Anyone who played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on the first-generation Switch will have, like me, been incredibly impressed by what Nintendo was able to squeeze out of its then-ageing console. When the superb Switch 2 rolled around, then, it was only logical that TOTK got a big updated version that looked sharper and played smoother.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment follows in the footsteps of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity from about five years ago, offering a prequel story to the main action of TOTK just as its older sibling did for Breath of the Wild. In truth, though, this isn't a mainline Zelda game at all, as the name of the game suggests.
Rather, it's from the "musou" genre of action games, in which players take on the role of a hero character in the middle of large-scale battles, and fight against scores of foes with huge, eye-catching attacks to turn the tide of fights and campaigns. Dynasty Warriors is probably the most famous franchise in the genre, but this is now the third time we've had a Zelda title in the mix.
People really liked Age of Calamity back in 2020, but the main criticism that came its way was to do with its extremely variable performance, which aimed for 30fps but rarely managed to hold on to that mark. So, it's obvious that a new console could do better – and from my time with Age of Imprisonment, that much has been achieved really clearly.
The new game is a 60fps coaster, sailing along with great performance even in the middle of fights, in my experience, and the difference this makes is really stark. Games of this sort really thrive on your reactions and the sense of flow in a battle, so being able to move around without hitches and lower frame rates is a blessing.
It helps that, like Age of Calamity before it, this is a musou game with a much more intelligible story and direction than many others. While this means that the first couple of in-game hours are quite cutscene-heavy, those who loved Tears of the Kingdom will surely revel in finding out more about how the Imprisoning War actually unfolded, and seeing the heroes of a bygone age actually get into the thick of the action (by controlling them).
There are a bunch of those characters, too, all of them with different movesets and tactics to adopt, and learning these is a large part of the fun. Meanwhile, you'll slice through regular enemies like mowing the lawn, before buckling down for tougher fights against their leaders.
All of this is accomplished while moving through battlefields that are heavily inspired by locations from the open world you explored in TOTK, without quite corresponding to their layouts. It's interesting to revisit these vistas in another context, although there's no pretending that the original TOTK's tone is really reflected in this far more action-heavy title.
Still, the visual presentation is light-years ahead of Age of Calamity, which is exactly what most people would have wanted. In fact, if you head into the split-screen co-op mode, you'll drop down to 30fps, and it feels like taking a big step back, emphasising that technical leap even further.
I've really enjoyed the early hours of the game, although I can't say it's hooked me in nearly the same way as TOTK did, for obvious reasons. Musou games are an acquired taste, but the good news is that there's a demo available to play in a bunch of US stores if you're near one. I'd confidently wager that means an eShop demo will follow at some point, so new players can try the game out before forking over their cash.
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