While Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is being hyped as the prequel to Breath of the Wild, some are forgetting that it’s also a sort of sequel to the original Hyrule Warriors. The first game functioned as a non-canon side game, but it does give us a glimpse into what Age of Calamity will be like from a gameplay standpoint.

There are a lot of features in Hyrule Warriors that would be new to a main series Zelda game, and a few we hope don’t make it into Age of Calamity at all. Here are some of the features that should be kept, and some that shouldn’t.

10 Lose: Closed World

BOTW has been long-praised for its massive and immersive open world, leaving the player to explore almost anywhere at any time that they choose. Hyrule Warriors, on the other hand, is set through scenarios, with each acting as a certain level that is self-contained.

It’s likely that Age of Calamity will also be set in scenarios or levels, but it would be impressive to see an open world. Hopefully Nintendo has followed the success of BOTW with another open-world game.

9 Keep: Fan Service

Hyrule Warriors served as a kind of love letter to Zelda fans. Rather than being a new, canonical main series game, it’s a side game filled with references, characters, locations, and tributes to the series’ storied past. There are playable characters from several different games that could otherwise never appear together in locations that they’d otherwise never be able to visit.

This was done through a strange system whereby the villains pulled them all into the same universe, which wouldn’t make much sense in Age of Calamity. But, it would be great to see some sort of way to include this type of fan service in some capacity.

8 Lose: Invincibility

Those who are looking to complete perfect runs on Adventure Mode maps in Hyrule Warriors often turn to Zelda’s one-time alter ego, Sheik. This character has the ability to perform a move that adds a water barrier around her waist, rendering her basically invincible to all attacks until it wears off or is broken, which can sometimes take a very long time.

This type of broken mechanic should definitely be removed. Sure, it’s fun, but it takes out the challenge in many levels. Daruk, using his protective barrier ability from BOTW, could definitely end up being guilty of this.

7 Keep: Amiibo Functionality

This is almost a guaranteed inclusion, but it would be saddening to see Nintendo miss out on the opportunity to implement some sort of amiibo functionality in the new game. Both Breath of the Wild and Hyrule Warriors had amiibo functionality that was very similar, offering the player new weapon options and items to use in battle.

With the introduction of the Champions as amiibo figures, it’s too perfect to not include. Hopefully, it will bring with it new amiibo for other announced characters like Impa, Robbie, and Purah.

6 Lose: Convoluted Story

As mentioned, the story in Hyrule Warriors includes a strange summoning of characters from other universes into one under the evil powers of the antagonist, Cia, who is romantically obsessed with Link and therefore used by Ganon to resurrect himself. There’s also a bit in there about how one of the protagonists is the alter ego of the antagonist.

Sure, it’s great for a game where players are just hoping to get a Zelda fill through some fan service, but canonically, it’s a bit convoluted. Since Age of Calamity is expected to fill in many of the story holes of BOTW, let’s hope the story is a bit more understandable.

5 Keep: Villain’s Storyline

Speaking of Cia — her story is actually playable in Hyrule Warriors. Alongside the main scenario timeline, the player is able to play through the villains’ side of things, added with one of the DLC packs. This is a great bit of extra gameplay and worked very well within the game.

Hopefully Age of Calamity will include a similar mode. It would be really cool to play as a Moblin commander or even some of the Blights. Even just being able to have them as playable characters in general would be great, but we’ve seen no indication of that so far.

4 Lose: Unclear Objectives

A common complaint from Hyrule Warriors’ fans centers on the game’s objectives. Within each scenario, there are an evolving and shifting set of goals to complete, pitting the player against huge bosses or making them completely switch their current task to take care of an unexpected situation.

However, these objectives are often unclear, frustrating, and hard to follow. Hopefully the developers have learned the lesson from these complaints and will be a bit more straightforward with the tasks assigned to Link and the gang.

3 Keep: Adventure Maps

A bonus mode outside of the Story campaign in Hyrule Warriors is the Adventure Mode. These maps, of which there are several, have specific tasks & missions to complete in exchange for certain rewards. Some of them dictate which character or weapon must be used and have interesting bonus challenges attached to them.

These maps are also a challenge of their own, requiring certain items and abilities to unlock certain scenarios. They’re arguably the best part of the original game, and should definitely be included again.

2 Lose: Non-Unique Skill Trees

Another common criticism from the first Hyrule Warriors games was the skill trees, consisting of Badges. While they’re definitely interesting, simple to understand, and helpful, some have lamented the fact that they aren’t unique to each character.

Some characters require certain materials to create/buy their Badges, and the skill trees do differ slightly. But, overall, they are shared by many characters, and it would be cool to see them more tailored to each fighter, especially with BOTW’s plethora of materials and obtainable items.

1 Keep: DLC

Paid DLC is often a controversial topic, with most people either hating it or loving it. However, Hyrule Warriors was definitely one of the times that DLC was worth the price. There were several rounds of DLC, adding new playable characters, weapons, scenarios, and Adventure Maps.

BOTW also had very successful DLC that added new events into the storyline along with items, as well as new areas and modes. Hopefully both of these successful DLC attempts are translated into another for the new game.

NEXT: Zelda: Every Appearance Of The Gorons, Ranked