The Legend of Zelda series has taken some unexpected turns recently, from the rather early announcement of a Breath of the Wild sequel to a remake of 1993’s Link’s Awakening. However, while some fans clamored another game like the hack-and-slash musou Hyrule Warriors, not many expected the next game in the series to serve as a pseudo-prequel to 2017’s Breath of the Wild. After some time-traveling hijinks ensues, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity explores the events before Breath of the Wild, taking place 100 years prior, allowing players to return to Hyrule before the aftermath of Calamity Ganon.
Many fans were excited to learn more about Breath of the Wild‘s Champions, explore more of that universe’s overarching story, and have the chance to control the overpowering Sheikah Guardians. Age of Calamity pleased many by improving greatly upon the previous Hyrule Warriors game, and much like its predecessor, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity included a sizable star-studded cast of playable characters, each with their own in-depth movesets and abilities. And since the original Hyrule Warriors was no stranger to adding more obscure characters as DLC, there are arguably some other more outlandish Breath of the Wild characters that would make great additions to Age of Calamity as DLC.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has many memorable NPC’s, and upon the game’s release, fans instantly fell in love with the accordion-playing Rito minstrel Kass. In Breath of the Wild, Kass provides Link with some cryptic riddles and also helps players learn the history of Calamity Ganon through song. In potential Age of Calamity DLC, Kass could be easily implemented as a visitor from the future. While the game already features 2 playable Rito characters, Kass would likely have a very different playstyle compared to Revali and Teba, because while Kass doesn’t come off as much of a fighter, it would be interesting to see Age of Calamity implement a rhythm-based moveset for the lovable Rito.
Ideally, Kass’ moveset could expand upon Sidon’s, while focusing on the character’s musicality. In Age of Calamity, players can strengthen Sidon’s strong attacks with well-time button presses. It would be interesting to see Kass’ moveset act similarly, where when a player initiates a strong attack with the character, a rhythm-based mechanic à la Taiko no Tatsujin appears, letting players perform a string of attacks timed to music, constantly strengthening upon each well-timed button input. Either way, Kass is one popular Breath of the Wild NPC who arguably deserves a spotlight in Age of Calamity.
Although Link is already playable in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity with a variety of movesets for different weapons, giving him a horseback riding variant could open more doors for the character, adding untapped aspects of Breath of the Wild‘s combat. After all, this is the version of Link that was first shown off during Breath of the Wild‘s official reveal trailer back in 2014, and even had its own amiibo figure release alongside the game in March 2017. And while players can utilize a variety of weapons on horseback in Breath of the Wild, this version of Link was first introduced to fans as an archer.
Link can already use many weapons in Age of Calamity, but his bow was relegated to his unique action while entire bow and arrow movesets were reserved for Revali and Teba. Placing Link on horseback may be enough to justify an entirely new bow and arrow moveset for him, also making for the most fast-paced character yet. Not to mention, some Dynasty Warriors games have focused on horseback combat in the past as well. In games like Dynasty Warriors 6, players could train and level up horses, and with Link having more horses than just Epona at his disposal in Breath of the Wild, it could give players the chance to obtain horses with different attributes, and possibly even open up new functionalities for stables in Age of Calamity.
Although Lynels have been a reoccurring enemy in the Legend of Zelda series for some time, even appearing in the first Zelda game on the NES, they arguably gained their most menacing reputation with Breath of the Wild. In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Lynels appear in their many variations indicating different levels of strength as they do in Breath of the Wild, along with some new elemental attributes added to some as well. And while Lynels appear as stronger boss-type enemies in Age of Calamity, it would be interesting to be able to play as one for once. After all, if players can unlock Calamity Ganon itself has a playable character, why not a Lynel? A playable Lynel could wield different weapons much like Link, including a sword and shield combo, a spear, a bow, or even their signature Crusher. It would also be interesting to allow players to change the elemental attributes of the Lynel to play as an electric, fire, or ice Lynel by feeding it different dishes.
While Wolf Link would certainly be a wildcard character in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, he doesn’t seem too out of the realm of possibility. This is mainly because back at E3 2016, Nintendo announced that the Wolf Link amiibo would be compatible with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, giving Link a traveling companion. Wolf Link would aid the player in attacking both enemies and animals. So, Wolf Link already exists in some form (without Midna) in the Breath of the Wild universe, and if Age of Calamity is anything to go off of, it’s clear that the game isn’t incredibly concerned with continuity and canonicity. While the character’s moveset would certainly revolve around biting, it could utilize Wolf Link’s enhanced senses and ability to track scents in some way. Perhaps Wolf Link’s strong attacks could be tied to its enhanced senses, allowing him “sense” vulnerable areas on enemies to perform a super strong attack.
Overall, many games over the years have made it clear that the Legend of Zelda series has an incredible wealth of characters at its disposal. And while the first Hyrule Warriors game drew upon characters from all facets of the Zelda series, DLC characters in Age of Calamity could help flesh out the Breath of the Wild universe as much as possible, much like the characters who are already in the game. Of course, the game could always opt to simply add some plain dumb fun characters as well, like Wolf Link. While some datamines have already revealed potential DLC characters for Age of Calamity, it will be interesting to see which characters, if any, end up making their way to the game.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is out now on Nintendo Switch.
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