Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube & Nintendo Wii
ERSB: Teen
Genre: Adventure
Number of Players: 1
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: US 11/19/2007
Official Website
Writer: Shadowpuppetz

Rating: 8.0

Legends Never Die – A review on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess opted to be the Ocarina of Time for the next generation of consoles and gamers. I believe that they were right. The first half of the game reminds us much of Ocarina in terms of controls and dungeons; even the story at first is very similar. Link starts out in a small forest village outside of Hyrule and has to travel through similar dungeons and cities, including the Goron village. The best part though is that these aspects are not copies, they’re different versions. Almost as if to get those of us who played Ocarina almost 10 years ago “back into the groove” – so to speak.

After you’ve spent a little while ‘revisiting’, you’re thrown into the Twilight and it’s a whole ‘nother story. Controlling Link in wolf form is suprisingly easy and he’s got a few new abilities that aren’t complicated to master. It is also in the Twilight where the true story begins. I’m not going to get into the story, but I will say this: It has become so much more than collecting fragments of the Triforce in order to save Princess Zelda. Each game in the series seems to have a much richer lore engulfing it, and it’s awesome.

At first the Twilight areas get kind of repetitive, but don’t worry; it doesn’t last that way. After being forced to turn into wolf form a couple of times, you can change by choice to reach areas that Link would not be able to reach in his human form. Also, we are joined in wolf form by Midna, who rides on your back and helps you out a bit. One could say that she is a replacement for the fairy Navi from Ocarina… but without the annoyance factor and with better help options. For instance, she can warp you to different locations on the map after a while, which comes in handy by saving us boring travel time. Navi couldn’t do that, hehe.

There are also loads of side quests and even a few mini games. So if you get stuck on a puzzle somewhere, you can let your mind rest for a while and set off to get something else done in the huge world of Hyrule. There are quite a number of people to talk to as well, but alas, there are no voiceovers. I don’t mind Link being silent, he always has been, but the addition of other character voices would make the game so much more immersive. Like the difference between Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 10, where there was no read-only dialog. Besides, haven’t you always wondered what the Zora would sound like?

I would have appreciated a difficulty setting option as well. Not that’s it’s too simple, but it seems like it’s attempting to be on a middle ground so kids will be able to play as well…And sometimes that’s just not challenging enough; especially on the boss fights. Most of them require a mere 3-5 target hits to defeat and I just think it would be fun to go through it again on “difficult”.

All in all though, “Twilight Princess” looks beautiful and is simple to navigate through. You control Link through the left analog and the camera with the right. The same item control is used from Ocarina and Windwaker [setting different items to x and y] and it’s nice not having to get used to a whole new set up. It also seems like motion capture technology was used for animating Link’s movements, which added a more realistic style to the game. In my opinion, Twilight Princess was a great way to welcome in the Wii and an even greater way to show the Gamecube out.

Graphics:
Beautiful. The graphics are very rich and non-pixelated, you should see the water…

Controls:
Very easy to get used to, no matter what form Link is in.

Sound:
The sound was nice, recognizable versions of themes from the past. The best was the opening theme though, I loved the choir. The rest could have used a little more depth, but it was still nice.

Flow:
Very nice, not too much is thrown on you at once and even though some of the dungeons/puzzles seem really simple, it still takes a while to get them done and there are a lot of areas to go through.

Fun Factor:
Very fun, there are even some mini-games if you start to get bored with what you’re doing.

Female Aspect:
I guess you could say that Midna is playable, but not really. You can use her for some of Links abilities in wolf form, but she’s more of a helper than a playable character.

Replay Value:
Not too high, unless you want to go through again and try to unlock every secret. It’s a fun game, but when it’s done you’re left feeling very satisfied, at least for a few months