Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisionment - Switch 2 Review

Zelda fell back in time and wound up at the creation of the kingdom of Hyrule, not long before Ganondorf tries to take over and ends up being locked away. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the latest crossover between the Warriors and Legend of Zelda franchises, which have previously resulted in some exceptional titles. This is no different here, and there is so much to uncover in this canonical adventure to save the world from ruin and corruption spurred on by Ganondorf. Having played numerous games in the Warriors genre, I have high expectations to be met.

The Good

Out of every MUSOU game, I feel like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has some of the most interesting mechanics thanks to Zonai devices, elemental combinations, and the large enemy fights being more involved. Zonai devices, being the biggest gimmick from Tears of the Kingdom, have carried over to its Hyrule Warriors counterpart, which brings with it another layer of options for players to explore instead of brute force button-mashing attacks. Use a fire Zonai device, set it, and then use a fan for a huge fire tornado that also sucks in surrounding enemies for more damage. Also, executing a perfect dodge allows you to counter an enemy's strike with a flurry rush, striking at the weak point and opening them up for big damage hits.

Fighting your way through the hordes of monsters to strike at Demon King Ganondorf and lock him in the underground underneath Hyrule itself so Link can come back tens of thousands of years later and defeat Ganondorf for good. The premise of the story is so interesting, and getting to explore this period of Legend of Zelda history here is so intriguing as you uncover more and more of the resistance against Ganondorf and his forces. You also explore more about the Zonai race and their construct creations, especially with the mysterious construct who is integral to the game's story.

MUSOU games are like the summer blockbuster of the video game genres, where you just turn your brain off and have fun with a big, flashy experience. They’re a lot of fun to play and scratch an itch of feeling powerful just right as you mow your way through thousands of enemies at a time as a single combatant. Age of Imprisonment has taken this genre and just run full force with it, giving players one of the most satisfying experiences on the Switch 2, as it runs smoothly, even when the enemy numbers on screen start to climb higher and higher.

TL;DR

• Expanded MUSOU mechanics
• Canonical story addition
• Overall fun gameplay

The Bad

One of the biggest downsides to most MUSOU games in general is the grindy nature behind them, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is no different in this case. The early- to mid-game sections are pretty straightforward, where completing the side missions, or purchasing materials from the individual stores will give you enough to complete the requests. But once the game opens up and you get 10+ missions all at once, that is where the real grind for materials starts to kick in. All this isn’t including the aside missions for each individual character that you have a vast amount to complete. Zelda alone has 35 quests.

The aside missions also don’t help the overall problem where the variety is lacking and you find yourself constantly only challenging a number of different enemies. I felt like I was repeating the same side missions over and over, with only a couple of variations, like having to only use certain characters, or enemy types changed due to being in a different location. Even the missions where you unlock new characters fit into this mould, with the exception of these tending to give enemies the new character should handle relatively well.

In saying that though, the characters overall are just bland and uninteresting if they’re not part of the main cast. It feels like they just filled in the character roster with completely random characters that have no bearing on anything at all. In saying that though, these additional characters seemingly have some of the most unique combat styles I’ve seen in a MUSOU game, so hopefully this can carry forwards to different titles with more interesting characters.

TL;DR

• Grindy to get materials
• Repetitive missions
• Uninteresting characters

Final Score: 8/10

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment builds upon the previous Hyrule Warriors games and implements the Zonai devices in such an ingenious way. Exploring the story of how Ganondorf took over Hyrule before being imprisoned in the depths underneath was a perfect way to utilise the MUSOU genre. Although there is a grind that is inherent to the genre, it feels more noticeable here when the majority of the cast are throwaway additions. If you enjoy the Zelda franchise, this is an exciting take on the franchise and well worth your investment.

Thank you for checking out our Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Switch review, thank you to Nintendo AU/NZ for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

• Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
• Bel Cubitt
• Bobby Jack
• Jack Caven
• Nintendo Maniacs
• RedHero