According to Kotaku, the first Zelda title for the Nintendo Switch 2 is Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, a musou-style hack-and-slash game developed in collaboration with Koei Tecmo’s AAA Games Studio. The game ties directly into the story of Tears of the Kingdom and was led by Koei Tecmo with feedback from Nintendo’s Zelda team, including producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. In a translated interview, the teams described blending Zelda’s strategic use of Zonai gear with the power fantasy of cutting down enemy waves. Aonuma explicitly stated that the inspiration from this project “may be reflected in the (next) Zelda we create.” He also joked that his team wanted to release the first Zelda on the new console but were beaten to it by this collaboration.
So, Is Zelda Going Full Action Game?
Here’s the thing: Aonuma’s comments are tantalizingly vague. Is he talking about a slight tweak to enemy density in the next open-world game? Or is this a signal for a fundamental shift in combat philosophy? The Hyrule Warriors spin-offs have always been fun distractions, but their core loop—mowing down hundreds of foes—is the polar opposite of the deliberate, puzzle-like combat in mainline entries like Breath of the Wild.
But maybe that’s the point. After two massive, physics-driven sandbox games, where do you go next? You can’t just make the map bigger. Injecting some of that “feeling mighty powerful” energy could be a way to refresh the formula without abandoning the open world. Imagine keeping the exploration and puzzles but facing larger-scale battles where Link’s mastery of weapons and abilities lets him control a battlefield. That’s a pretty exciting thought.
This Wasn’t Just A Licensing Deal
The most interesting part of this story isn’t the tease—it’s the process. Fujibayashi said that when Nintendo raised concerns, Koei Tecmo came back with “proposals that elevated it into something even better.” That sounds like a real, two-way creative partnership, not just Nintendo farming out its IP. That kind of positive, generative collaboration tends to leave a lasting impression. When Aonuma says to “picture this while playing,” he’s basically admitting they were learning from the experience, too.
So, no, I don’t think the next game is suddenly going to be Dynasty Warriors: Hyrule. But I do think we could see a version of Zelda where the combat has more fluidity, style, and crowd-control options. The building blocks are already there with the Fuse ability and the weapon variety. Evolving that into something with more visceral impact seems like a logical, and potentially brilliant, next step. We’ll just have to wait and see—and maybe play a lot of Age of Imprisonment in the meantime.
