Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Platform: Gamecube, Wii, Wii U (March 2016)
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Author: K.D.
Proud badge-wearer of the Legend of Zelda series, Twilight Princess succeeded Four Swords Adventures and Minish Cap, and brought Zelda to the Wii! Following the 3D modeled Zelda games, Link is once again exploring the Kingdom of Hyrule and trying to prevent the Twilight Realm from swallowing up the Light World. There have generally been a distinct dark/light world in previous games, and this one is no exception. Though many themes are shared with a majority of other games in the series, Twilight Princess has a significant amount of detail that differentiates it from the others.
The gameplay is similar to that of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, which is to say that they use both 3rd and 1st person view. The game is generally played in 3rd person, however certain weapons toggle into 1st person view, or 1st person can be toggled to look around—though you are unable to move unless you’re on horseback. That being said, Twilight Princess’ gameplay takes it further away from its predecessors and creates a solid stand-alone game. Things that help this are the new wolf-mode Link, new attacks, a dark individual who serves as a target assist, oh… and did I mention you get to be a motherf***ing wolf?!
Look at them, they could practically be twins!
In terms of what is different in this game from its predecessors, gameplay-wise, is the wolf mode that Link “acquires”. Thrust into the Twilight Realm, Link is forcefully transformed into a wolf. His attacks change (duh, you can’t hold a sword in wolf form because you now have RAZOR SHARP TEETH OF DOOM!), and his movement style changes as well. Because he’s a wolf. Ahhhh you get it. So beyond that, there are still some pretty iconic Zelda themes that pop up in this games,
Human-form Link doesn’t have any form of using music other than Horse Grass (used to summon Epona) until you get the Horse Call/Ilia’s Charm (also used to summon Epona). Wolfy-Link, however, has the ability to howl, giving players the opportunity to once again fulfill their inner musician’s dreams! Howling is very important as there are 6 stones hidden across Hyrule that, when howled at, summons the Golden Wolf who will teach Link new attacks, such as the Finisher, or the Roll-Slash. There is a seventh stone, but Link is brought to it pretty early on in the game. Attacks as Human-Link involve his sword or whatever weapons he so chooses to use, but Wolfy-Link is somewhat limited in his usage of his maw and Midna’s dark aura bubble thing.
Another big change to the gameplay is the new target assist character: Midna. She belongs to a tribe that was banished to the Twilight Realm, and she is awesome! Small and spunky, she has a dark sense of humour and doesn’t actually offer information about enemies in the way that faeries have in previous games. She will, however, provide small hints as to what needs to be done next. As a wolf, she can help out in battle creating a dark aura around Wolfy-Link and hitting the crap out of trapped enemies in rapid succession. She can also help Link jump expanses providing her assistance icon pops up. In the Twilight Realm, she rides on Wolfy-Link’s back freely, but in the Light World she has to hide in his shadow since the light hurts her.
Alright, so let’s talk visuals. As I said before, Zelda games thrive off of some sort of dichotomy between light and dark. In Twilight Princess, this is made much more prevalent as the general visual presentation seems bleak from the get-go. There are some bright colours in the Light World, but on the whole, it seems like the developers went for a more subdued colour palette outside of temples. Speaking of which, temples are still abundantly attached to sounds and colours; the water temple has tons of blue and light harp music, while the fire temple has orange-reds and browns coupled with hammer-striking-anvil sounds and steam. The visual aspect of Twilight Princess closely resembles that of Majora’s Mask, where there is a palpable sense of something evil afoot.
Music has always been important in the Zelda series, but without Link’s trusty Ocarina it seems as though the developers are moving away from using music as an integral part. Wrong. Twilight Princess features the largest and most extensive Zelda soundtrack. It has 200 tracks, all of which help localize certain areas and characters. It includes the Wolfy songs required to complete and acquire hidden skills for Link to use in battle, as well as the new-and-improved Zelda’s Lullaby which sounds better than ever with the inclusion of a synth choir. Ah, I could go on for hours about the subtleties and nuances of this soundtrack… but I’ll spare you the details. Just take my word: it’s wonderful. BUT, what it doesn’t include is the classic My Heart Will Go On which is oh so easy for Wolfy-Link to howl. And talk about perfect pitch, that howl doesn’t even waver!
Ah, my favourite villain to beat up in every Zelda game!
As with any Zelda game worth its salt, players will find loads of reasons to replay Twilight Princess. Whether it’s to experience the playfully mischievous Midna at her prime, or to collect ALL of the weapons or hidden skills or bottles or pieces of hearts or golden bugs or… well, you get the idea. But personally, the story is solid enough to merit additional playthroughs. I mean, it has likeable characters, the chance to beat up Ganondorf yet again, another annoying water temple (seriously, why are they all so confusing!?), pleasing graphics, and the opportunity to be a motherf***ing WOLF. ~sigh~ They had me at wolf.
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