A new Hyrule Warriors game based on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is coming to Switch. The prequel titled Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity releases on November 20.
Age of Calamity takes place 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild and tells the story of the game’s Great Calamity event. The game’s Nintendo eShop description says the game features “dramatic cutscenes” that will give players more insight into Hyrule and Breath of the Wild’s four champions.
Like its predecessor, Age of Calamity is a hack-and-slash action game where players rack up combos against large waves of enemies. While the original Hyrule Warriors game featured characters and locations from different parts of the Zelda franchise, Age of Calamity focuses exclusively on Breath of the Wild’s setting, enemies and weapons.
A trailer for the game shows Link and Zelda as playable characters, as are the four champions: Mipha, Daruk, Urbosa and Revali. Link and Zelda are able to use special abilities from Breath of the Wild as well. The trailer shows off the time-freezing stasis effect, plus the game’s signature blue bombs.
According to a press release, the game features a variety of other tools and game mechanics that should be familiar to Breath of the Wild fans.
“In addition to hacking and slashing their way through swarms of enemies to defend Hyrule, players will also solve environmental puzzles, unlock weapons and skills, craft materials, visit shops to obtain items, and use the power of the Sheikah Slate, which fans will recognize from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.”
The game features a local two-player multiplayer mode where players can pass a Joy-Con to a friend and team up to complete levels.
Players who pre-order a digital copy of the game will receive a Lucky Ladle weapon, which comes with a pot lid shield.
Unlike on the previous Hyrule Warriors game, developer Koei Tecmo says the team worked much closer with Nintendo’s Zelda team on “every step of the process, including gameplay direction, graphics, world, and all dialogue.”
With a November 20 release date, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is looking like one of the Switch’s only big exclusive games this fall, alongside the recently revealed Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
