Age of Calamity: Battlefields?

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity takes place in the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild during the war against Calamity Ganon, where many of the game's locations will be transformed into typical battlefields for a Warriors game.

We already know for a fact that this game won't be open world (like Dynasty Warriors 9) and we're getting isolated stages here, because the Japanese eShop provides us with some screenshots with the UI (see NintendoEverything), where you can see the map:

So, there are restricted paths to take and like in the original Hyrule Warriors you probably won't be able to swim or climb. There also probably won't be any major use of verticality in the environments, because you can't display two overlaying areas on the map. In a way this will let you experience the world of Breath of the Wild in a more traditional fashion, similar to how the worlds were build in games like Twilight Princess.

On first glance it also seems like the areas are more faithful to the originals, unlike the stages in the first Hyrule Warriors, where everything was only loosely based on the locations from the original Zelda games and they took many liberties. Skyloft was one of the most notable examples there. But everything in Age of Calamity looks like it was taken directly out of Breath of the Wild.

And from the trailer and all the screenshots for this game we can already compile a list of battlefields that will definitely be playable:

• Hyrule Field
• Zora's Domain
• Gerudo Town / Desert
• Akkala Citadel
• Breach of Demise
  

Hyrule Field seems to be the starting area, similar to the battlefield of the same name in Hyrule Warriors. And it seems the campaign will bring you to Zora's Domain soon after, where you recruit Mipha as the first Champion. In the above screenshot you can play either as Link, Zelda or Mipha, where this might be a level early in the game.

In any case there are plenty of more places in Breath of the Wild that could serve as potential battlefields:

• Hyrule Castle / Hyrule Castle Town
• Great Plateau
• Fort Hateno
• Faron Woods / Lake Hylia
• Lanayru Wetlands
• Eldin Canyon
• Death Mountain
• Hebra Mountains
• Tabantha Frontier
  
• Great Hyrule Forest

Some of these locations are basically a must for the story alone. (Warning: Breath of the Wild spoilers incoming!)

We know that there has been a decisive battle at Fort Hateno. We know that the Sheikah brought Link to the Great Plateau afterwards and that Zelda brought the Master Sword to the Deku Tree and then went to fight Calamity Ganon on her own at Hyrule Castle. So, all these locations should be covered by stages.

Otherwise... wherever there are ruins of battle in Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity might go there to explore them and show us how the places looked like before they got destroyed. We can even see what is one of the many villages in one of the screenshots:

Here it looks like Zelda is actually the one responsible for that village's destruction with those many bombs...

But it seems like Koei Tecmo has studied the ruins in Breath of the Wild and used them to create new landmarks. It actually might be really interesting to replay Breath of the Wild after Age of Calamity, simply to see how the areas were used as battlefields.

 

Last but not least, the Divine Beasts will probably be used in some fashion as well. We can already see them freely roaming through Hyrule in the artwork and trailer, which is pretty awesome and where they could even become playable similar to Ganon in Hyrule Warriors. But they most likely will act as smaller battlefields themselves, once they get possessed by Calamity Ganon.