The player controls 1 of up to 4 characters deployed to a given mission, where they must complete certain objectives while fighting off large groups of enemies. Each character has a unique move set, consisting of combos performed by stringing weak and strong attacks together. Characters also have a personal set of unique attacks, powerful moves that can only be used again after a recharge time. Different Zonai devices, which diminish a battery when in use, are also present. Characters have access to a Warrior Special, which is charged by dealing and taking damage, that can dish out large amounts of damage across a wide area. Among groups of weak monsters that are easy to dispatch, players will face captains and bosses. These enemies have a weak-point gauge, which presents itself either after an attack, or the player forcing it out through certain means. Depleting this gauge allows a weak-point smash to be used, dealing massive amounts of damage and likely felling the enemy with one final strike. There are multiple ways to force a weak-point gauge to appear. One method is dodging the enemy's attack before it lands, leading to a perfect dodge and flurry rush. Another method is using Zonai devices at opportune moments, such as using the Flame Emitter when the enemy has an ice affinity or is nearby a patch of grass. Enemies may also unleash dangerous attacks, which cannot be blocked, but are susceptible to corresponding unique attacks and Zonai devices. These counterattacks, among other certain cooperative attacks, boost the Sync gauge. If two characters with full Sync gauges are nearby, they can unleash a Sync Strike. Each character has a different attack whether they are the controlled character starting the Sync Strike or vice versa. However, certain pairings can unleash unique Sync Strikes. Outside of battle, the player makes use of their spoils to upgrade characters by way of assisting the people of ancient Hyrule and improving weapons with Zonaite Steel.
During her encounter with the unsealed Demon King Ganondorf, Princess Zelda is teleported in time to an era of Hyrule's founding via the power of a secret stone.[b] She is found by her ancestors, King Rauru and Queen Sonia, who help her search for a means of returning to the present. Throughout this time, Zelda aids Rauru's royal duties, trains her inherent light and time powers with Sonia, and explores the Depths beneath Hyrule with Mineru. On one such expedition, Mineru unearths a series of inactive Forbidden Constructs, self-aware humanoid weapons that, as she later deduces, had rebelled against and exterminated most of the Zonai race.
Ganondorf leads the Gerudo people to attack Hyrule Castle, which is thwarted by Rauru and his forces. Falsely conceding to Rauru, Ganondorf betrays his subordinate Ardi, a sympathizer of Hyrule's people, and frames her for the attack; she is rescued by the Korok wanderer Calamo and his companion, a Forbidden Construct facsimile of Link that Calamo had accidentally activated while exploring the Depths. Under Rauru's surveillance, Ganondorf sends a phantom doppelganger of Zelda to activate a second Forbidden Construct, which absorbs the phantom and destroys its fellow constructs. Ganondorf allows the rampaging construct to distract Rauru while he kills Sonia and takes her secret stone, transforming into the Demon King. He then seizes Hyrule Castle and conjures an army of monsters across Hyrule, including four archfiends serving as their commanders; one of the archfiends, Grimgera, is repelled by Calamo's construct, allowing the safe retreat of Rauru's group.
Rauru's forces rally the leaders of Hyrule's allied tribes against Ganondorf: Raphica, the Rito elder; Qia, the Zora queen; Agraston, the Goron chief; and Ardi, who replaces Ganondorf as the Gerudo's leader. The leaders are aided by Calamo's construct, which instinctively travels the land to battle Ganondorf's monsters and the other Forbidden Construct. Upon meeting the construct, Zelda recognizes its power source as a shard of Link's broken Master Sword that had been sent back in time with her,[b] and names it the Knight Construct. Rauru inducts the Knight Construct and Calamo into Hyrule's army, and entrusts the tribe leaders with secret stones, appointing the four, Zelda, and Mineru as sages to turn the tide of the war.
After defeating the archfiends and witnessing the Forbidden Construct's devastation of Korok Forest, Rauru and the sages lead a full-scale attack against Ganondorf at Hyrule Castle. They then make a tactical retreat to lure him into the Depths at Hyrule Field, where Rauru sacrifices his life to seal Ganondorf away. Meanwhile, the Knight Construct and Calamo help distract Ganondorf's army on the surface, although the Knight and Forbidden Constructs destroy each other along with the Master Sword shard, prompting Calamo to take root as a tree beside his friend's remains to create a new forest. Zelda's lady-in-waiting Lenalia designs murals chronicling the war to ensure Ganondorf's defeat in the future; at Mineru's request, however, she reluctantly omits the Knight Construct and destroys all records of its existence to prevent its technology from being misused, leaving a single piece of its body beside Calamo's tree form as a memorial. In a post-credits scene, long after Zelda has transformed into the immortal Light Dragon to wait through history,[b] the tree is shown to have grown large with the construct piece embedded in its trunk.
Development
Nintendo announced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment on April 2, 2025 alongside the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console during a Nintendo Direct presentation, where gameplay elements and game mechanics were showcased.[2][3] The trailer shows playable characters Princess Zelda and Rauru fighting various enemies.[4][5] A new trailer of the game was shown during the July Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase. It teased a new construct machine, but no narrower release window was given.[6]
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic and a "Strong" approval rating from critics according to OpenCritic.[7][8] In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 35 out of 40.[9]
Sales
In Japan, 73,183 physical copies of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment were sold within its first week of release, making it the best-selling retail game of the week in the country.[14]
Notes
↑Japanese: ゼルダ無双 封印戦記, Hepburn: Zeruda Musō: Fūin Senki; lit. "Zelda Musou: Chronicle of the Sealed War"
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