Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Strong Character Variety
Good Combat
Repetitive Missions
Despite repetitive missions and some pacing issues, Age of Imprisonment's polished systems, satisfying battles, and connection to Zelda’s timeline make it a standout for fans of both franchises.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment’s story may fail to capture the promise of a Tears of the Kingdom prequel, but the gameplay more than makes up for that by wonderfully fusing its source material’s craziest ideas with great 1 vs. 1,000 battles, resulting in the best action of the series yet.
But this is still a musou title, and it can only achieve so much within that framework without awkwardly bursting at the seams. With those restrictions in consideration, however, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a triumphant prequel that Zelda fans are going to adore.
A few issues hold it back, but Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment marks a high point for the spin-off series, iterating on its riotous hack-and-slash combat with depth and variety.
This is a hands-on review of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a stunning slice of action, and my favourite musou game so far. Lessons have been learned from both Hyrule Warriors and Age of Calamity, resulting in a game that balances big-time story with top-notch combat that's got proper depth to it.With Zonai devices to play with, a cracking roster, tons of sexy Sync Strikes to pull off, and a ludicrously slick recreation of early Hyrule to set about kicking ass in, this is dream time for hack-and-slash fans and Zelda enthusiasts alike. Yes, map layouts are still a bit bland, and co-op mode is 30fps, but everything else here combines to make for the best entry in this spin-off franchise to date.
But if you're a Zelda fan looking for a fix until the next mainline entry comes along, Age of Imprisonment is a worthy adventure worth undertaking.
Insanely repetitive, horribly shallow, and pointlessly easy – this is the absolute least interesting thing to do with Zelda on the Switch 2 and bad even by the low standards of the Dynasty Warrior franchise.
At least the Japanese version keeps things a little more open-ended.
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