A prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is coming soon, as Nintendo has announced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity for Nintendo Switch. Breath of the Wild starts with Link waking up from hibernation, after being injured in a great battle a century before.
The story of Breath of the Wild involves Link regaining his memories. He was once involved in a huge conflict, known as the Great Calamity, where all of the races of Hyrule banded together to take on Calamity Ganon. It was during this battle that the Four Champions were slain and the Divine Beasts were corrupted, turning on their original owners. Link was gravely injured in a battle against corrupted Guardians, and Princess Zelda was forced to place him in hibernation to heal, while she held back Calamity Ganon on her own.
A sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is currently in development, but Nintendo has made the surprise announcement of a prequel to the game, in the form of a new Hyrule Warriors title. The official Nintendo YouTube channel has a trailer for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, an upcoming action/musou game that shows the events of the Great Calamity from Breath of the Wild that was only hinted at in their original game. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will be released for Nintendo Switch on November 20, 2020. It was confirmed that the Breath of the Wild sequel is also still in development and Nintendo will reveal more about it in the future.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a musou game, where one hero unit battles hundreds of enemy soldiers at once. A new Hyrule Warriors game is the perfect format for showing the Great Calamity, as well as giving fans the chance to experience the story leading up to Link's defeat and his century-long hibernation. The trailer confirms that Link, Mipha of the Zora, Daruk of the Gorons, Urbosa of the Gerudo, and Revali of the Rito are all playable characters in the game.
It's baffling as to why Nintendo has waited this long to announce Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, considering how empty the Switch's 2020 schedule has been so far. The past few weeks have seen announcements for a ton of new Super Mario Bros. titles, and now we have a Breath of the Wild prequel to look forward to within the next few weeks. It's possible that Nintendo had planned to announce these games sooner, but COVID caused the company to play it safe, and wait until it was sure it could hit a release date before making any official announcements.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will be released for Nintendo Switch on November 20, 2020.
Source: Nintendo