There's no shortage of Dynasty Warriors titles coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 in the next few months. However, the most exciting of the bunch is Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment ($69.99), a follow-up to 2020’s Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and pseudo prequel to Tears of the Kingdom. Like Age of Calamity, it ditches the fan service route featured in the 2014 original, doubling down on the lore of the new Zelda games. But unlike Age of Calamity, Age of Imprisonment performs drastically better. Although the hack-and-slash gameplay can prove repetitive for some, Age of Imprisonment succeeds in building on the previous game's foundation in ways that will surely please both Zelda and Dynasty Warriors fans alike. It's one of the best action games on the Switch 2.

Story: The Other Hero of Time

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment follows Zelda during the events of Tears of the Kingdom, as she spends time in ancient Hyrule. Although Tears of the Kingdom provided glimpses of Zelda's time in the past, Age of Imprisonment attempts to paint a fuller picture, following her through the events of the Imprisoning War. This is similar to Age of Calamity’s attempt to tell the story of the Great Calamity, which occurred 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild. However, as that game's story eventually deviated into fan-fiction territory, Age of Imprisonment is considered canon, according to Nintendo.

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I've always felt that playing a Zelda game for its story was playing it wrong. Still, as someone who enjoyed the recent titles' characterizations and emotional beats, I was impressed by the care and time Age of Imprisonment took in building out its story, at least during the first few hours. It's not the first time the princess has been the lead in a Zelda game (see Echoes of Wisdom), but I greatly enjoyed seeing this version of her take center stage. Her naivete and bookish optimism are endearing, even if she takes a back seat once the game's plot shifts into full gear. As they say: always the bride's maid, never the bride.

I don't know if I've ever seen so many cutscenes back to back in a Zelda game. With full voice acting and backed by the series' immaculate score, it helps make the game feel more like a mainline entry, rather than a spin-off. That doesn't mean this story is incredible, or even good, for that matter. It quickly delves into well-defined series tropes, and doesn't hit the emotional highs of Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom either. As a fan, I can appreciate the attempt.

Gameplay: Zelda Meets Dynasty Warriors

But in true Zelda fashion, you're not here for the story, you're here for the gameplay. The Hyrule Warriors series is a spin-off of Dynasty Warriors, a series known for its flashy moves, intense action, and massive "1 versus 1000" battles. This is true of Age of Imprisonment. Taking control of Zelda, King Rauru, Mineru, and more than a dozen other characters, you mow down countless enemies while completing objectives that range from "kill this enemy" to "capture this outpost" to "rescue some guy."

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Instead of the slower, one-on-one combat situations found in mainline Zelda games, Age of Imprisonment is a fast-paced, old-school hack-and-slash title at its heart. Using combinations of light and heavy attacks, you rack in kills by the boatload, only slowing down when a boss character appears.

One slight downside is the rosters. Although Zelda, Minaru, and King Rauru were all characters from the previous game, the rest of the roster is made up of newcomers, comprising the game's primary races (Gerudo, Goron, Rito, Hylian, and Zora). Age of Imprisonment, like Age of Calamity, lacks the original Hyrule Warriors' fan-favorite roster. That said, Age of Calamity has a more interesting roster than this one.

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Still, each character feels different enough, with various swords, arrows, spears, and constructs at your disposal. In most missions, you can bring two to four characters into each battle, switching between them on the fly. Although the AI partners don't do much on their own, it's cool to fight alongside your allies with charge-up Sync Attacks that unleash massive team-up attacks. Mixing and matching characters leads to fun surprises that I won't spoil.

What's New: Streamlined Combat, Zonai, and Camps

In addition to Sync Attacks, Age of Imprisonment introduces a few notable changes to the beat-by-beat gameplay, altering the fight pacing. For one, now you can counter a boss enemy's special attacks. For example, when a boss enemy telegraphs a dive in the air, you can counter with an anti-air attack that'll stun the character and leave it open to continued attacks. While a slowdown period gives you time to react, you'll leave yourself wide open if you don't respond in time (or if you don't respond with the right counter).

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Tears of the Kingdom's Zonai devices have also been added to your repertoire, replacing and expanding the runes from Age of Calamity. These introduce fire, water, wind, and electricity elements that can be used to counter enemies. Dousing enemies covered in mud with water shatters their defenses faster than basic attacks, while fire melts ice enemies without issue. Some of the devices, like the Fan, absorb projectiles. Eventually, you'll learn how to fuse monster parts for additional damage.

These changes do help improve the pace of encounters; the previous games' boss fights dragged. Still, repetition does set in after a while. Many of the maps will be familiar to anyone who's played Age of Calamity, but even if you haven't, you’ll see the same fields again and again. That said, the Divine Beast stages are no more, replaced with these aerial combat sections that play out like classic Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon on-rail shooting sections. They’re not as exciting as the Divine Beast missions, but they’re fun enough and don't tank the frame rate.

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Between battles, most of your time is spent preparing for the next one. Clearing missions liberates the different Hyrule regions from Ganondorf's control and earns resources to level up your characters and their weapons. The grind is made easier this time around thanks to Camps, which allow you to cook food to boost your experience points gained during the mission, your max running speed, or the rate at which you charge your special attack. Like Tears of the Kingdom, both the Sky and Depths become accessible, though the loop remains the same: Clear missions, level up, restock your supplies, and do it again.

This core gameplay loop will make or break the game for you. For me, Warriors combat has always been cathartic, even if it's not that deep, and thanks to the convenience of the Switch, the grind lends itself to both short and long bursts of gameplay. It's a game that you could easily sink hours into, doing the same missions over and over again to unlock a resource for an upgrade.

Graphics: Tapping Into the Power of the Switch 2

Visually, it captures the look and feel of the new Zelda games. The gorgeous, slightly overblown, cel-shaded visuals look excellent while docked in TV mode and on the Switch 2's handheld screen; it's on par with the recent Switch 2 editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. But where Age of Imprisonment really shines is in its performance. Age of Calamity was a good-looking game as well, but it really pushed the original Nintendo Switch to its limits. These limits have all been shattered on the Switch 2, as gameplay maintains a consistent 60fps without any noticeable drops. 

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I was impressed in this regard, especially considering the number of enemies and effects on the screen at one time. I was even more impressed when I tried local splitscreen multiplayer, which didn't affect the performance. And speaking of local multiplayer, you can also GameShare with a friend to play local multiplayer using either a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2, which only requires one copy of the game.

Despite its good looks, Age of Imprisonment suffers from some of the same issues as other Warriors titles. Pop-in is frequent and often noticeable, and both friendly and enemy AI are nearly nonexistent, with only the boss enemies putting up any semblance of a fight. But these complaints are minor, as they plague pretty much every title of this decades-long series, spin-offs included. If you've played a Warriors game before, you know what to expect. For me, the feeling of nailing a big, screen-clearing combo while the music swells to a crescendo is well worth the grind.