With the surprise announcement ofHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Nintendo has confirmed that they are expanding on the backstory of the immensely popularLegend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildwith a new standalone prequel. This new game, in the style ofHyrule WarriorsandDynasty Warriors, will explore the events leading up to the Calamity and the destruction of Hyrule.
WhileBreath of the Wildcovered some of the 100 year gap that Link was recovering via memory recollection, there are a lot of important questions that this new prequel could answer to fill in or expand the story ofBreath of the Wildwhile potentially setting up interesting story beats forBreath of the Wild 2.
RELATED:Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity is a Big Deal for Breath of the Wild 2
Zelda’s Journey
InBreath of the Wild’s recovered memories, Link accompanies Zelda on her quest to unlock her hidden abilities. Players see glimpses of that through the memories, butHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamityhas a great opportunity to flesh out Zelda’s character more and fill in the gaps of Zelda’s journey. Zelda struggled emotionally during her quest to unlock the Sealing Power, which made her one of the most relatable iterations of Zelda in franchise history, andAge of Calamitycould very well continue that trend.
Zelda is playable inAge of Calamity, meaning players could experience her journey to the sacred sites firsthand, so players can see what Zelda had to endure to try to unlock her power. Some glimpses of gameplay in the reveal trailer showed Zelda using Stasis, though it seems to be like the Stasis rune rather than her full-blown sealing magic. A logical endpoint for the game would be Zelda putting the Master Sword back in the Lost Woods and confronting Ganon, but this is after her powers truly unlock, so there would definitely be some room for players to be able to play around with Zelda’s true skill set.
Hyrule Warriorshad several different weapon sets that each had their own set of skills, so perhaps Zelda will have a Sheikah Slate “weapon” and then her true Sealing Power would be a different weapon set. Zelda’s journey would all depend on where Nintendo is starting the story forAge of Calamity, though flashback missions could definitely still be a big part of the game.
The Rise of the Four Champions
The Champions' Ballad DLC forBreath of the Wilddid a fantastic job at giving small glimpses into the lives of the four Champions prior to the start of the Calamity, butAge of Calamityhas the opportunity do to so much more. In brief glimpses of gameplay, all four of the champions can be seen exhibiting some of their iconic skill. Urbosa is dueling the Yiga Clan using her iconic scimitar imbued with electrical energy, Daruk causes pillars of rock to emerge from the ground and explode, Mipha uses torrents of water to soar through the air to send a Guardian flying, and Rivali sails above crowds of monsters to bring down a rain of arrows.
It seems as though the Champions will all be playable characters in this story, much like how many other side-characters were playable in theoriginalHyrule Warriors.In the first game, it featured several branching story paths that allowed players to learn more about side-characters. InAge of Calamity, hopefully this will be used to expand the backstories of the four Champions.
While Rivali and Daruk have few hints to their past inBreath of the Wild, Mipha and Urbosa both have some interesting stories that should be touched on inAge of Calamity. During the Champions' Ballad, Urbosa talks of a growing threat in with the Yiga Clan which definitely needs to be expanded on further. She’s seen fighting them in the trailer, so hopefully that means that the Yiga Clan (and their strange obsession with bananas) will be explain in the prequel. With Mipha, the biggest question fans had was regarding her relationship with Link.
Through some dialogue and Mipha’s diary, it’s clear that she had feelings for Link and that they grew up together. Fans desperately want Nintendo to expand that further so fans can see younger Link and Mipha together. With Daruk and Rivali, Nintendo could show their rise to power and prominence in their respective villages, as clearly both were well-respected and quite talented fighters. That is true for all four Champions, who deserve more fleshed-out backstories. Considering Nintendo isre-releasing the Champion amiiboswith the game, it’s a fair assumption that they will be a big focal point.
Link’s Backstory
Link has almost always been a blank slate when it comes to backstories, andBreath of the WildLink is no exception. Throughout the journey ofBreath of the Wild, players can learn that Link was just a Knight serving with the Hyrule Guard up until he was chosen by the Master Sword. Link had a reputation as the greatest swordsman in the land, and could best any foe that was thrown at him. However, outside of that little is known about the mysterious silent hero.Breath of the Wildleft a lot of questions unanswered, likehow the Leviathans became extinct, butAge of Calamitycould very well answer some of these questions.
Fans see Link in his Knight garb in the trailer, and while this may just be cosmetic, the story may start before Link is given the Master Sword - meaning that players may have a quest to go to the Lost Woods as well. If the story is set before Link truly becomes the hero, it would be great to flesh out his backstory a little more to give more personality to this fan-favorite iteration of Link,
Calamity Ganon’s First Defeat
It’s well-known that Calamity Ganon was defeated 10,000 years prior to the start of The Calamity, thanks to the Sheikah and their advanced technology. Then, 100 years prior to the start ofBreath of the Wild, a prophecy foretold his return and the destruction of Hyrule which starts the hunt for the Sheikah tech and the Champions for the Divine Beasts. When The Calamity arrived, Ganon was prepared for the technology that the denizens of Hyrule had at their disposal and used it against them.
This implies that Ganon learned a lot from his first defeat, and that the Skeikah tried similar strategies that were attempted the first time around.Age of Calamitycould use this opportunity to reveal more about Calamity Ganon, his strategies, and how he was defeated the first time. Withso much unknown about Calamity Ganon, it could be a great chance to flesh out this villain a bit more.
Purah and the Sheikah
One last big point that could really use some clarification are the Sheikah. This mysterious race of people are credited with the initial creation and discovery of the powerful technology that proved essential for the defeat (and then subsequent revival) of Calamity Ganon and his takeover of Hyrule. While some Sheikah still around during the time ofBreath of the Wild, they played a much bigger role during the initial defeat on Ganon as well as during the time of The Calamity.
Some characters, like Impa and Purah, would be present during the time frame thatAge of Calamitytakes place - in fact, one Sheikah member is seen during the reveal trailer, though we currently don’t know who. Hopefully, the Sheikah are expounded upon more so their role and significance to the Calamity arc is more well known, and perhaps they will play a big roll inBreath of the Wild 2whenever it eventually releases.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamitycould be a great framework to fill in narrative blanks that were left afterBreath of the Wild. Due to Link’s memory loss, lots of details about the Calamity, and of Ganon himself, were lost and unknown to the player. However, sinceAge of Calamitytakes place beforeBreath of the Wild, it’s a great way to answer man fans' questions about what happened before Link’s injury, and before The Calamity itself. It also could serve as a perfect narrative tie-in forBreath of the Wild 2so players have a better hold on the overarching story. Regardless, fansdon’t have too much longer to waitbefore they will see more ofHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamitylaunches November 20th 2020, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
MORE:Legend of Zelda Games That Deserve the Mrio 35th Anniversary Treatment
