Tokyo Game Show 2025

Even as a Lapsed Zelda Fan and Dynasty Warriors Virgin, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a Total Blast

The Legend of Zelda series is well loved among gamers. From its puzzle-solving, story, action-adventure combat, and grand sense of exploration, there's a lot to love about the series. But take those action RPG elements and fuse them with Koei Tecmo's iconic Dynasty Warriors series and you get the awesome hack and slash spinoff series Hyrule Warriors. And while it's been several years since the last installment, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Koei Tecmo previewed the forthcoming Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment at Tokyo Game Show 2025. And it's as fun as you'd expect.

I'm not what you'd call a Legend of Zelda die-hard fan, seeing as I've only played a handful of the games in the series to completion. However, I've always found the games engaging and incredibly fun. Dynasty Warriors, on the other hand, I've never really engaged with. I've seen what the game has to offer and always wanted to try my hand at it, though I've never been too interested in the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. So, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was a great way to introduce me to the broader Dynasty Warriors franchise through an IP I already enjoy. And to say it's fun is an understatement.

The Tokyo Game Show demo sees you control the titular character, Zelda, along with King Rauru and Mineru, as you take on hordes of enemies. It's quite different from the exploration and puzzle focus of mainline Legend of Zelda games, but therein lies the fun of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. It leans into the fantasy of taking on throngs of Legend of Zelda enemies with quick attacks that combo into very powerful ones. This is something I wouldn't expect from a Legend of Zelda game, yet it works so well.

A spinoff of Tears of the Kingdom, certain familiar gameplay elements have found their way into Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment--namely the Zonai devices seen in Tears of the Kingdom. Granted, we don't get to make new weapons from scratch and the weapons we are given run on a gauge, much like in Tears of the Kingdom, but seeing a facsimile of them appear in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is fun and they can sway the tide of battle.

Artistically, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment keeps the cell-shaded art style of Tears of the Kingdom. If you're a fan of this art style, it will be easy to enjoy what Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has to offer in that regard. Personally, I love it as it's a different take on the Legend of Zelda characters and further adds to the visual and artistic language of the franchise.

For as much as I like the action-adventure and puzzle style of the mainline Legend of Zelda games, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has its own charm that the mainline games don't have with its hack-and-slash combat. The art style of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment also works at keeping the game firmly centered on the world of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. And as very little of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment's story was presented in the Tokyo Game Show demo, I am curious how it plays into the broader narrative of Tears of the Kingdom and what adventures Zelda will get into. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is set to release on November 6, and I would love to get my hands on it.