Highlights

  • Nintendo may be preparing a Switch successor with PS4-comparable performance and backwards compatibility, promising an exciting launch lineup.
  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on the Switch 2 could see a definitive edition release with added content and stable framerates.
  • The potential for a strategy-focused game type and expanded roster in Age of Calamity Definitive Edition on the Switch 2 could make it a must-have title.

Nintendo has had a relaxed 2024 so far, and rumor has it that this is because the company is preparing its launch lineup for the Nintendo Switch successor. The Nintendo Switch 2 has seen enough insider reports that its existence is likely, but what innovations it will bring and when are less clear. Performance comparable to the PS4 and backwards compatibility seem like its main draws, though the limited resolution and unstable framerates of many Switch exclusives, like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, still make that sound appealing.

Whether Nintendo chooses to reveal its hand around Summer Game Fest or closer to the Switch 2's likely 2025 launch window, it probably intends for the console to be worth the wait. That points to a launch window full of big names like Metroid Prime 4, as well as some high-profile Switch remasters. A Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe has been theorized as a parallel to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s port from the Wii U, but the aforementioned Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has its own history of ports to uphold, and every reason to do so.

Hyrule Warriors' Age of Calamity and the series' future
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More Legend of Zelda Games Deserve the 'Age of Calamity' Treatment

With Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity proving Zelda's potential for expansion, its earlier games likewise deserve revisiting in the same style.

Age of Calamity On The Switch 2 Would Follow Series Tradition

Like Mario Kart 8 , the first Hyrule Warriors began its life as a Wii U exclusive, shipping over one million copies in its first six months after a mid-2014 release.

Sales data is murky after that, but it was one of the Wii U's best-selling games and has become known as one of the best licensed Musou games by Dynasty Warriors developer Omega Force. It was also a successful early example of prominent DLC in a Nintendo game, which was compiled in the Nintendo 3DS port Hyrule Warriors Legends in early 2016. 2018’s Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition closed out its journey by collecting Legends’ own DLC waves.

The Switch 2 Has Much To Offer Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is in prime position to repeat its predecessor’s pattern and has ample reasons to do so. The DLC and post-launch updates for Age of Calamity can be bundled in with a Switch 2-exclusive Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Definitive Edition release, which should benefit from boosted sales if it's within the new system’s launch year.

No new Legend of Zelda titles are expected for a while thanks to Tears of the Kingdom’s 2023 release, so an AoC Definitive Edition should help tide fans over between mainline games. Age of Calamity is also in desperate need of a stable framerate, which the Switch 2 will hopefully provide.

A Definitive Age of Calamity Could Become The Definitive Hyrule Warriors

The logistics of a basic Age of Calamity re-release are sound enough, but there is so much more that it could include. Age of Calamity only had two waves of DLC, a massive step back from the amount that Hyrule Warriors and Hyrule Warriors Legends saw, and didn't incorporate any Tears of the Kingdom content. Including TotK characters in Age of Calamity: Definitive Edition like Rauru, Mineru, and Ganondorf would be a big incentive for returning players, and could make way for another campaign like Cia, Linkle, and the Wind Waker characters gained in the original Hyrule Warriors.

Other Areas A Switch 2 Age of Calamity Could Improve

Playing any Hyrule Warriors content at 60fps sounds great, but Age of Calamity’s Definitive Edition could fill in some specific gaps from the base game. Expanding the roster should come naturally, but adding more varied side missions, as well as working extra objectives back into the main campaign’s levels, shouldn't be ignored.

Fans of Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors might also appreciate Age of Calamity gaining its own strategy-focused game type. Plenty of improvements could be made to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on the Switch 2, so Nintendo and Omega Force shouldn't miss the chance to turn it into a true must-have title.