Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is the second Hyrule Warriors game, and the first set in the world of Breath of the Wild. Made by Koei Tecmo's Omega Force with Nintendo's Zelda team, it came out on Nintendo Switch on November 20th, 2020. The idea came from Breath of the Wild's director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and art director Satoru Takizawa, who wanted to show the Great Calamity that the original game only glimpses in Link's memories.

The story begins 100 years before Breath of the Wild. During the Calamity, a tiny Guardian named Terrako escapes Hyrule Castle through a time portal and lands in the past, before the disaster has happened. It is found by Link and Impa, and the warning it carries changes history: King Rhoam gathers Mipha, Daruk, Revali and Urbosa to pilot the Divine Beasts, Link draws the Master Sword in Korok Forest, and Princess Zelda races to awaken her sealing power before Calamity Ganon returns. Standing in their way are the Yiga Clan and a new villain, the prophet Astor. Because the story branches off into a different history, it isn't part of the main Zelda timeline.

How it plays. Like the first Hyrule Warriors, it is a battle game: you cut through armies of Bokoblins, Moblins and Lizalfos, capture outposts and bring down huge monsters like Lynels and Hinoxes. Each warrior has their own moves and Sheikah Slate powers (Remote Bombs, Magnesis, Stasis and Cryonis), and in some stages you take control of the Divine Beasts themselves. Between battles you travel a map of Hyrule much like Breath of the Wild's, taking on quests, cooking meals that boost your stats and upgrading weapons, which never break. There are 18 playable characters: 14 join through the story and four more are unlocked by side quests. A second player can join in split screen.

Expansion Pass. Two waves of downloadable content came out in 2021. Pulse of the Ancients (June 18th) added the Battle-Tested Guardian as a playable character, new weapon types for Link and Zelda (including Zelda's motorcycle), new challenges in the Royal Ancient Lab and tougher enemies. Guardian of Remembrance (October 29th) added new story battles set during the main game, new skills for the existing warriors, and two more characters: Purah and Robbie, who fight as a pair, and Sooga of the Yiga Clan.

Definitive Edition. Nintendo announced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 in its September 2026 Nintendo Direct, for release on February 25th, 2027. It runs at a higher frame rate with more enemies on screen at once, includes all of the Expansion Pass content, and adds a harder difficulty called Calamity Mode. Owners of the Switch game can upgrade at a discount and carry over their save data.

Age of Calamity became the best-selling Warriors game ever within four days of release, and it had sold four million copies by January 2022. Its story continues in spirit in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (2025), which does the same for Tears of the Kingdom.