy. 

This is because Age of Calamity didn't run well with the underpowered Switch hardware. The resolution was bad, and the framerate often dropped well below 30fps. Since the game was a Switch exclusive, there was no other legal way to improve its performance. 

Thankfully, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is now out, and it's available for the much more capable Switch 2 console. The third game in the series runs at a much smoother 60fps in single player mode, but drops down to 30fps in co-op mode. 

Visually, the game and character models look similar to those of Tears of the Kingdom. It's nice to see lots of enemies on the screen simultaneously, and the land of Hyrule looks beautiful on Switch 2. 

As for the story, the main character in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is Princess Zelda herself. Zelda falls into a deep chasm and is mysteriously transported back 100 years in the past. 

Zelda meets King Rauru and Queen Sonic in Hyrule, and they all want Zelda to get back home safely in her own time. However, things aren't as easy as they seem because Ganondorf overtakes Hyrule Castle, and the land is full of evil monsters now. 

In terms of gameplay, the combat in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is fast, snappy, and easy to master. Usually, I feel the combat in Dynasty Warriors games to be repetitive, but this game manages to buck that trend. This is mainly due to the fact that the game has tons of playable characters with different abilities in their arsenal. 

Let's talk about the basics of combat first. All characters use a basic quick attack using the Y button, and then you can finish a combo by pressing the X button for a more powerful attack. If you hold the R button, this opens up a shortcut allowing you to execute any character's signature attacks. 

To make the combat more exciting, every character can use special Zonai Devices that cause elemental damage to enemies and bosses. For example, you can use a Fire Emitter that shoots out fire towards bosses with an icy body. On the flip side of that, any fire enemies can be doused out with water or ice attacks. 

To cause even more damage to enemies and bosses, filling out a special meter allows you to use a character's finishing move by pressing the A button. By filling out another blue meter, you can press the L button to execute some awesome-looking tag-team finishers to enemies like it's a WWE match. 

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment isn't all just about offensive attacks either. If a boss is giving you too much trouble, holding the ZL button allows you to guard most attacks. 

By tapping the B button, you will execute a dodge that you can spam because there's no stamina bar here. If you dodge at the right time, you can do a perfect parry attack. 

Another thing I love about this game to much is that you can press up on the d-pad to change to any character at any time. Around four characters are allowed to be on the field at one time, but you can alternate between them if you want to diversify the combat. Allowing you to play as many different characters stops the gameplay from feeling repetitive or boring.

At the end of each level, you will unlock rupees, resources, and even new weapons. By collecting lots of important resources, you can use them to make your weapons even more powerful than ever before. Not to mention, you can experiment by giving some characters different weapons to wield. 

Without spoiling too many details, the game also includes some special flying sections where you control a mysterious character. This character can fly like a plane and shoot enemies as if he's in a Panzer Dragoon game. These sections don't happen too often, but they are still fun to play. 

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is also a generous game because it's lengthy and features lots of missions for you to complete. The main story includes six chapters, and most players should be able to finish the game in around 20 hours. 

However, you may want to try the game's many side missions to level up. I cannot count how many side missions there are in the game, but there are a LOT of them. If you want to truly 100% this game, I'm sure you can get 50 hours of gameplay here. 

Usually, this is part of the review where I highlight a game's flaws, but I cannot name anything too game-breaking here. Some people may find a few playable characters to be boring, but I liked the amount of variety that is offered here. The only flaw I can highlight is that there's not much endgame content on offer, but that's it. 

Overall, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment continues Nintendo's string of excellent Switch 2 exclusives. If you love action games, you should pick this game up immediately. 

Verdict: 9.5/10