Review: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

[Joshawott 7]

Let's be frank: Ocarina of Time is a game very few--if any--ever forget. But for those who for some reason ever do, then Twilight Princess is the one game that'll be able to remind them just why they love Zelda so much. It takes everything that made the series so famous and expands upon it, though arguably at the expense of offering anything radical to the canon. But that doesn't stop it from being the wonderful game that it is.

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Twilight Princess is set hundreds of years after Ocarina of Time. Its story is one of the darkest in the series--comparable to that of Majora's Mask's, and that game was pretty damn sad. Zelda games aren't necessarily known for their storylines; a hero saving the world and its princess from imminent evil admittedly isn't the most original concept ever created. But how it's executed is what makes it so effective, and like Ocarina, Twilight Princess doesn't upset in conjuring memories of its older brother. Hyrule is slowly being covered in a force known as Twilight. As it slowly creeps into Link's home province of Ordona, a small annex to Hyrule proper, he's called by the gods to stop it and is accompanied by a mysterious dweller of the Twilight, Midna, who for unknown reasons wants to stop it as well. But the second Link steps into the darkness, he turns into a wolf and only Midna knows why and how to change back.

Veterans of the series should be able to feel right at home with the game, as it reminds us why we fell in love with the series to begin with when it made its first transition into 3D more than ten years ago, and shows first-timers why Ocarina is so great. But it's that same nostalgic value that some would argue is one of Twilight Princess' weaker points: in a larger perspective, it failed to truly innovate on the series and instead took a step back and "recycled" the series' old tricks and formulas, as one would say. But like game director Eiji Aonuma said, Twilight Princess would be the last of its kind in the series; perhaps the striking similarities weren't all just laziness on the development team's part as some would criticize.

Halfway through development, the Zelda team decided to make a version of the originally GameCube only game on Wii. Personally, I'm glad they did it. Twilight Princess was one of the very few launch titles to truly give an idea of just what made Wii's motion controls so great, and was the series' opportunity of what to expect when it comes time for a new installment made exclusively for the console. As a result, the entire game was horizontally reversed with the intention to make playing a left-handed character easier for a world where righties are the majority. Being left-handed myself, it wasn't really a problem; in fact, I played through the entire game holding the Wii Remote in my left hand.

Swordplay is manipulated from a quick shakes of the remote, and an attack combo through consecutive shakes and pressing buttons simultaneously. Link is able to learn special techniques such as his famous spin attack and parrying from The Wind Waker. Item allocation is largely unchanged from the formula first forged in Ocarina, but made more interactive thanks to the Wii Remote and nunchuk. Aim the remote to shoot arrows and your hookshot, jab the nunchuk to thrust your shield forward, and participate in Link's old pastime of fishing as if you're holding the controller as an actual fishing rod.

As a wolf, Link's movement is considerably limited; he can't use any of the items he could as a human and can't talk to people and are instead scared to death of him. But at the same token, his sense of hearing, sight and smell are heightened dramatically, as he can see, hear and smell things he originally couldn't. He can talk to animals, who serve the same purpose as if he were to talk to people as a human. His jumping ability is increased with Midna's help, and has a multi-targeted attack only Wolf Link can use.

Link has no instrument of his own unlike in Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and The Wind Waker except for a whistle he acquires late in the game to call Epona. However, he can whistle on special kinds of grass to call different animals, and as a wolf can howl at special stones, which is needed to solve puzzles and to acquire his aforementioned special sword skills.

Link's arsenal is nostalgic and familiar, with old friends such as slingshots, bombs and his trusty hookshot (only this time, believe it or not, there's two of them). But he also has new weapons such as a rod with a magic power and one he can actually ride. But if there were anything to complain about, it'd be the vast number of items to choose from, but so little opportunities to use them. Many of the items you find will, for the most part, only be used in the dungeon from which you found them or until you find an upgrade. It may just be personal opinion, but when it comes to Link's arsenal, it should always be quality over quantity.

Unlike Ocarina of Time, though maybe for the worse, is the lack of truly open ended gameplay. In the past games, you could, for the most part, visit all the temples in any order and still complete the game. This time around, you essentially have someone telling you where to go from dungeon to dungeon and town to town. Non-linearity is what made the original Legend of Zelda so revolutionary, and it's honestly kind of sad to see it gone.

Hyrule in Twilight Princess is almost absurdly massive, not that it's a bad thing of course. It's more vertically oriented than Ocarina's horizontally oriented Hyrule, but happily familiar yet excitingly explorable at the same time. It's not the horizonless field we saw in the 2004 IGN trailer some may have been looking forward too, but it's definitely better than nothing. The waters of Lake Hylia, the endless thickets of Faron Woods, the volcanic Death Mountain, the frigid Snowpeak and the barren Gerudo Desert are all testaments to Hyrule's natural beauty. But for a country as massive as it is, it's regrettably unpopulated aside from the central capital of Hyrule Castle Town. Twilight Princess isn't limited technologically the same way Ocarina of Time was, so naturally I'd be hoping for more figures this time around. Then again, that just may be my naivete of the GameCube's power.

For those who thought anything less than favorably of the cel-shaded toon inspired art style used in The Wind Waker and the subsequent handheld titles, Twilight Princess is nothing short of a godsend. It's a return to the naturalistic style of Ocarina of Time and an answer to what the hell happened to what we saw at SpaceWorld 2001. From a certain perspective, one would say that Twilight Princess falls short of being a next-generation game due to its lackluster look compared to those on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 (then again, Wii was never a graphic juggernaut). But one must remember that it was largely developed as a GameCube game, and it graphically pushes it to its limits; it's definitely the most beautiful game to grace the GameCube, and a fine selection for Nintendo's swan song on the console.

Character designs are gorgeous and reminiscent of medieval Europe. Link's tunic is more detailed than ever, Zelda herself is stunningly beautiful (as usual) and enemies and fiends are actually frightening (as a total coward of spiders, the giant skulltullas scared me so much I actually made my little sister kill them for me) The interior of Hyrule Castle is truly fit for the royal family and its exterior is so massive it's seen literally from every point in Hyrule. The Twilight areas, while desolate, are aptly named thanks to the sepia tones over saturation of yellow and black. However, some figures tend to get blurry and textures are sometimes detractive from the overall screen. But overall, they can largely be ignored and should hardly ever detract from the gameplay.

Koji Kondo returns for the twelfth time to compose the game's music, and this time is accompanied by Asuka Ota (Four Swords Adventures, Mario Kart Wii) and Toru Minegishi (The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass). Nintendo and Kondo also commissioned Michiru Oshima (Full Metal Alchemist, Godzilla) to compose an orchestrated composition for the famous E3 2005 trailer, titled "We Don't Want You Anymore". The three bring back very familiar tracks such as "Saria's Song" and "Zelda's Lullaby" in all new arrangements, as well as new songs such as personal favorites the Hyrule Field theme on horseback and "Midna's Desperate Hour". The soundtrack in general is passable, but it's weakest points are the heavy reliance on old songs (mainly from Ocarina of Time) and the lack of a full orchestrated soundtrack. Kondo said that a live soundtrack would prove to be harder to make the music blend seamlessly, which MIDI music is more capable of doing, but the mere lack of presence of it disappoints. However, live music does play during key cutscenes, and the Hyrule Field theme transitions from MIDI to live from moving by foot to on horseback with Epona. Another thing I missed was when the battle music crescendos every time Link strikes an enemy, as in The Wind Waker. However, Link's howling as a wolf was something I could live without, or at least made better,

Also absent is full voice acting. Link brings back his signature grunts, yells and gasps (thanks to his new voice actor Akira Sasanuma--personally preferable to Ocarina's Nobuyuki Hiyama), and other characters also do the same. While most would say giving Link a voice would ruin the game (and for the most part, I agree; if Nintendo ever does, they should just put an option to switch between their English and Japanese voices or turn it off altogether), one of the musts for making a true transitions into the next generation is full voice acting. However, Midna does have all her lines voice acted (the first character in the series to do so), though all her lines are indecipherable.

There are plentiful extras and sidequests for when you want to distract yourself (because you see, Link is a guy who likes to have fun, and when leisure calls Zelda will just have to wait). Go ahead and fish at the fishing hole, raise some yetis at snowboarding, beat an arrogant clown at his own STAR game, and go rapid river rafting with the Zora. Collect all the Poe souls for Jovani, Pieces of Hearts for optimal health and bugs for Princess Agitha. Also, in the Gerudo Desert is the Cave of Ordeals, a 50-level dungeon with the game's toughest enemies with limited recovery and consumable items. The reward for completing it is rather minimal, but if you're anything like me, you'll just play it for the sense of completeness.

Is Twilight Princess better than Ocarina of Time? For me, they're pretty tied. Is Twilight Princess the best Zelda game ever made? Sadly no, considering it's one of the most pre-hyped games in the series. Maybe it's because it stayed a bit too close to Older Brother Ocarina's side. Nintendo spent more time on catering to nostalgia than innovation. Compared to Ocarina, it still stands in its shadow, but standing alone, it's definitely one of Zelda's and Nintendo's best.

Story: 9/10

Gameplay: 9/10

Graphics: 9.5/10

Music & sound: 8.75/10

Replayability: 8.5/10

Ovarall score: 9.5/10

Overall score not an average.

Edited 26 Mar 2009 by SirJoshizzle (see edit history)