Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment’s story about the imprisoning war seems to star Zelda, but it must have a strong supporting cast in order to fill out the character roster. Some of the characters who will play an important role in the story are that era’s sages, but they need to be much more interesting characters inHyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonmentin order to stand out to players.
InTears of the Kingdom, it was established that while Link was preparing to fight Ganondorf in the present, Zelda was in the midst of battling him in the past. Aiding her in the imprisoning war were King Rauru, Queen Sonia, and the rest of the sages from that era in Hyrule’s past. These ancient sages played a critical role in Zelda’s story, soAge of Imprisonmentseems primed to unmask the secrets of theTears of the Kingdom’s sagesby fleshing out their characters more. Where the sages fromBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomall had excellent characterization, most of the ancient sages appeared very flat in comparison. This placesAge of Imprisonmentin a predicament, as it must depict their personalities to hook players, but they shouldn’t be too different from the ghostly images that were present in the previous game.
The Age of Imprisonment Sages Need More Character Than in Tears of the Kingdom
As players might remember, the ancient sages appeared to Link and his friends inTears of the Kingdomin order to pass their responsibility on to the current generation. However, this representation of them lacked the strong and varied personalities that players have come to expect from sages in theZeldafranchise. It’s unclear why exactly the developers decided to portray them this way, but maybe as spirits, they are only a shell of their former selves. Whatever the case, that version of the characters would make for a dull party during the imprisoning war. It may bea tall order to fulfill inAge of Imprisonment, but the sages need more personality than they were given inTears of the Kingdom.
How Age of Imprisonment Can Improve the Sage’s Personalities
The tricky part about giving more personality to these sages is that, whatever they might be like, it shouldn’t clash with the way they are portrayed inTears of the Kingdom. The best hope might be to find a middle ground between the blank slates that they were in that game and the boisterous personalities of othersages like Sidonand Daruk.
Some clues to what fans could expect might still come from the series’ past, though. Sages are a common occurrence in theZeldagames, and there are many examples ofgreat sages from previousZeldagames.Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomboth presented their sages as main characters with bombastic and powerful attributes, but not every sage in Hyrule’s past has been like this.
The best way to move forward with theAge of Imprisonmentsages might be to emulate the style of sages in games likeOcarina of TimeandA Link Between Worlds. In these games, the sages were important characters with unique personalities, but they didn’t hold the weight of carrying the story like the more recent versions have. A blending of the past and present might be just what the ancient sages need. The more muted, but still unique, personalities of sages from older games could be mixed withthe powers ofTears of the Kingdom’s sagesin order to bridge the two archetypes that the series has introduced.
Age of Imprisonmentcould be one of the most explosive titles of the Switch 2’s first year, but only if every piece of the puzzle fits into place. Characters like Rauru, Sonia, and Mineru are already stellar examples of what the new sages could become. With characters as strong as them andAge of Imprisonmenttaking advantage of the Switch 2’s capabilities, it would be a shame if the game fell flat because of a lackluster supporting cast.
