Nintendo "intentionally held back" many aspects of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom so there was more content for Hyrule Warriors to work with

On its release back in 2023, Nintendo kept the Imprisoning War Sages from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom shrouded in a certain amount of mystery. In fact, despite them playing a fairly key role in terms of the overall backstory, we only saw them in the game very briefly.

That changed in last year's release, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, which was set before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Here, the Hyrule Warriors team was able to shine more of a light on the war's Sages, who we now know to be Ardi of the Gerudo, Qia of the Zora, Raphica of the Rito and Agraston of the Goron.

In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, players are able to take on the role of each Sage as well as the likes of Princess Zelda and Rauru, as they fight through waves upon waves of bokoblins, Lynels and more.

But, why did Nintendo keep Tears of the Kingdom's Imprisoning War Sages under wraps like it did until the spin-off prequel? Well, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has now said if the developer had shown the Sages' faces and shared their names before then, the story of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom "would have naturally grown too much" for the game.

"In Tears of the Kingdom there was a central theme running through the main story, and the Sages are depicted with their faces hidden by masks and without names," Fujibayashi said in a recent interview with 4Gamer (translated by NintendoEverything). The director then went on to state there were "many things" Nintendo "intentionally held back" for its Breath of the Wild sequel.

"If we had shown [the Sages'] personalities and faces, the story would have naturally grown too much," Fujibayashi further explained. "That's why I'm truly happy that the Sages have been more carefully picked up upon here in the Imprisoning War."

Image credit: Eurogamer

Our Alex took Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment out for a spin ahead of its release, calling it the series' "richest offering yet".

Since its release in November, updates for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment have added additional weapons, as well as new Vicious enemies.