Age of Imprisonment – Sages Named

In one month Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment will see its release already and they haven't really shown that much of the game yet. Well, there was a demo at the Tokyo Game Show and maybe we will also see a public demo on Nintendo Switch 2 this month, like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity did before...

But today there was an update to the official website with new screenshots and character art. The big reveal were the names of the four sages, where we don't have the official localization yet, they roughly translate to the following:

• Argusta (Goron)
• Kia (Zora)
• Krafika (Rito)
• Ardi (Gerudo)

Update: by now we also have the official translations from Nintendo of America:

• Agraston
• Qia
• Raphica
• Ardi 

For the latter they have added an artwork with her mask off, but the other three still remain as we know them from Tears of the Kingdom, where I suppose that this will change eventually.

Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't go with the sage names from Ocarina of Time (and The Wind Waker) – Darunia, Ruto and Nabooru, as well as Medli / Medlo. After all, this is an Imprisoning War and we have Rauru as well. But I suppose they didn't want to create more confusion and make it perfectly clear that this isn't to portray the era of Ocarina of Time in any way or form. And of course it helps to make these characters feel distinguished. On the other hand it would have been nice if the Divine Beasts were named after them, since their designs came from the sage helmets. 

They've also introduced a new character, Ranaria / Lenalia, who acts as Zelda's maid and is wearing the same dress as her, though it's probably not as flattering... This maid reminds me of Impa from Oracle of Ages & Seasons. You can already see how this is meant to be a kind-hearted comic relief character, but probably won't end up on the playable roster. But it's nice to see the distant past fleshed out like this.

Overall, it feels like they were really trying to make this title stand on its own legs. While it's still derived from Tears of the Kingdom, there is so much new material here that this has the potential to truly become its own story and to be recognized a such, unlike the Hyrule Warriors games before it. And that's exciting.