The Sheikah Shrine; Impa's Spiritual home of Support & Speculation. Hear our voice Echo for a Echo Fighters Pass!

[ZealousGamer]

Impa's gameplay looks great!

However, I'm not a fan of just how much Impa's design looks like Paya's. I understand that Impa is Paya's grandmother; but I think Impa should have gotten the Shiekah combat outfit when fighting and a more serious/mature looking face. If Impa has Paya's shyness (you know what I mean); I'm going to have issues with that.

I was most disappointed with how little they showed overall. It was like 20 mins of gameplay and 25 mins of talking at the end. They didn't show Champion gameplay nor Robbie and Purah. I'm really curious how Robbie and Purah look.

 

[Lenidem]

You also must realize that Sakurai probably wouldn't want the Zelda cast to be filled with nothing but variations of the same 3 characters over and over again

Here, I made a slight correction.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

What's interesting is how much Impa's age contrast to Zelda/Link keeps getting smaller and smaller.

In the LoZ & AoL manual (and the... CD-I games) she's an old woman. OoT's iteration is ambiguous, but her role as Zelda's caretaker could suggest something somewhere around her mid to late 30s. The official art for the Oracle titles made her middle aged, Skyward Sword has the young her looking like she's in her 20s and with protective older sister vibe.. Now Age of Calamity has her barely out of her teenage years and basically the same age as Zelda.

An major long term change given how she started out (even if Skyward Sword & BotW do pay tribute to her roots given the old versions of her in those games).

 

[Mushroomguy12]

It was great to see our girl in action! Hopefully this means great things for her in Smash and her overall role in the series!

 

[Nazyrus]

I think I'm in love omg she has so much moveset potential! This is gonna be sick to play as.
Here some pics of her

 

[Mushroomguy12]

And now we're officially trending!

 

[ZealousGamer]

Can get pictures of Young Impa and Paya? I'm curious just how different they look.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Can get pictures of Young Impa and Paya? I'm curious just how different they look.

Young Impa

Paya

 

[Folezicle Lives!]

My god she has potential from HW2. I worry though, I wonder if when we got a botw guardian skin as a bonus for fighters pass 2, that was Sakurai saying i wanted to include a zelda rep but couldn't. Much like the Rex mii costume

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Seems Impa uses Paya's model, but with longer hair and the hat. Her playstyle already looks the most interesting of all playable characters too. And she's a major character in the cutscenes. I'm sure she's the first character to be in line in terms of Zelda newcomers now. Was already sure about it, now even more.

Yup, I think it's finally time that Impa can claim the same seat as Dixie Kong and Bandanna Dee as the frontrunning newcomer of her series now.

 

[Lenidem]

Yup, I think it's finally time that Impa can claim the same seat as Dixie Kong and Bandanna Dee as the frontrunning newcomer of her series now.

Yeah. I really want Skull Kid, but if I'm being realistic...

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Another great milestone, this thread has surpassed 1000 posts as of today!

 

[GalacticPetey]

Impa has been my most wanted Smash character since K. Rool got in. It's awesome to see her in action again with Age of Calamity, her moveset looks incredible. Also great to see her trending.

I'm not super optimistic about her chances in smash but I guess I can take some solace in the fact that koei tecmo will continue to push her as a major character in their titles. Hopefully Sakurai takes notice.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

What's really nice at this point is that Age of Calamity has created even more elements to work with for a potential Impa fighter if/when she gets in. Between OoT, SS, HW, & now this you could so easily have an amalgamation of those versions for both appearances & moveset.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Another great part of her new role is going to be the explosion of fanart for this incarnation of her.

ゼルダ無双インパちゃん pic.twitter.com/0ZzS1qKRwp

— ゴンザレス・G・橋・不動 (@gonzarez1938) September 26, 2020

There was a problem fetching the tweet

IMPA IMPA IMPA#LegendofZelda #HyruleWarriorsAgeofCalamity pic.twitter.com/tX66RbuI7P

— Z-Raid (@scribbly_z_raid) September 26, 2020

 

[toonito]

VS

if only one of these designs could make it in Smash which would you prefer?

 

[Voe]

Impa's gameplay looks pretty sick in AoC. Now Impa's on my Top 5 list for DLC.

VS

if only one of these designs could make it in Smash which would you prefer?

Both are really great designs, but if I'm being real I'm gonna have to pick the one on the right because she looks like Paya. I already nicknamed her Impaya

 

[RetrogamerMax]

VS

if only one of these designs could make it in Smash which would you prefer?

I would take Age of Calamity Impa for her Smash design without a doubt.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Nintendo's official twitter gave our girl a shout out!

Meet Impa, 100 years before the events of The Legend of #Zelda: Breath of the Wild!

As a Royal Advisor and member of the Sheikah, Impa brings her unique abilities to the fight against the forces of Calamity Ganon. #HyruleWarriors pic.twitter.com/6Hi0sslzti

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 26, 2020

 

[fogbadge]

VS

if only one of these designs could make it in Smash which would you prefer?

forget that lets go down the hero route and have OOT, SS and both as those with one alt each

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

You also must realize that Sakurai probably wouldn't want the Zelda cast to be filled with nothing but variations of the same 3 characters over and over again

So far there doesn't seem to have been anything that prompted him to add much else outside of that. Doesn't help that the matter has never been adressed in any interviews up to now.

 

[MattX20]

forget that lets go down the hero route and have OOT, SS and both as those with one alt each

The only real disadvantage is the large sword that Hyrule Warriors Impa carries with her would have to be scrapped despite being a major part of her moveset. Having the other two as alts could still work though given their focus on ninja-like abilities and acrobatics.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

if only one of these designs could make it in Smash which would you prefer?

I would take AoC one, but...

forget that lets go down the hero route and have OOT, SS and both as those with one alt each

This option would be the most compelling, I agree.

What's really nice at this point is that Age of Calamity has created even more elements to work with for a potential Impa fighter if/when she gets in. Between OoT, SS, HW, & now this you could so easily have an amalgamation of those versions for both appearances & moveset.

One thing AoC has is that it's an official canon entry in the series, so it won't be mostly owned by KT like the first Hyrule Warriors is. Even if we get nothing else Zelda in Ultimate, this game will easily get a spirit event down the line, hands down (though half of me expects the universe to prove me wrong about that...).

 

[fogbadge]

The only real disadvantage is the large sword that Hyrule Warriors Impa carries with her would have to be scrapped despite being a major part of her moveset. Having the other two as alts could still work though given their focus on ninja-like abilities and acrobatics.

i mean she loses the large sword she carries when she switches to the naginata

 

[MattX20]

i mean she loses the large sword she carries when she switches to the naginata

and do the other incarnations of Impa have one?

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Perfection.

As soon as I saw Impa ninja run in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, I knew I had to do this pic.twitter.com/3modPdgHfe

— Kimerson@ EmblemCon Block E (@TheKimersonShow) September 26, 2020

 

[Teeb147]

If they can have a younger and older version of Ike in smash, I don't see why she couldn't have both versions too

 

[RetrogamerMax]

So where would y'all rate Impa's chances now?

 

[Teeb147]

I think I'm in love omg she has so much moveset potential! This is gonna be sick to play as.
Here some pics of her
View attachment 286846View attachment 286847
View attachment 286848

Omg I love that last pic. And you took it for your avatar XD It's ok I'll find some fan art somewhere

So where would y'all rate Impa's chances now?

A bit higher than they were after we learned about the game
She's awesome and got good attention, so yeah, I think she has a decent chance

 

[MattX20]

So where would y'all rate Impa's chances now?

Well, even with Legend of Zelda: Clam Chowder, she still has competition with another Xenoblade Rep, Bandana Dee, and Dixie Kong as far as potential additional first party picks that come from franchises with reps already in. She's undeniably the most likely Zelda newcomer given her being the most recurring character in the franchise not part of the Triforce Trio.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Well, even with Legend of Zelda: Clam Chowder, she still has competition with another Xenoblade Rep, Bandana Dee, and Dixie Kong as far as potential additional first party picks that come from franchises with reps already in. She's undeniably the most likely Zelda newcomer given her being the most recurring character in the franchise not part of the Triforce Trio.

I don't really see other Nintendo reps besides Zelda characters specifically Skull Kid as competition for Impa.

 

[QQS]

I have always said I’m fine with any new non-triforce character addition from Zelda to Smash. This is the best Nintendo franchise ever for me and totally deserves more characters, due to how amazing is the franchise in terms of characters, story, and all.

My most wanted Zelda character has always been Skull Kid. Though, I’m fine with any other like Impa or a Champion (here rooting for Mipha or Daruk).

Also, a Zelda collection and a Metroid collection looks very plausible in 2021 due to its 35 years. Zelda collection + Skyward HD; and Prime Trilogy HD.

 

[Nazyrus]

I decided to make a wallpaper already, hopefully Nintendo / KT stop being slow and drop those HD renders of the champions already, not those small as hell pictures with white background haha.

I felt like making a quick edit wallpaper, coz why not 🤷https://t.co/TjtEk8J3PK

Still waiting on HD renders of the Champions so I can make a series of wallpapers for them too…

Come ooon Nintendooo! just drop them already! pic.twitter.com/AB43V3ichr

— Zyrus (@NaZyrus07) September 26, 2020

So where would y'all rate Impa's chances now?

If Nintendo stops their stubbornness and gives us a new Zelda character once and for all, I would say her chances are high as hell. She is a character with long history in the series just like the main trio, and this latest entry in the series she has the most original moveset I've seen yet, Sheikah done justice at last.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

So where would y'all rate Impa's chances now?

I think she's certainly among the frontrunners when it comes to first party characters.

 

[N3ON]

I can't say I'm the biggest fan of Impa's characterization in AoC. Even with her being fairly young, it doesn't seem to fit the character imo. It seems like they're just taking popular personality tropes and forcing them onto Impa. I'll reserve my judgment, we really haven't seen that much and maybe she gets some good character development, but atm I'm not huge on it.

That said, her gameplay looks tons of fun, her design is nice and clean (though verrrrry similar to Paya, even with the shared genetics) and I look forward to playing as her a lot. Most of the champions never did anything for me anyway.

I guess at this point y'all just have to hope that people don't run off to whatever character is in the spotlight next, because the recency bias within the fanbase has been at ridiculous levels recently. I believe in general Impa is overlooked by the fanbase regarding her presence within the series, and she really ought to be next in line, so if them getting all cutesy with it is how they're going to change that... I guess that's the price to pay.

 

[Teeb147]

I have to ask though, why did they make her look so similar to Paya? Is there a reason for that? She could've had more differences to look unique...

 

[Nazyrus]

I have to ask though, why did they make her look so similar to Paya? Is there a reason for that? She could've had more differences to look unique...

To be honest it's more like Paya looks like Impa, lol. Grandaughter just looks after her Grandma haha.
I'm totally fine with this design honestly, and to be fair she does have some differences:

Right off the bat
- Different hair length and outfit
- The Chopstick placements are different
- Different make up
- Their eyebrows are also different
- Their face shape is also a little different
- Could be the artstyle but Paya seems to have more defined lashes than Impa pic.twitter.com/qGlhKLQfmi

— ✨Carby ✨ (@SapitoKirby) September 26, 2020

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I have to ask though, why did they make her look so similar to Paya? Is there a reason for that? She could've had more differences to look unique...

Probably Tecmo being lazy reusing a already existing model as a quick base.

 

[Teeb147]

To be honest it's more like Paya looks like Impa, lol. Grandaughter just looks after her Grandma haha.
I'm totally fine with this design honestly, and to be fair she does have some differences:

Right off the bat
- Different hair length and outfit
- The Chopstick placements are different
- Different make up
- Their eyebrows are also different
- Their face shape is also a little different
- Could be the artstyle but Paya seems to have more defined lashes than Impa pic.twitter.com/qGlhKLQfmi

— ✨Carby ✨ (@SapitoKirby) September 26, 2020

Well, chronologically, but this game still came later, so they could've tried to have a more unique design.

Probably Tecmo being lazy reusing a already existing model as a quick base.

That would suck, for a decently major character in the game XD

 

[Nazyrus]

Probably Tecmo being lazy reusing a already existing model as a quick base.

Tecmo doesn't choose the designs as far as I know, specially not on this entry where Nintendo was directly influencing how the game would go and allowing them such assets they made and own.