Nintendo Canada invited CGMagazine to a brief hands-on preview of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment ahead of their October holiday event. We spent about 45 minutes playing through a repeated 10-minute section of the game. After 10 minutes, the preview ended, no matter how far you are. The game was also playable at the holiday showcase, and we were able to move through it freely, repeatedly, to learn more about Zelda and her companions, as well as a bit about how the game plays overall.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment follows Zelda after she travels back in time and joins the war against the Demon King Ganondorf’s invasion. This war, now known as the Imprisoning War, was briefly alluded to in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and now players will get the chance to dive deeper into the story. The section we played didn’t reveal much in terms of story, but it did give us a walkthrough of a few of the mechanics available in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.
In our playthrough, we had access to Zelda, Rauru and Mineru, who were all playable. Each character brings something entirely unique to the table so far. Zelda is more of a ranged character, where Rauru is more like a tank, and Mineru is a DPS role who uses Zonai devices to traverse the map. I found myself wanting to stick with Zelda most, both because she’s the coolest—obviously—and because I’ve always mastered ranged over anything else.
Lots of speculation has been going around about playable characters in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, largely from screenshots released by Koei Tecmo. So far, Argusta, the chief of the Goron tribe, Kia, a princess of the Zora tribe, Krafika, the leader of the Rito tribe, and Ardi, a warrior from the Gerudo tribe, are rumoured to be playable thanks to some screenshots. The trailer above also says, “fight alongside your allies, like this brave Korok.” Plus Zelda, RauRu and Mineru, whom I went hands-on with. Hopefully, an official list will be released soon!
“Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment looks like it is going to be a lot of fun, especially for those invested in The Legend of Zelda franchise.”
Something that has been seen in trailers for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the new Sync Strike mechanic. Once a bar on the left side of the screen is charged, you can trigger a Sync Strike, which pulls whichever character you are and whoever you triggered together to create a new kind of combat.
I was only able to trigger this with Zelda and Mineru or Zelda and Rauru, but the trailer shows it between other characters as well. Sync Strikes offer high-damage or other effects. In my case, Zelda was flung on the other’s shoulders to create a new mechanic where I could smash and bash whoever we were fighting.
Zonai devices were also available to test out during our Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment preview. I preferred one that would blast the room with fire, doing damage to anything that came near it. You can walk with these devices in hand, aiming them at anything in front of you, or you can place them down to assist while you fight your way through waves of enemies. There is something very satisfying about knocking down hordes of enemies with fire. Water and wind have also been unveiled so far, so there will be some options in your gameplay.
In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, there is a bar on the left side of the screen that you will see during battle. It will look like a series of Ys and Xs, and it will light up as you press those buttons. Essentially, these are combos, which allow you to chain your X and Y attacks for different results. There are many combinations that look something like Y-Y-Y-X, or Y-X or even Y-Y-Y-X2.
It is something we’re familiar with in gaming, but seeing it displayed on the screen and reacting gives you confirmation that you are doing something right. I think it is especially great for new or younger players diving into Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.
For co-op players, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment will feature couch co-op, so you and one friend can play the game in split screen. Considering the party was three players, I thought it was a bit strange that you can’t have three-player co-op, but I get that the screen splitting could be awkward. The game will also feature Game Share, allowing players who only own the game to join in on another system as well.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment looks like it is going to be a lot of fun, especially for those invested in the The Legend of Zelda franchise, with nods to events mentioned in Tears of the Kingdom. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment will release on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 6th, 2025, for $69.99 USD/$84.99 CAD.
