Played the new Hyrule Warriors: it's okay
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is fine. It's a very straightforward Musou game that is quite literally just another couple dozen or so hours of the same structure from Age of Calamity (only it isn't a "what if" story this time, which is a definite improvement). It's a good time as any of these games are -- this style of action has endured for a reason -- but it's very plain.
I think the problem is after playing some of Dynasty Warriors: Origins months before, Hyrule Warriors feels lesser by comparison. Origins felt like a proper change for the formula and designed its battles to have more variety and actually demand you pay attention to how your army is doing (your allies can and will get overwhelmed if you aren't paying attention). It felt more like you were part of a larger battle rather than the only person who got anything done.
Age of Imprisonment lacks any sort of friction or excitement by comparison. Every single battle comes down to defeating the targeted foes. There's no actual need to take bases or assist your allies as there's no actual threat. The battlefield isn't requiring you to spread your attention to build or maintain an advantage because there's no morale system here. You instead just beeline to the objectives given and you'll win no problem. These games are capable of doing more, so for this to be very focused on mostly the one kind of objective gets old. Musou games are at their best when they're actually trying to do something beyond just mindlessly cutting through hordes of foes.
The core appeal of these games is still enough to derive some enjoyment -- slashing through hundreds of guys and watching them fly through the air is fun, I can't deny -- but it's hard not to feel like this could have been more. The story at least has some fun moments and some of the new characters are welcome additions. It's obviously limited in what it can do with them given the constraints of the premise, but it's a good time. It is also very funny that they figured out how to add Link in a sort of roundabout way (there's a construct that pretty much fights exactly like he did in the previous game).