Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is The BOTW Prequel You’ve Been Waiting For

In today’s surprise announcement, Nintendo and Koei Tecmo revealed that they’re working on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity for Switch. Unlike the first Hyrule Warriors which took place in its own universe, Age of Calamity is set 100 years before the start of Breath of the Wild. Starring playable Link, Zelda, and (at least) the four Champions as well, we will finally experience how the Great Calamity unfolds.

More information will be announced on September 26 but they’ve confirmed that the game will launch on November 20 for $59.99. Later when preorders for the digital edition are open, it will include the Lucky Ladle weapon for Link to use. In-game you can equip this for battle paired with a Pot Lid shield, or fuse it with other weapons to boost your stats. You can watch the announcement trailer featuring all four Champions with Warriors-series’ staple colossal battles below.

Aside from “hacking and slashing through swarms of enemies to defend Hyrule” in Dynasty Warriors-style, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity also combines classic Zelda gameplay elements into the game such as solving environmental puzzles, unlocking weapons and skills, crafting, using the power of the Sheikah Slate, and even shopping for items.

“But what about Breath of the Wild 2 though,” you asked? In another video, The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said that the Breath of the Wild team is still working hard “in order to make the vast world you enjoyed exploring even more impressive” and hopes this prequel will be able to tide you in the meantime.

Along with last week’s Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct that showed off many Super Mario news, including three Switch ports of classic 3D Super Mario titles, augmented reality Mario Kart, and a new Game & Watch handheld, it seems Nintendo is going full force with their first-party titles this month. While it is a shame that Nintendo still doesn’t have anything to share about Breath of the Wild‘s sequel, Age of Calamity seems ready to be a fun distraction until the proper sequel is released. Don’t forget to drop by and share your thoughts about this surprise announcement in the comments.