Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity


 * Not to be confused with, a similarly named game in .

 is a spin-off game of. It takes place in the world of in a different timeline during the second HWAoC: due to the time-traveling HWAoC:.

On February 17, 2021, downloadable content for the game was announced, called the HWAoC:. It was released in two waves, the first,, being released on June 18, 2021, and the second, , on October 29, 2021.

Chapter 1
At about the same time BotW:'s powers awakened in the events of, a small HWAoC: emerges from a box in HWAoC:. As it sees the destruction caused by HWAoC: and hears Zelda’s desperation to protect everyone, it opens a HWAoC: to travel back before the HWAoC:. Before it jumps into the gate, a HWAoC: attacks it, but the small HWAoC: manages to make it into the gate unscathed. Unknown to it, a part of HWAoC:'s HWAoC: also made its way through the HWAoC:, following the small HWAoC:.

The small HWAoC: emerges in HWAoC: before the Second HWAoC: began, where HWAoC: is rallying a group of NaN Soldiers to drive off an incoming horde of NaN Enemies. During "HWAoC:", HWAoC:, one of the NaN Soldiers, comes across the seemingly inert HWAoC:, but before he can inspect it HWAoC: arrives being pursued by NaN Bokoblins. She stumbles and drops her HWAoC:, which causes the HWAoC: to awaken. It raises a HWAoC: from underground, fending off the NaN Bokoblins in the process.

When the battle ends, the small HWAoC: rushes off until it finds HWAoC:. HWAoC: notices that the HWAoC: has reacted to the HWAoC:, and decides to head to the HWAoC: to study it. HWAoC: is appointed as HWAoC:'s bodyguard, and HWAoC: joins them on their journey. On their way to the lab, HWAoC: possesses a ruined HWAoC: and attacks HWAoC:'s party in the battle, "HWAoC:". Though initially outmatched, the HWAoC: reactivates some ruined NaN Guardians in the area, breaking the armor of the corrupted HWAoC: and allowing HWAoC: and his allies to destroy it. After defeating the HWAoC:, they eventually reach the HWAoC:.

HWAoC: and HWAoC: confirm that the small HWAoC: is a previously unknown form of HWAoC: able to amplify the effects of other ancient technology. They are also able to decode part of its memory, revealing to HWAoC: the devastation that will occur if HWAoC: is not stopped.

Chapter 2
As HWAoC: is cut off by monsters and HWAoC:'s sealing power has not yet awakened, HWAoC: sends HWAoC: and HWAoC: to meet with the four candidates selected to pilot the NaN Divine Beasts. With some reluctance, he allows the small HWAoC: to accompany them as well.

(The following four segments up until "HWAoC:" can occur in any order, as decided by the player.)

Mipha
HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: travel to HWAoC:, where they request for HWAoC:, the HWAoC: princess, to pilot the HWAoC:. HWAoC: is reluctant to allow HWAoC: to pilot the HWAoC:, as he believes it will not be safe for her to go without the HWAoC:. HWAoC:'s protest is cut short by a warning of a monster attack from HWAoC:. HWAoC: sends for HWAoC: and HWAoC:, when HWAoC: realizes that HWAoC: is missing. HWAoC:, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: search for HWAoC:, eventually finding him trying to fight a HWAoC: on HWAoC:. The HWAoC: is driven off, allowing HWAoC: to escape.

HWAoC: is upset by her brother's recklessness, but cannot help but be proud of his courage. They are interrupted again by the sight of a monster horde approaching HWAoC:, and in response HWAoC: is summoned for HWAoC: to pilot. She drives off the invading army, saving HWAoC: in the process. After the battle, HWAoC: acknowledges that the HWAoC: were not able to hold off the Calamity on their own and gives his permission for HWAoC: to pilot the HWAoC:.

Daruk
HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: travel to HWAoC: and ask HWAoC: the HWAoC: to pilot HWAoC:. HWAoC: agrees, but warns HWAoC: and her allies that the path to the HWAoC: is overrun by monsters. He persuades the party to accompany him and wipe out the monster infestation. After an intense series of battles, they reach HWAoC:, which HWAoC: uses to eliminate the monsters on HWAoC:.

Following their victory, HWAoC: confirms his willingness to pilot HWAoC:, offering HWAoC: a celebratory rock roast.

Revali
HWAoC: and her party travel to HWAoC:, but are attacked by HWAoC: warriors under HWAoC:'s command, who believe them to be raiders sent to attack HWAoC:. HWAoC: and HWAoC: fight and prove to be equally matched, but HWAoC: intervenes in the fight before it can get out of hand.

HWAoC:'s party learns that HWAoC: had recently been attacked by an army of monsters led by a small HWAoC:, and had thought it had returned to launch a second attack. While HWAoC: is grateful that neither HWAoC: nor HWAoC: were hurt, HWAoC: points out that the presence of another small HWAoC: linked to HWAoC: is worrisome in its own right. HWAoC: interrupts to volunteer his service piloting HWAoC: and questions HWAoC:'s competence as a knight. When the small HWAoC: also chimes in, apparently to insist that it is also a knight serving HWAoC:, HWAoC: can only grumble.

Urbosa
As the party arrives at HWAoC:, they are attacked by HWAoC: forces seemingly commanded by HWAoC: to kill them. HWAoC: is confused by their unexplainable aggression, but is sure that the HWAoC: chief can clear it up.

When they reach HWAoC:'s palace, she attacks, claiming that she wishes to "thwart their destiny". Before she can strike, however, the real HWAoC: appears and exposes the one they had seen as a disguised HWAoC:. HWAoC: flees after summoning the HWAoC: to surround the town, and HWAoC:'s allies fight them off. With HWAoC: assisting them, they summon a HWAoC: to distract the HWAoC: forces long enough to launch an assault on the HWAoC:. HWAoC: is defeated, but his lieutenant HWAoC: helps him escape. HWAoC: thanks HWAoC: and her allies for helping her deal with the HWAoC:, and agrees to pilot HWAoC:.

Meanwhile, HWAoC: and HWAoC: are reprimanded for their failure by the dark prophet HWAoC:. He calls upon the corrupted small HWAoC: seen earlier, which he calls the HWAoC:, to show them a vision of the future in which the HWAoC: goes unchecked, and warns that he will not allow the future to be changed.

The Champions Assembled
With her magic still dormant, HWAoC: dedicates herself to calibrating the NaN Divine Beasts for their pilots' use. However, she is increasingly disheartened by HWAoC:'s frustration with her lack of progress. On their way through HWAoC:, near the HWAoC:, they are ambushed by HWAoC: and the HWAoC:, who are supported by monsters. The NaN Champions fend off the attack and make their way to the enemy stronghold, only to find that it was a diversion. This leaves HWAoC: on his own to battle HWAoC:, and he ultimately prevents the Yiga second-in-command from assassinating HWAoC:. Defeated, HWAoC: then calls for the HWAoC: to retreat.

Chapter 3
HWAoC: commands the NaN Divine Beasts' pilots to find a knight able to wield the HWAoC:, which will first require them to fight off the monsters in HWAoC:. HWAoC: accompanies them to gather more data to calibrate the NaN Divine Beasts, and HWAoC: follows as well. After delivering a few more petty insults towards HWAoC:, HWAoC: summons HWAoC: to eliminate the monster outposts surrounding the HWAoC:.

The party enters the forest, where they meet HWAoC:. The HWAoC: musician agrees to escort them through the woods in exchange for protection against the monsters. After fighting their way past a HWAoC:, the party's progress is stymied by a pool of HWAoC: conjured by HWAoC:. They trace the source of the HWAoC: to four NaN Hollows- dark replicas of the NaN Champions composed of HWAoC:. When they are destroyed, the HWAoC: dissipates.

HWAoC: volunteers to hold off the monsters long enough for HWAoC: and HWAoC: to reach the HWAoC:'s resting place. They find HWAoC: waiting for them, and he summons the NaN Hollows to attack. The NaN Hollows' combined assault overwhelms HWAoC: and breaks his sword, but before they can kill HWAoC: he draws the HWAoC: from its pedestal and is able to defeat the NaN Hollows once more. HWAoC: takes matters into his own hands and battles HWAoC: himself, but the HWAoC:'s power forces him to withdraw.

The HWAoC: awakens to speak with HWAoC:, telling her that the HWAoC: has chosen HWAoC: to wield it and that she must have faith in herself. With his message delivered, he returns to his slumber.

Even with the HWAoC:'s message, HWAoC: still fears that she may not be able to awaken her power in time. The small HWAoC: soothes her by playing HWAoC:, and she recalls that she has met it once before. However, the realization is cut short by the appearance of monsters blocking the road to HWAoC:, which the party fights through.

HWAoC: reflects on how much stronger HWAoC: has become, and HWAoC: correctly guesses that she finds herself to be lacking in comparison. The HWAoC: champion reassures the princess that HWAoC: is no different from who he was before he claimed the HWAoC:, and in that respect is just like HWAoC: herself.

The ceremony is held in which HWAoC:, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: are named NaN Championss. The small HWAoC: and HWAoC: get into a fight, distracting the princess from her worries for a time. Mipha reminds Daruk about their earlier discussion about training, which Daruk accepts. She looks at Link, who overhears her intentions to fight alongside him and she stammers in panic as he approached her, wanting to know more about her thoughts on him. The scuffle between Impa and Terrako gets Revali caught in the middle, upsetting him to the point where he leaves the vicinity in disgust.

Chapter 4
HWAoC:'s research into the HWAoC: reveals the presence of other towers hidden underground, all linked to a control system within HWAoC:. The NaN Championss set out to bond the HWAoC: with the towers, which will activate the control device.

HWAoC: continues to express his irritation with HWAoC:'s failure to manifest her powers and focus on the relics, but accepts a relic from HWAoC: that she and her mother believed to have unknown potential and gives her permission to continue studying the ancient technology.

Back at the HWAoC:, HWAoC: and HWAoC: realize that if the NaN Sheikah Towers are activated the HWAoC: will be exposed. HWAoC: quiets their dissent, reminding them that they will have their parts to play. The corrupted HWAoC: is revealed to be possessed by HWAoC: itself, and HWAoC: declares that he will use it to seize power over all of HWAoC:. HWAoC: warns the prophet that HWAoC: cannot be controlled by mortals, but his words go unheard.

HWAoC: activates the first tower with the HWAoC:, triggering the appearance of the other towers across HWAoC:. HWAoC: and his allies continue to activate the towers until they reach the last one in HWAoC:. There, they are informed that the HWAoC: has captured HWAoC:, which was previously thought impenetrable and is where the last tower is located. They break through the HWAoC:'s defenses, defeating HWAoC: again and forcing the HWAoC: to retreat. With the last tower activated, HWAoC: explains how the towers can provide maps for a region. HWAoC: uses the maps to lead a preemptive strike on the HWAoC:, clearing a path for a follow-up assault. The party confronts HWAoC: and HWAoC: once more, and the HWAoC: leaders flee to save themselves after being defeated.

HWAoC: and HWAoC: confront HWAoC:, demanding to know why he failed to tell them that they would be defeated. HWAoC: merely comments that all is going according to plan, reminding the HWAoC: that they are bound to serve HWAoC: and that HWAoC: will punish them if they try to harm his chosen seer.

HWAoC: continues to lead research on the NaN Sheikah Towers, demonstrating their ability to be used for teleportation. HWAoC: gives her support to further study, but she is troubled by her own lack of progress.

The HWAoC:'s records indicate that HWAoC: will return on HWAoC:'s 17th birthday. In the hopes of awakening HWAoC:'s power in time, HWAoC: sends her to train at the HWAoC:. HWAoC:'s ruminations over her perceived failure are interrupted by a horde of monsters that besieges the spring. They are able to make it out of the spring thanks to HWAoC:'s knowledge of the relics in the area, and HWAoC: chides HWAoC: for thinking so little of her efforts.

Chapter 5
As nobody younger than 17 is permitted to set foot on HWAoC:, HWAoC: plans to train at the HWAoC: as soon as she comes of age. As the small 's memory indicates that this would be the day that HWAoC: would awaken, HWAoC: makes arrangements for evacuations and deploys the NaN Divine Beasts to prepare for the HWAoC:'s coming.

HWAoC: and HWAoC: finish analyzing HWAoC:'s memory, only for them to be captured by HWAoC: spies. HWAoC: manages to slip the HWAoC: with the decoded data to the small HWAoC:, which delivers the slate to HWAoC: just as she leaves for the HWAoC:. It is at that exact moment that HWAoC: arrives.

HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: retreat from the castle as the NaN Guardians are possessed one by one by HWAoC:. As they reach the exit, HWAoC: saves them from a HWAoC: attack. He entrusts HWAoC: with protecting HWAoC: at all costs, and stays behind to give them a chance to escape. HWAoC: is dragged away by HWAoC: as three NaN Guardian Stalkers surround the king and his men, and he is seemingly killed by their lasers.

As HWAoC: emerges from the castle, HWAoC: shows HWAoC: the HWAoC:, revealing that HWAoC: has attacked the NaN Divine Beasts. She breaks down in despair, lamenting her inability to awaken the sealing magic. However, the small HWAoC: opens a new set of time portals and the party realizes that there is still a chance to stop the Great Calamity.

(The following two sections can be completed in any order, as decided by the player.)

Water and Fire
HWAoC: fends off HWAoC:'s fireballs as HWAoC: struggles against HWAoC:. As the blow that would have killed HWAoC: in the original timeline is about to land, an adult HWAoC: bursts out of one of the time portals summoned by the small HWAoC:, declaring that he will not lose his sister a second time. At the same time, HWAoC: emerges from a second portal just in time to block the attack that would have slain HWAoC:.

As HWAoC: is surrounded by lava, HWAoC:'s party chooses to make their way to HWAoC: first. HWAoC:'s aid is able to keep HWAoC: alive long enough for HWAoC: and his allies to join them in fighting HWAoC:. HWAoC: is not at its full strength and so cannot summon enough rain to clear the lava, so HWAoC: moves ahead to slay the HWAoC: producing the lava flows. With the HWAoC: dead, the HWAoC: is able to cool down the lava.

HWAoC: begins to panic as HWAoC: continues to pressure the two NaN Gorons, but HWAoC: rallies his spirits with a reminder that HWAoC: was supposed to save him. HWAoC: and his party arrive, and HWAoC: is destroyed. HWAoC: thanks both HWAoC: and HWAoC: for their help, as HWAoC: explains to HWAoC: that he is indeed her brother from the future. HWAoC: then explains what had happened at HWAoC:.

HWAoC: and HWAoC: move out to support the Hylian forces at HWAoC:, wiping out an army of monsters and Guardians.

Air and Lightning
Despite her best efforts, HWAoC: is losing her battle against HWAoC:. HWAoC: is faring little better against HWAoC:, not withstanding his insistence otherwise. But at the fateful moments in which they would have died, HWAoC: (with HWAoC:) and HWAoC: appear out of the time portals to support their respective NaN Championss.

With HWAoC: too high in the air to reach, the heroes set their sights on HWAoC:. HWAoC: and HWAoC: are nearly overwhelmed by HWAoC:, but HWAoC: and his allies arrive in time to help defeat it. HWAoC: helps the party clear the path to HWAoC:, and they arrive to help HWAoC:. HWAoC: is bested, but teleports away before it can be killed.

HWAoC: thanks HWAoC: for saving her, though the younger HWAoC: is sure to ascribe credit to the whole party. HWAoC: on the other hand insists that he would have been just fine on his own; HWAoC: is surprised to learn that the HWAoC: HWAoC: was so arrogant, but HWAoC: suggests he not say that out loud. After HWAoC: tells the NaN Championss about the events at HWAoC:, HWAoC: and HWAoC: move out with HWAoC: to clear the skies around HWAoC:. They confront HWAoC: again in the aerial battle, ultimately slaying it.

Heroes from the Future
HWAoC: recalls how HWAoC: told her that he had a vision of HWAoC: being attacked by HWAoC:, only to find himself within HWAoC: with her. She realizes that the small HWAoC: was responsible for summoning him and the other future heroes and thanks it for its help. Their next destination is HWAoC:, where HWAoC: has escaped to.

Elsewhere, HWAoC: is harvesting the souls of slain HWAoC: members to resurrect the four blights. HWAoC: and HWAoC: are outraged by his treachery, and demand that the prophet explain himself. HWAoC: informs them that their enemy has grown strong enough to warrant a change of tactics. Summoning a HWAoC: of HWAoC: to attack them, he declares that they can be useful "for once in their lives" as blood sacrifices for HWAoC:. HWAoC: requests that HWAoC: escape, but he cannot bring himself to abandon "his favorite lackey." Seeing his master's resolve, HWAoC: vows to protect HWAoC: even if it means he must die to do so.

Chapter 6
The defenders of HWAoC: are besieged by NaN Enemies and NaN Guardians, and it seems as if the stronghold will fall to their assault. HWAoC: has a feeling that their luck will change, and he is proven right when HWAoC: arrives. HWAoC: and HWAoC: clear the way for HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: to reach the citadel. HWAoC: leaves the HWAoC: to provide aid to the defenders, and the rest of the party makes their way to HWAoC:. When they reach him, they fight off a HWAoC:-infused HWAoC: and destroy the citadel bridge to keep any further monsters from reaching it.

HWAoC: directs the party to HWAoC:, where HWAoC: is located. However, it too is under siege. HWAoC: and HWAoC: fight off the army of NaN Guardians and monsters occupying HWAoC: as HWAoC: and the others depart. As the seemingly endless swarm draws closer, the other three NaN Divine Beasts appear to reinforce them.

The party rushes to the fort, only to find HWAoC: commanding the invaders. Taunting HWAoC: over her imminent death, he summons the four blights to attack. HWAoC: is nearly defeated by their combined power, but HWAoC: unleashes her sealing magic to save him and destroys HWAoC: and HWAoC:. HWAoC: attempts to shut down the NaN Guardians using devices based on the small NaN Guardians's design, but only succeeds after HWAoC: and HWAoC: are also defeated.

After the battle, HWAoC: gives a speech to motivate the soldiers, urging them not to let despair get the better of them and assuming command of the armies of the HWAoC:. Some time later, HWAoC: and HWAoC: meet with a soldier who turns out to be HWAoC:, who has come to join her forces in order to avenge the HWAoC: members that HWAoC: has betrayed.

Chapter 7
The party responds to news of HWAoC: forces in battle at the HWAoC: by rushing to their aid. While it is too far to reach by foot, HWAoC: is able to reactivate the NaN Sheikah Towers and enhance their teleportation abilities. The HWAoC: report that rubble is blocking the way to the HWAoC: where most of the soldiers are, and HWAoC: comes up with the idea of using the HWAoC: as a travel gate. They break through into the temple and discover that HWAoC: is alive. He explains that the relic HWAoC: gave him turned out to be an ancient shield that saved his life, and father and daughter reconcile.

The unified HWAoC: forces march to HWAoC:. They find that the castle is blocked off by a wall of HWAoC:, generated by a group of HWAoC:-infused monsters. HWAoC: is able to dispel the wall after they are slain, only for the HWAoC: to revive all the monsters in the field. However, the combined strength of the heroes is enough to make one final push towards the castle.

HWAoC: confronts the heroes as they enter the castle. He is accompanied by the possessed HWAoC:, which is now clearly visible as the small HWAoC: of their own timeline. The latter, now the being known as HWAoC:, shapeshifts into a monstrous humanoid form as the mad prophet rants about how his destiny is to destroy HWAoC: and her allies.

Fighting their way through the castle, the party battles the blights once more to reach the gatehouses. They battle HWAoC: and HWAoC: there, forcing them to withdraw. Enraged by his defeat, HWAoC: commands HWAoC: to destroy the heroes; instead, HWAoC: consumes HWAoC: uses his power to manifest itself as HWAoC:. To make matters worse, it lets out a surge of power that corrupts the other small HWAoC:, forcing it to attack HWAoC: and HWAoC: as well. They have no choice but to battle it.

HWAoC: is grief-stricken by having to fight their friend, who is now critically damaged. As she weeps over it, it begins to play HWAoC: for her, as if trying to comfort her. A flashback reveals the origins of the HWAoC:, revealing its name as HWAoC:: as a young girl, HWAoC: had activated it as a playmate and proudly shows it to her mother. It had helped console her after her mother's death, and had eventually been confiscated by HWAoC: when he assumed it was nothing more than a simple toy. The Champions caught up to her and were also saddened by Terrako’s broken state. Her resolve strengthened as well as the warriors, HWAoC: swears to stop HWAoC: at all costs.

Despite their best efforts, the heroes cannot even harm HWAoC:. As the abomination prepares a devastating attack that HWAoC: struggles to hold back, HWAoC: reactivates. The HWAoC: uses the last of its energy to launch itself at HWAoC: and self-destructs, breaking through HWAoC:'s shield but leaving behind only a single screw. HWAoC:'s sacrifice renews the fighting spirit of the party, and after a long and grueling battle HWAoC: and HWAoC: seal away HWAoC:.

As the sun rises, the united Hyrulian people rejoice to see that the HWAoC: is ended. HWAoC:'s screw begins to shine, and HWAoC: realizes that she, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: must return to their own future. The NaN Championss say their farewells to their descendants, and HWAoC: vows to treasure their friendship for all time.

Epilogue
An unknown amount of time after HWAoC:'s sealing, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: have finished repairing HWAoC: using parts gathered from all over HWAoC:. While they initially fear that they were unsuccessful, the sight of HWAoC:'s face causes HWAoC: to fully reactivate. HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and the NaN Championss happily look on as HWAoC: tearfully welcomes back the HWAoC: whose aid and sacrifice ultimately changed the course of history.

Development
By mid-2012, following the reception to SS -, producer Eiji Aonuma had determined that the franchise was in urgent need of reinvention, in order for it to remain relevant. Aonuma decided that the development team would focus on rethinking the conventions of Zelda, and that this would largely center around two misconceptions:


 * 1) That Zelda games needed to be linear
 * 2) That Zelda games were strictly meant to be single player experiences

The development team tackled the notion of non-linear Zelda games with and. While both games were in development, Nintendo was approached by publisher Koei Tecmo, whose studios had previously worked with the company on titles like Metroid: Other M and Fatal Frame, with a proposal to develop a new kind of Zelda game using its Omega Force studio—the team behind the Dynasty Warriors series of games. The original pitch by Koei Tecmo producer Yosuke Hayashi involved a number of elements that were staples of Zelda, such as dungeon exploration, with elements of the Warriors series mixed in to create something new. However, Nintendo "Fellow" Shigeru Miyamoto asked that Hayashi graft the world of Zelda onto Dynasty Warriors gameplay instead.

At the time, Aonuma had been playing One Piece: Pirate Warriors, another Warriors-style game developed by Omega Force, and saw the potential in a similar crossover with Zelda. Development of this game, dubbed (Zelda Musou in Japan), was completed in 2014, making it the first multiplayer Zelda game since Four Swords Adventures. In parallel, a small portion of the Zelda team also worked with Grezzo, the studio responsible for and, to develop , a three-player Zelda game for the Nintendo 3DS.

While work progressed on, Aonuma had already begun thinking of ways to explore another multiplayer Zelda title, this time using lessons the team had learnt from the development of that game. After development wrapped, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and art director Satoru Takizawa pitched Aonuma the idea of a second Warriors title, this time set in Breath of the Wild's past, against the backdrop of that game's "Great Calamity" event. Fujibayashi and Takizawa already had some sense of the kind of game they wanted to see, and the extent to which they had thought through their plans spurred Aonuma to discuss a second collaboration with Koei Tecmo.

Yosuke Hayashi would serve as producer on the new project, alongside Omega Force's Masaki Furusawa, the director of the first. Ryota Matsushita, who had served as a game designer on Samurai Warriors 4, Warriors Orochi 4, and Dynasty Warriors 9, was tapped to direct. Once the game's core elements had been decided upon, Omega Force proposed an outline for, with the Zelda team supervising each draft of the plan.

Omega Force collaborated much more closely with the team this time around, than they had on. Elements such as gameplay, graphics, the depiction of Hyrule, and all character dialogue were discussed with the Zelda team to ensure consistency with. Breath of the Wild's characters had fragments of lore scattered throughout that game, and Omega Force used these as a starting point. They held discussions with the Zelda team to understand the team's impression of each character, which helped flesh out their personalities in. In the case of characters that were now going to require younger variants, such as Impa, Purah, and Robbie, Omega Force proposed new designs for each.

Prior to development, Aonuma had requested that the Zelda team allow Omega Force a degree of freedom whilst creating the movesets for each playable character, which would allow them to explore more outlandish special moves for each. While designing moves for the game's cast, Omega Force based Link, Zelda, and Impa on existing archetypes—namely, a knight, a mage, and a trickster. Of the three, Zelda proved hardest to design, owing to the fact that she was never intended to be a fighter in, and that making her a combatant would potentially be at odds with her personality. The development team eventually settled on the idea of Zelda being driven by a sense of duty and taking up arms using the Sheikah Slate, using her backstory in as a point of reference. In contrast, Impa's moveset came together more smoothly, as a byproduct of her being from the ninja-like Sheikah tribe. According to the developers, the individual Sheikah Slate abilities for the rest of the cast were easy to derive from their personalities as well.

During development, the team used its learnings from having worked on the first, but encountered challenges while deciding how to integrate the open-world design of into the stage-based style of a Warriors game. The development team ultimately chose to design each stage to be more three-dimensional, with height or interconnected terrain, to create the feel of a more expansive world. Omega Force found that working on required less trial-an-error than its predecessor, as it had already understood how to incorporate Zelda-like concepts into a Warriors game, and was instead able to allocate resources towards creating a game that was of higher quality. All throughout development, the Zelda team reviewed each aspect of to ensure that the game inherited the look and tone of.

The following members of the team are credited as part of 's credits:

Note: At present, it is unknown whether all of the employees listed above are permanent members of the team. Some (like Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi) have worked on the Zelda series throughout most of their careers, while others move between various Nintendo projects as required.

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to 's which is itself a based on Koei Tecmo's  series of video games, in which characters fight large armies of enemies and generals on a battlefield, with the the setting and characters originating from, specifically from. As such, it is much more combat-intensive that most Zelda games, with hordes of enemies on the screen at once.

Controls
The player controls multiple characters throughout the game including HWAoC:, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and HWAoC: through the story, with the player being able to switch characters on the fly depending on the scenario. Characters also fight alongside regular NaN Soldiers and other playable characters, and the game will alert if an ally requires assistance. The player can use many abilities seen in such as BotW:, BotW:, BotW: and BotW:. The player can also use multiple elemental rods, such as the BotW:, BotW:, and BotW:.

Limited Edition
A limited treasure box edition of the game was released in Japan. It included a copy of the game, an acrylic art plate, a parasail blanket, and a metal charm.

Sales
On November 24, 2020, four days after the release of Age of Calamity, Koei Tecmo stated via Famitsu that the game had shipped over 3 million combined physical and digital copies worldwide, becoming the first game in the Warriors franchise to reach 3 million shipments as well as becoming the best-selling Warriors game of all time. As of January 2022, the game has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.