I'm running out of the title screens showing the Forgotten Temple, so it's time to reclaim Hyrule Castle. Or so I thought... Let us dive into chapter 5 here, which is where the Imprisoning War is about to reach its climax.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 22
Challenges: 111
Quests: 295
Demon King? Secret stone? Master Sword? Zonai Construct? Silver Lynel Saber Horn...? At least one of these deep questions was answered during the rest of Chapter 4, where I've gotten one last recruit and fought the other archfiends.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 19
Challenges: 106
Quests: 227
The completion statistics below will already tell you the next story: over the course of the weekend I have advanced in only two scenarios of Chapter 4, but the number of Challenges and Quests has doubled, meaning that I was mostly busy doing side missions. Lots of side missions. But the roster is now almost complete with Ardi and four new recruits.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 15
Challenges: 76
Quests: 142
Last week there has been a leaked footage of the live-action production for the upcoming Zelda movie. Today Nintendo has reacted by confirming the whole thing on social media.
Filming is underway for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda in a lush, natural setting, with Bo Bragason-san who will play Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san who will play Link. Filming is on track for the film’s release on May 7, 2027. It will take a while until the release, so we would be grateful if you would wait patiently and look forward to it.
Yes, please wait patiently and don't disturb the film shootings!
In the leak you can also spot Dichen Lachman as Impa, which is an awesome choice. I liked her a lot in Dollhouse, if anyone still remembers that show (I do barely). But she's also in the cast of Severance, which is on my watch list.
And so far this is looking quite nice. The landscapes in New Zealand are very beautiful for this. They have made for a good Middle Earth, and they will make for a good Hyrule.
What I'm most curious about is how they will handle the different tribes, like the Gorons and the Zora, but I'm not expecting to see any of that in the near future. Maybe we will see a first trailer by the end of next year...
Horizon is Sony's equivalent to the new open world Zelda, which has started with Breath of the Wild in 2017. And they have announced a new game in the series, Horizon MMORPG - Steel Frontiers. As the title suggests, this will be an online role-playing game, and that reminded me of a thought I had eight years ago, when Breath of the Wild was still new:
World of Hylia - Zelda RPG Concept
If Nintendo were to re-use the Hyrule from Breath of the Wild for a third / fifth time, then an RPG or even an MMORPG would be an excuse. It could take place somewhere between the Great Calamities, so that Hyrule Castle and Hyrule Castle Town can be experienced at their fullest. Or it could take place after the Imprisoning War, giving the players the ability to build a kingdom of their own.
What rekindles this idea are also these guys:
In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment you get to play as a number of fighters from the different tribes. Hylians, Rito, Gorons, Zora and Gerudo. And they all look a bit like they came out of a character creator for a Zelda RPG.
However, the different species in Zelda are truly something else from your usual fantasy cost. It is fun and unique to play as a Rito, a Goron or a Zora. They could also include Koroks and potentially even the Sheikah and Yiga (depending on the era).
Well, I have never played an MMORPG before and I have never seen the appeal in something like World of Warcraft, but if there's one franchise that could get me to play one, then it's definitely The Legend of Zelda.
And at least Nintendo would release this for their audiences on Nintendo Switch 2. Sorry, not sorry, Sony. :P
In less than three weeks Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will hit the shelves and that feels unreal, also because Nintendo hasn't been talking much about the game... at all. But this has changed today, where they've released a seven minute long overview trailer, explaining the game to dummies. Did you know that Samus could jump?! Woah...!
But it also introduces the main areas of the game, which probably won't win any awards for originality, with both their naming and their environmental designs:
It is very reminiscent of the areas you had in Metroid Prime, but also in Metroid Prime: Federation Force with the jungle, ice and fire themes. Volt Forge probably is the most novel out of the four, but you could still compare it to Talvania.
All of these areas are connected via the "Sol Valley", which is the huge, open desert. This is where you will primarily use your bike, Vi-O-La, confirming that this is essentially a more interactive replacement of the classic elevators. But I like how the main areas are all visually highlighted in the horizon, e.g. you get a giant tree for where the Fury Green lies, so you can always tell where your destination is.
But we've seen all this already, so the biggest reveal in the trailer is that Samus won't be alone: she will have the company of some Federation Troopers... yaaayyy... There are Makenzie, Duke, Armstrong, Tokabi, and others, who are also stranded on Viewros and who will assist Samus on various occasions.
Every good Metroid fan will have flashbacks to Other M with this one, but as long as they don't forbid you to use your suit upgrades, it will be fine. Though, it seems they do like to talk... a lot. To be fair, some of it looks really cool. But if you're the type of Metroid fan, where isolation is key to your experience, then this game will probably disappoint you, especially if you already disliked the Federation troopers in Prime 3.
Producer Kensuke Tanabe is a huge fan of the Galactic Federation for some reason, which brought us the infamous Federation Force, and he had already said many years ago that he wanted to explore more of it with this game, especially with Sylux as the antagonist, who hates the Federation. But this has some potential... Maybe the Federation soldiers will all get hunted down by Samus's "archrival" to let this new villain shine. I mean, the way how they all talk about seeing their families again, you already know that they won't see their families again... For the drama!!
Also, we get to see the new beam system in action, even though it's not explained in the trailer. But there seem to be Plasma, Ice and Shock Beams, all elements corresponding to the different areas on Viewros. The difference to the first Metroid Prime here is that they get swapped alongside Missiles and use up ammunition, much like the beams in Echoes.
Curiously, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn't seem to be compatible with a Switch 1. They explicitly stated that you should purchase the game edition that matches your system, but as far as I know the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom still work on an old Nintendo Switch – they will simply lack the upgrade features. So, you effectively get the Switch game on the cartridge and the upgrade pack, but this seems to be different here for some reason.
Or maybe Nintendo is just saying that, because they still want to sell some copies of the Nintendo Switch version. But it could be a good thing that I have a Nintendo Switch 2 by now, because I have preordered the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition in good faith that I could play it on my Switch at first and then use it on a Switch 2 later...
Ready your Zonai Devices! Yesterday I was able to finish Chapter 3, where the rest of the chapter initiated a first visit to Death Mountain and the Lost Woods. But there is also Agraston and another new fighter to talk about...
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 13
Challenges: 40
Quests: 76
After the end of the second chapter, the game opens up a bit more, where I've been busy with clearing a plethora of Challenges and recruiting a bunch of new allies, including two of the Sages: Qia and Raphica.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 11
Challenges: 32
Quests: 58
The Demon King has risen! This entry covers the rest of the second chapter, where you have to play a series of three scenarios in a row, all in the red glow of the first Blood Moon. But this is also where you can unlock three more characters to play with, so there is already quite a bit to talk about, before going into Chapter 3.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 8
Challenges: 6
Quests: 17
The battle continues. After some struggles, I've beaten the scenario "Growing Suspicion", which is in the middle of chapter 2 and leads to the big turning point in the early story. There I had hit my first brick wall on the Very Hard difficulty.
Let's go! Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was released today and I'm doing my usual thing on this site, because that's what it's for. I've been a huge fan of the first two Hyrule Warriors games, where I have completed them for the most part and I bet that this won't be any different.
As for now, I've only completed the first chapter, which includes the same level that was playable in the demo, which you could find in some stores in North America (and maybe elsewhere) and which was the basis for a number of previews out there. So, I think this is a good cut to give you some very early impressions.
This has arrived with the mail just now. I've ordered from the My Nintendo Store, where you get this neat, little notebook on top. It's nothing special, but better than nothing. But of course it costs full price to order it there, while the game was already considerably cheaper elsewhere.
With Age of Calamity I had actually imported the game from a different country in the EU, because I absolutely hated the German title, "Zeit der Verheerung". And it's not any better now with "Chronik der Versiegelung" (loosely translates to "Sealing Chronicle"), where I still don't understand why they felt the need to localize the subtitles of the Hyrule Warriors games. Nintendo never does this with any of their games, it's always all in English, and so far no one has complained about that... It's so weird. Also, the German age rating will ruin any good cover, which was also sometimes a reason to import certain games, but I find the Switch 2 boxes generally not all that appealing, so I probably won't care as much going forward.
But I was surprised to learn that the Switch 2 boxes are of the exact same sizes as the old ones. I expected them to be the same size as the Switch 2 itself (without Joy-Cons), simply because that's where the old size came from. But I'm not complaining, quite the opposite, because this makes them a much better fit into my current collection.
Naturally, I will do my usual blog about the game, so you can look forward to that in the upcoming days and weeks. I'm excited!
PS: I also got the first two Metroid Prime 4 amiibo. But I will show those on December 4th, once Sylux is available as well.
After exploring all the Voice Memories in Breath of the Wild over the weekend, I went on to do the same in Tears of the Kingdom. And this was arguably more important in preparation for Age of Imprisonment. It was also a bit more interesting, because you get memories from Rauru and Master Kohga in addition to Zelda's, where every character is responsible to entertain you on a different layer of the map.
Rauru's were probably the least interesting. He only got 35 of the 240 Voice Memories and they felt a bit pointless, at least most of the time. Also, with the sky islands it didn't make much sense to travel from one memory to the next, so I teleported quite a lot. And Rauru's memories were often right next to the warp point, making this quite effortless.
Well, it was interesting how Lightcast Island got used as training grounds for Rauru's (and Zelda's) light power. Maybe this will play a role in Age of Imprisonment, but it's doubtful that the Warriors engine will properly be able to implement light reflections. He also mentions that there used to be more Crystal Refineries, but the vendors are just a menu point in Hyrule Warriors anyway, so I also doubt that this will have any relevance.
Oh, and they've used Frost Emitters to create the snowy sky islands, also as a training ground, but for Constructs. Zelda mentioned something similar about Mt. Hylia in her Breath of the Wild Voice Memories, where she suspects that the snowy landscape is not a natural phenomenon, but instead was potentially created by ancient technology to provide such proving grounds for heroes.
As for Zelda's new Voice Memories, they felt a bit more lively and closer to the heart, mainly due to them happening only recently. It bridges the two games quite nicely and there is a lot in here where you'd wish that this were part of the main game.
The most important point by far is the confirmation that all the Sheikah technology has turned to dust and disappeared some time after Calamity Ganon had been defeated. I don't understand why they couldn't have mentioned this in Purah's diary as well, because this should have been the minimal effort to give the players some sort of connection to the events of Breath of the Wild.
It also gets explained that the wells were all freshly dug up in their attempts of rebuilding Hyrule. Well, it doesn't make much sense that it never occurred to anyone to do this any earlier, since water is essential to everyone's survival. But I do appreciate that they didn't ignore the fact that the wells were all buried in Breath of the Wild.
They even tried to explain how the Horned Statue moved from one place to another. When it was calling out to Zelda, trying to steal her life energy, there was some divine intervention in the form of a lightning strike. And then it toppled into the water... I don't see how it would end up beneath Hyrule Field from Hateno even if it were able to float, but anyway.
Zelda also talked about the Horned Statue in Breath of the Wild and the majority of the Voice Memories share the exact same locations, often referencing each other. For example, you can find one at the inn in Zora's Domain, in both games. First Zelda lamented how hard the beds were, suggesting that they should come up with something that feels like floating in water. And 100 years later she is rejoiced to find water beds.
But there are some new places as well, where some of the Voice Memories make you revisit the "video memory" locations from Breath of the Wild, which was a nice touch. It didn't cover absolutely all of them, however. And they make you also visit all the memorials that were placed all over Hyrule to commemorate the people fallen in the Great Calamity. This was a good detail in Tears of the Kingdom, but also something that you could just ignore completely before. And I like that this is given more significance to the Voice Memories now.
As for other details, you will learn that Misko was imprisoned in the Hyrule Castle Lockup a long time ago. And I liked the joke about Eventide Island, where Link was afraid that they might be stripped of their possessions again, so he covered his eyes when approaching the island together with Zelda... but didn't warn her beforehand.
Oh, and there was this joke about the old man's hut. In Breath of the Wild Princess Zelda absolutely trash-talks the thing, how they should have it teared down for safety concerns. And in Tears of the Kingdom she has learned by now that her father had built the thing and felt a bit sorry.
If you're looking for some comedy gold with these Voice Memories, then you want to be traveling the Depths. What Master Kohga has to say has zero value, but it is absolutely entertaining, also thanks to his fantastic English voice actor, Erik Braa.
It is very different from the rest, because it's more like an actual journal, where you can follow his steps through the Depths right from the spot where he fell down in Breath of the Wild, still cursing the cursed Link. Well, a lot of it is about his obsession with Zonai Devices, which makes sense, since effectively half of the Depths and all of the Yiga installations down there simply exist for the Autobuild stuff.
His obsession with the "Magnificent One" is equally funny, especially with how Kohga tries to not be annoyed by the Gloom, because it has to be a blessing from the Demon King. And it's irony of fate how he turned around at the Gloom's Approach, because some from the Yiga thinks they have figured out the Zonai terminals. But I like to think that Ganondorf didn't care about the Yiga at all and probably would have just killed Kohga if he came any close.
Interestingly, Master Kohga was traveling back to the surface and down into other chasms, in order to reach the Abandoned Hebra Mine and the Gloom's Approach. And no one took note... So much for the observation from Lookout Landing. Well, to be fair, the Yiga know how to be stealthy.
But what I didn't understand how Kohga knew of the "Magnificent One" in the first place. He mentions him very early, when he first ran into some hostile Bokoblins as he was still alone down there, but how did he know about Ganondorf at that point in time? After all, they were worshiping Calamity Ganon before, not the Demon King. So, that seems to be a plothole, but otherwise I liked this part quite a lot.
It also reminded me that I'd really like to learn more about the Depths in general. What is this whole place even supposed to be? Remnants of past Hyrules? What's the deal with the Bargainers? And can we have a Bargainer as a playable character in Age of Imprisonment? Maybe I can discover some answers tomorrow already...
In order to get attuned to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, I had decided to play the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. My main goal was to discover all the Voice Memories that come with the Zelda Notes app and get back into the world of these games while doing so.
Sadly, I didn't have much time during the weekend, so I'm only finished with Breath of the Wild for now and will have to rush through Tears of the Kingdom before Thursday. But I also don't want to rush, where I try to wander, glide or drive from one Voice Memory to the next, getting a good look at this Hyrule in 4K resolution and 60FPS. And it's certainly quite nice.
Funnily enough, I had originally purchased my current 50'' TV to play Breath of the Wild on it almost nine years ago. And Breath of the Wild was now the first game where I made use of its 4K resolution... Its visuals have aged well, but it's probably a good thing that its textures got updated for this.
Anyway, I'm not going into detail about the Switch 2 Edition here, since my focus was on experiencing all 125 Voice Memories. And this was more fun than I thought it would be. The problem with such recorded audio messages is that you just stand there listening, which pauses the gameplay and feels a bit awkward. It is not a good design choice, where other games are guilty of this as well (for example the Horizon series). The actual Memories, which show you a cutscene, work much better in this regard.
However, that would not have been the right format for the information conveyed here, which is about the smaller details of Hyrule, from the time before the Great Calamity. And listening to Zelda makes it feel like an audio guide for a museum or tourist attractions. You look around, while she gives you some history about it.
Since these Voice Memories were recorded after Tears of the Kingdom and during the development of Age of Imprisonment, they have used this as an opportunity to hint at certain things. For example, Zelda mentions that Mipha was rather embarrassed by how publicly they have displayed her statue at Zora's Domain, where in Tears of the Kingdom Sidon moved it to a more remote location.
Speaking of Sidon, they are even teasing a scenario from Age of Calamity here, by stating that little Sidon was intrigued by the Lynel at the Shatterback Point.
And even the room behind the Goddess Statue in the Forgotten Temple gets mentioned, even though this is of no significance to this game. It may even cause first time players to try and find a way in, not knowing any better.
There is also talk of how the ruins north of Gerudo Town once used to be part of the town, before a tyrant unleashed a Molduga and destroyed it. That tyrant was certainly Ganondorf and maybe we will see this happening in the new Hyrule Warriors.
But the Voice Memories also raise some questions that may get answered. For example, there are multiple theories as to how the Rauru Settlement got its name. It could have been the king's residence, Queen Sonia's birthplace, or simply the village of place of great support for Rauru. The truth might be something else entirely and maybe we are going to find out.
And then there are the Dueling Peaks, of course, where we already saw in Tears of the Kingdom how it was one mountain in the past. Maybe some event in Age of Imprisonment will cause the mountain to split. Maybe it was even Zelda herself, which would be hilarious.
I also thought it was interesting how the nearby Deya Lake got artificially created to prevent a drought of Lake Hylia, as a reservoir. So, I expect this lake to not be a thing in Age of Imprisonment.
One Voice Memory, "The Divine Beast of Lightning", even confirms the excavation site of Vah Naboris. It's a shame that they couldn't do the same for the others, because I thought this was quite interesting. In hindsight this seems like the most obvious spot for it, but I actually never took note of it.
Another very interesting reveal comes with the Springs of Power, Wisdom and Courage. Zelda explicitly states there that these were sights to worship the three Goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore. of course, this makes sense for every Zelda fan, but I don't think these Goddesses were ever mentioned by name in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
What I also liked is how the Voice Memories will take you to the locations on the map that you can potentially miss for the 100%, because there is nothing else there, just a name on the map. Those are the Shadow Hamlet Ruins, Stolok Bridge and the Gerudo Desert Gateway. Thanks to the Voice Memories there is now something else there... Well, technically.
You don't see anything in the game itself, which is probably the biggest complaint I have about this feature. It reminds me of how certain things worked in The Wind Waker. On the GameCube you had the additional secrets that you could only see via the Tingle Tuner. And on the Wii U you could use the map on the GamePad to navigate to treasure spots that you only see from a distance. In both cases you had to use a second screen to find something that you couldn't see on the TV.
However, the Zelda Notes app doesn't update in real time. It only updates your location on the map every two to three seconds. And the radius that triggers these Voice Memories is actually quite small. In some places it's obvious where you need to stand, in others you might run back and forth until you finally hit the spot...
There was also one memory that was quite difficult to find, in the throne room of Hyrule Castle's Sanctum. You can't just walk there, because it will trigger the final battle. Instead, you have to go to the room above the Sanctum and take a staircase that leads down from there. This let's you safely approach the throne without triggering anything.
This was my final memory, by the way. I started at Hateno Village, went to Lurelin Village from there, to the Faron Woods, to West Necluda and Kakariko Village, to Zora's Domain, Akkala, Death Mountain, Hyrule Forest, Mount Hebra and Tabantha, the Gerudo Region, the Great Plateau, Hyrule Field and finally Hyrule Castle.
In less than five days Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment will launch and we know very little so far. It's a very different situation from Age of Calamity, where we knew the full roster weeks in advance, due to data-mines from the playable demo. It's probably the reason why we didn't get a demo this time, at least not one in advance...
I also haven't seen any leaks yet from early copies, so the only thing that might give us more information are reviews, which probably are under an embargo until Tuesday. At that point you might as well just wait and see for yourself. And I personally prefer to go into games with as little knowledge as possible to not ruin potential surprises, like what characters might be playable in addition to the ones we know of.
Anyway, I wanted to use this situation of knowing little to sort my thoughts about what I'd like to see from the game, one last time before we find everything out. Major spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom ahead!
