When Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was announced, there was one thing Nintendo wanted to make very sure you knew. Age of Imprisonment will be canon. They wrote it in the press release, on their website’s game profile, and even the trailer itself referred to Age of Imprisonment as a “canonical tale.” Nintendo was sparing no expense to make sure you were acutely aware that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a canon entry in the franchise.
This makes sense after the sheer debacle brought on by Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. For the unaware, Age of Calamity advertised itself as an exclusive look at the true events of Breath of the Wild’s apocalyptic calamity, which was originally only shown in smatterings during that game’s memories. Age of Calamity claimed to allow you to experience the entire scenario, from front to back. Many fans were pleased at this idea, and were much less pleased when halfway through the game, Age of Calamity jumped the shark. The descendants of Hyrule’s champions go back in time, and save them from the Ganonblights which initially slew them. The good guys go on to prevent the Calamity entirely. As it turns out, Age of Calamity is a what-if “good ending” alternate storyline. Many fans were understandably furious.
With this context, it makes sense that fans were particularly suspicious about Age of Imprisonment. Even with Nintendo’s repeated guarantee that the title would be canon, a fair number of folk were convinced they were simply lying, and Age of Imprisonment would ultimately end up deviating from the course. Link would come back in time and save Sonia, and they’d defeating Ganondorf outright, avoiding Rauru’s sacrifice. Of course, this didn’t happen, and Age of Imprisonment did ultimately play things straight. It was, in fact, canon.
But should it have been?
I feel like this may be an instance of fans not truly understanding what they want. Criticism of Age of Calamity is centered around the “false advertising” and alternate reality plot twist, whereas much of the criticism around Age of Imprisonment revolves around how trite the experience feels. Everything happens exactly as expected, and with the exception of one or two twists, Age of Imprisonment doesn’t have many surprises in store. It feels like very conflicting criticism.
Now I understand the Goomba fallacy, and there is no doubt this criticism is coming from different camps. The problem is that Nintendo has to find a way to make both groups happy, and I’m not sure how they can accomplish that. If they deviate too close from the expected storyline, the people who had issues with Age of Calamity become upset, and the game becomes “meaningless fanfiction”. If they stick too close to the expected story, those who disliked Age of Imprisonment becomes upset, and the game is “by the numbers and uncreative.” It feels like a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario.
So what do you think Nintendo should have done with Age of Imprisonment? Was sticking to canon the right call, even at the risk of being unoriginal? Or should they have shaken things up again, and taken Age of Imprisonment in an alternate direction, risking backlash but entering interesting new ground? Personally I’m content with the direction they chose, but I loved Age of Calamity’s plot twist, and I can’t help but wonder how things have gone.
Either way, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Featured Image: Nintendo of America
Pow Block Podcast – A Nintendo Podcast by Boss Rush
Pow Block Podcast is the Nintendo podcast for The Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, Edward Varnell, Corey Dirrig, and their friends from around the internet discuss the week that was in the world of Nintendo, including news, rumors, new and upcoming games, NSO, answer listener questions, discuss their weekly snacks, and more.
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