The 10 best missions in Age of Calamity

Between the base game and the two waves of DLC that came out this year, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity provided all kinds of thrilling battles to take part in as Link, Zelda, and the other heroes from the Era of the Wilds. Some of the most memorable came from the main story, showing key points in Age of Calamity’s alternative telling of the war against Calamity Ganon and his forces. Others were optional missions that stoked the difficulty and tested the player’s skills with the most fearsome of opponents and challenging win conditions.

There are dozens upon dozens of missions to take on in Age of Calamity, but these are the 10 that leave the biggest impression for their narrative importance, rousing action, or a combination of both.

10. The Princess and the King

The second wave of DLC for Age of Calamity, Guardian of Remembrance, brought missions that provided glimpses of the battle against Calamity Ganon that neither the base game nor Breath of the Wild featured. This particular stage shows how Link, Zelda, and King Rhoam regroup after Hyrule Castle falls. The Princess and the King follow two different battles that play out side by side at the Lanayru Promenade, which is easily one of the most stunning maps in the game.

Link, Zelda, Impa, and their allies fight through multiple enemy blockades along the river at the base of the valley, while King Rhoam and his soldiers fight over the cliffs high above. Neither party is aware of the other’s presence, but their goals are the same — get as many of their allies as possible to safety and reunite with the rest of Hyrule’s forces.

9. A Royal Investigation

A Royal Investigation takes the player back to the Great Plateau to collect the final parts needed to repair Terrako, but acquiring them means squaring off against all varieties of the game’s most fearsome enemies. Fire, Ice, and Electric Lynels guard the outposts, while a pair of Malice Lynels serve as the final challenge.

If a gauntlet of Lynels wasn’t daunting enough, there’s also the strict time limit that applies pressure the entire time. The difficult task is well worth completing, though, as it will eventually unlock the heartwarming cutscene where Terrako is finally fixed up and Zelda is reunited with her childhood pal.

8. Freeing Korok Forest

The battle for Korok Forest spans the skies above the vast woodland all the way down to its foggy surface, beginning with a sequence where Revali pilots Vah Medoh to obliterate an army of aerial Guardians. Zelda and the gang next meet the lovable Hestu, who helps guide them through the mysterious forest that is overrun by Stal enemies of all shapes and sizes.

The foes get even creepier later on when the heroes are confronted by the Hollows — evil doppelgangers of the Champions who are made out of pure Malice. Freeing Korok Forest ends on a truly thrilling note when Link battles Astor and the Hollows, during which he frees the Master Sword and proves worthy to wield the legendary blade.

7. Deep Woods, Deep Shadow

If a stage requires that you take four different characters into battle, you can be sure that there is a pretty big fight ahead of you. Deep Woods, Deep Shadow is one of the most challenging missions of this variety, pitting a quartet of chosen warriors against a whole host of the game’s strongest foes. The heroes need to divide and conquer across the map to defeat all twelve key enemies within the time limit, but it’s not just ordinary Moblins or Hinoxes that they will contend with here.

Opponents include a trio of Fire Moblins, a pair of Flying Guardians, a Fire Guardian Stalker, an Ice Hinox, a Stalnox, a pair of Stone Taluses, and lastly a pair of Silver Lynels. Deep Woods, Deep Shadow throws everything but the kitchen sink at the player, and it’s all the more fun for it.

6. Calamity Strikes

Fans didn’t get much of an up-close look when Calamity Ganon awakened and overtook Hyrule Castle in Breath of the Wild, but Age of Calamity had that covered by dropping the player right into the epicenter of all the carnage. No other sequence in the game feels so harrowing as Link, Zelda, and their allies flee through the besieged castle.

Hordes of enemies try to stop them as they search for King Rhoam and a way out, including several corrupted Guardian Stalkers. At one point, a pair of Guardian Stalkers come crashing through the ceiling to ambush everyone. Age of Calamity is usually about crushing an opposing army and sending them in retreat, but in the memorable mission Calamity Strikes, there is no hope for victory. All anyone can do is escape to fight another day.

5. Facing Mutated Ganon

It’s only fitting that the final unlockable mission in Age of Calamity would be a grueling trial against mighty odds. The heroes might not be battling an entire army in Facing Mutated Ganon, but the band of Malice-infused enemies are like an army in themselves.

What makes this mission fiendishly challenging is the tight time limit given to defeat all of the key enemies. Sixteen minutes is not a lot of time when the foes include the Malice variants of Moblins, a Lynel, a Guardian Stalker, an Igneo Talus, a Frost Talus, a Hinox, and four Hollows for good measure. The fight isn’t over should the player clear them all off the map, though. Capping off the mission is an encounter with the monstrous, grotesque, and even more powerful form of Harbinger Ganon — Mutated Ganon.

4. The Final Battle

The name here might be a bit of a misnomer, since plenty of battles followed it with the release of the Guardian of Remembrance DLC, but the last challenge in the Pulse of the Ancients DLC is epic enough that it would have been a worthy final mission for Age of Calamity. In addition to having Fire and Ice Hinoxes, a Malice Guardian Stalker, a tag team of Malice Lynels, and other formidable enemies to deal with, the player needs to control the map as the fight spills all across the Akkala Citadel.

The Allied Stronghold will constantly be under attack, and multiple enemy outposts will repeatedly send captains to invade the base unless the player captures them. Brute force is important in The Final Battle, but it will only take the player so far without a bit of strategy.

3. All Hyrule, United

The penultimate battle against Calamity Ganon unfolds on the plains of Hyrule Field just in front of Hyrule Castle. It’s Age of Calamity’s Battle of Pelennor Fields or the Battle of the Five Armies moment. Zelda has successfully rallied all of Hyrule’s races and factions (even the Yiga!) together under one banner to strike at Calamity Ganon, but the primal evil has an equally impressive army at his disposal.

All Hyrule, United is a massive, drawn-out battle that challenges the player to systematically take control of Hyrule Field, capturing numerous strategic points and taking on plenty of Malice-powered monsters. But even once it feels like the Hyrulean coalition has put Calamity Ganon on his heels, the battle somehow manages to become even wilder when the Blood Moon rises and Calamity Ganon gets a wave of fresh reinforcements to join the chaos.

2. The Future of Hyrule

Age of Calamity’s story goes out with a bang inside Hyrule Castle. Despite being soundly defeated at Hyrule Field, Calamity Ganon’s last line of defense is his deadliest. Sure, there are countless Guardians of all varieties patrolling the ruined castle, sheer swarms of Silver Bokoblins and Lizalfos, and a Stalnox tossed in there just for fun, but the highlight of The Future of Hyrule is how it throws one boss battle after another at the player. The four Blight Ganons, Astor, Harbinger Ganon, and even a corrupted Terrako all get in on the action at some point or another.

The biggest and baddest of them serves as the final adversary at the pinnacle of Hyrule Castle, and with a new look to boot. Instead of the insect-like monstrosity as seen in Breath of the Wild, Calamity Ganon takes on a towering, Super Saiyan-like form. He is without doubt the most fearsome opponent in Age of Calamity, making victory that much more satisfying when you strike the final blow.

1. The Siege of Fort Hateno

Not only is this the best mission in Age of Calamity, but it might also be the best mission in any Musou game. The Siege of Fort Hateno was the ultimate challenge in the base game, and even after all of the great battles that came with the two waves of DLC, it still stands above the rest of the competition. The devastated Blatchery Plain is an absolute war zone, filled from end to end with darn near every kind of monster and Guardian type in the game.

Astor and Harbinger Ganon also make a few appearances to join the havoc, and Calamity Ganon returns for Round Two to close out the show. As the heroes make their way across the map taking down enemy outposts and defeating Malice bosses, the Allied Stronghold at Fort Hateno is constantly beset by Guardian Stalkers and Flying Guardians. This forces the heroes to defend their home base in addition to routing Calamity Ganon’s hordes. It’s a marathon of a battle that may leave the player out of breath by the time it’s over, but The Siege of Fort Hateno is as good as Age of Calamity gets.