Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity launched late last year to massive success. Selling the best of any Koei Tecmo Warriors title, it’s no wonder the game is following in both of its predecessors’ footsteps and capitalizing on its success with a season pass. This pass is meant to add a variety of new characters and content to Age of Calamity, something fans have been anxious for after tearing through the base game. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition may have set up some impossible expectations for its spiritual sequel, as it was essentially three times the size of its original version, with a seemingly never-ending flow of content.
Nonetheless, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity’s Expansion Pass consists of two main waves, and a purchase bonus that will drop shortly before the first wave. New weapons (for Link and others), new stages, new enemies, new challenge modes, new abilities, an unspecified number of new characters, and even new character vignettes are on their way in late May, June, and November. There are already a few likely suspects for character DLC, but there may be even more newcomers than that. Fortunately, there are plenty of iconic figures in the Breath of the Wild mythos to draw from.
It only makes sense to start with the characters who are basically already confirmed. Sheikah researchers Robbie and Purah are present beside Link in the Expansion Pass artwork, and have models that run around the map during certain missions. Combine that with voice lines being datamined from Age of Calamity’s files suggesting that Robbie and Purah may have been meant to be playable in the base game, and they are all but confirmed. How the eccentric duo will fight is another matter entirely.
Robbie and Purah may be separate units, or they may fight as a pair. Their role as eccentric scientists in the story mean they are almost constantly together, and typically appear in missions together even if they are able to separate. They are likely to use ancient Sheikah technology in fights, as well as an odd mixture of mad science and punk rock flair. There’s also a fair amount of story involving them that could be expanded on. It will be interesting to see how these non-combatants are handled when they release, probably both in the first wave of DLC.
The other two datamined voice clips reference Sooga and Astor, two villains introduced in Age of Calamity that are almost guaranteed to be part of the Expansion Pass. Both are present as boss fights during the story, and will likely borrow some of their moves from their fights. Sooga is an elevated Yiga Blademaster who wields two large swords, and focuses on melee combat while his master Kohga uses more magic. He seemed to have died offscreen in Age of Calamity, but a brief appearance in the true Hyrule Warriors ending hints that that is not the case. He will probably be a heavier alternative to Impa, being more grounded with larger swings, but occasionally sporting a surprising burst of speed befitting his ninja profession.
Astor, meanwhile, is the acting main villain for much of the story, serving directly under Calamity Ganon itself. Astor was a fortune teller from a small town, and intended to use the prophecy of Calamity Ganon to propel himself to infamy. He uses Malice to fight, though he’s a bit more graceful with it than most of his monstrous allies. A crystal ball imbued with dark magic is the catalyst for his attacks, and they often leave vaguely astrological designs made of Malice in their wake. His playstyle could involve generating random magical signs that confer different effects on him and his attacks. Regardless, much like Cia’s forces in the original Hyrule Warriors, he is very likely to become playable.
Of course, Astor would be nothing without the intervention of the Harbinger. Harbinger Ganon is a piece of the main timeline’s Calamity Ganon possessing Age of Calamity’s Terrako. It serves as the catalyst for this game’s situation becoming much worse than in the original game, and ends up taking to the field near the end in its own combat mode. Larger than the average character, this lanky, dark Guardian can bring a more heavy, Malice-filled take to Terrako’s playstyle. As it’s a boss, it has a decent chance of being implemented alongside Astor.
At this point, Breath of the Wild’s named combatants are running low. However, there’s still a strong cast of NPCs left to draw on, and as a good counterpoint to the Harbinger, there is the monster-loving Kilton. An odd merchant from BotW, this odd Hylian dresses like a monster and can fashion monstrous clothing out of monster parts, including a special skin referencing Ocarina of Time. In Age of Calamity, this could manifest as him being able to control certain types of monsters, such as moblins and lizalfols, by wearing one of his masks. As a super move, he can put on his lynel mask and summon one of the incredibly fierce lion-centaurs to slash away a huge crowd of enemies.
When one thinks of DLC characters they want to play as, most fans would point squarely at Kass. The friendly Rito musician pops up throughout Breath of the Wild, and is involved with several sidequests and the story DLC The Champions’ Ballad. He doesn’t have a combat style associated with him, as he is not a trained archer like many other Rito. However, the Zelda series has a history of magic music, so he should blast enemies with sound waves from his accordion if he ever ends up playable.
An unlikely, but very interesting, pick for the Age of Calamity Expansion Pass is the Horse God Malanya from a specific fairy fountain in Breath of the Wild. Malanya is an imposing figure with a mask-like face, floating hands, and very dark sense of humor, but he is ultimately helpful to Link. Malanya would bring registered horses back from the dead, which can be very useful if the horse in question is unique.
In a fight, he could move around inside a giant plant like the Age of Calamity’s Great Fairies. Malanya could summon the various special mounts (including the royal white horse, the giant desert horse, and Link’s associated horse breed in BotW) to attack. And for his super attack, he could call forth the ethereal Satori, Lord of the Mountain to whisk his foes away. It would be a strange pick, but not much stranger than what Age of Calamity already has.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is available now on Nintendo Switch.
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