The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an action-adventure game developed and published by
Nintendo for the
Wii and
GameCube home video game consoles. It is the thirteenth installment in the
The Legend of Zelda series. Originally planned for release on the GameCube in November 2005, Twilight Princess was delayed by Nintendo to allow its developers to refine the game, add more content, and port it to the Wii. The Wii version was released alongside the console in North America in November 2006, and in Japan, Europe, and Australia the following month. The GameCube version was also released worldwide in December 2006, and was the final first-party game released for the console.
The story focuses on series protagonist
Link, who tries to prevent
Hyrule from being engulfed by a corrupted parallel dimension known as the Twilight Realm. To do so, he takes the form of both a
Hylian and a wolf, and is assisted by a mysterious creature named
Midna. The game takes place hundreds of years after
Ocarina of Time and
Majora's Mask, in an alternate timeline from
The Wind Waker.
At the time of its release,
Twilight Princess was critically acclaimed, receiving several Game of the Year awards. As of September 2015, 8.85 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide, making it the best-selling title in the series. In 2011, the Wii version was rereleased under the
Nintendo Selects label. A high-definition remaster for the
Wii U,
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, was released in March 2016.
Plot:
Twilight Princess takes place several centuries after Ocarina of Time and
Majora's Mask. The game begins with a youth named Link, who is working as a ranch hand in Ordon Village. One day, the village is attacked by
Bulblins, who carry off the village's children with Link in pursuit before he encounters a wall of Twilight. A Shadow Beast pulls him beyond the wall into the Twilight-shrouded forest, where he is transformed into a wolf and imprisoned. Link is soon freed by an imp-like Twilight creature named Midna, who offers to help him if he obeys her unconditionally. She guides him to
Princess Zelda, who explains that
Zant, the King of the Twilight, infiltrated
Hyrule Castle and forced her to surrender. The conquered kingdom was enveloped in Twilight, rendering all its inhabitants besides Link and Zelda spirits.
[] In order to save Hyrule, Link must first revive the
Light Spirits by entering the Twilight-covered regions and, as a wolf, recovering the Spirits' light from the Twilight beings that stole it. Once revitalized, each Spirit returns Link to his Hylian form.
During this time, Link also helps Midna acquire the Fused Shadows, fragments of a relic containing powerful dark magic. In return, she aids Link in rescuing Ordon Village's children, and assisting the monkeys of Faron, the
Gorons of Eldin and the
Zoras of Lanayru. After restoring the Light Spirits and obtaining the Fused Shadows, Link and Midna are ambushed by Zant, who relieves Midna of the fragments. She ridicules him for abusing his tribe's magic, but Zant reveals that his power comes from another source as he uses it to revert Link to his wolf state. Failing to seduce Midna into joining forces with him, Zant leaves her to die from the world's light. Upon bringing a dying Midna to Zelda, Link learns he needs the
Master Sword to lift Zant's curse. Zelda sacrifices herself to heal Midna with her power before vanishing mysteriously. Moved by Zelda's selflessness, Midna begins to care more about Link and the fate of the light world.
After gaining the Master Sword, Link is cleansed of the curse that kept him in wolf form. Deep within the Gerudo Desert, Link and Midna locate the Mirror of Twilight, the only known gateway between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm, but discover it is broken. The
Sages there explain that Zant tried to destroy it, but merely managed to shatter it into fragments; only the true ruler of the
Twili can completely destroy the Mirror of Twilight. They also relate that they once used it to banish
Ganondorf, the
Gerudo tribe leader who attempted to steal the
Triforce, to the Twilight Realm when executing him failed. Link and Midna set out to retrieve the missing shards of the Mirror. Once the portal has been restored, the Sages reveal to Link that Midna is the true ruler of the Twilight Realm, usurped by Zant when he cursed her into her current form. Confronting Zant, Link and Midna learn that Zant's coup was made possible when he forged a pact with Ganondorf, who asked for Zant's assistance in subjugating Hyrule. After Link defeats Zant, Midna recovers the Fused Shadows and destroys Zant after learning that only Ganondorf's death can release her from her curse.
Returning to Hyrule, Link and Midna find Ganondorf in Hyrule Castle, with a lifeless Zelda suspended above his head. Ganondorf fights Link by possessing Zelda's body and by transforming into a massive boar-like beast, but Link defeats him and Midna is able to resuscitate Zelda. Ganondorf then revives, and Midna teleports Link and Zelda outside the castle so she can hold him off with the Fused Shadows. However, as Hyrule Castle collapses, it is revealed that Ganondorf was victorious as he crushes Midna's helmet. Ganondorf engages Link on horseback; assisted by Zelda and the Light Spirits, Link eventually knocks Ganondorf off his horse and they duel on foot before Link strikes down Ganondorf and plunges the Master Sword into his chest. With Ganondorf dead, the Light Spirits revive Midna and restore her to her true form. After bidding farewell to Link and Zelda, Midna returns home and destroys the Mirror of Twilight with a tear to maintain balance between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm. As Hyrule Castle is rebuilt, Link leaves Ordon Village, heading off on his next adventure.
Gameplay:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an
action-adventure game focused on combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving. It uses the basic control scheme introduced in
Ocarina of Time, including context-sensitive action buttons and L-targeting (Z-targeting on the
Wii), a system that allows the player to keep
Link's view focused on an enemy or important object while moving and attacking. Link can walk, run, and attack, and will automatically jump when running off of or reaching for a ledge. Link uses a sword and shield in combat, complemented with secondary weapons and items, including a bow and arrows, a boomerang, and bombs. While L-targeting, projectile-based weapons can be fired at a target without the need for manual aiming.
The context-sensitive button mechanic allows one button to serve a variety of functions, such as talking, opening doors, and pushing, pulling, and throwing objects. The on-screen display shows what action, if any, the button will trigger, determined by the situation. For example, if Link is holding a rock, the context-sensitive button will cause Link to throw the rock if he is moving or targeting an object or enemy, or place the rock on the ground if he is standing still.
The
GameCube and Wii versions feature several minor differences in their controls. The Wii version of the game makes use of the motion sensors and built-in speaker of the
Wii Remote. The speaker emits the sounds of a bowstring when shooting an arrow,
Midna's laugh when she gives advice to Link, and the series' trademark "chime" when discovering secrets. The player controls Link's sword by swinging the Wii Remote. Other attacks are triggered using similar gestures with the
Nunchuk. Unique to the GameCube version is the ability for the player to control the camera freely, without entering a special "lookaround" mode required by the Wii; however, in the GameCube version, only two of Link's secondary weapons can be equipped at a time, as opposed to four in the Wii version.
The game features nine dungeons—large, contained areas where Link battles enemies, collects items, and solves puzzles. Link navigates these dungeons and fights a boss at the end in order to obtain an item or otherwise advance the plot. The dungeons are connected by a large overworld, across which Link can travel on foot; on his horse,
Epona; or by teleporting with Midna's assistance.
When Link enters the Twilight Realm, the void that corrupts parts of
Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf. He is eventually able to transform between his
Hylian and wolf forms at will. As a wolf, Link loses the ability to use his sword, shield, or any secondary items; he instead attacks by biting and defends primarily by dodging attacks. However, "Wolf Link" gains several key advantages in return—he moves faster than he does as a human (though riding Epona is still faster) and digs holes to create new passages and uncover buried items, and has improved senses, including the ability to follow scent trails. He also carries Midna, a small imp-like creature who gives him hints, uses an energy field to attack enemies, helps him jump long distances, and eventually allows him to "warp" to any of several preset locations throughout the overworld. Using Link's wolf senses, the player can see and listen to the wandering spirits of those affected by the Twilight, as well as hunt for enemy ghosts named
Poes.
The artificial intelligence (AI) of enemies in Twilight Princess is more advanced than that of enemies in
The Wind Waker. Enemies react to defeated companions and to arrows or slingshot pellets that pass by, and can detect Link from a greater distance than was possible in previous games.
There is very little voice acting in the game, as is the case in most
The Legend of Zelda titles to date. Link remains silent in conversation, but grunts when attacking or injured and gasps when surprised. His emotions and responses are largely indicated visually by nods and facial expressions. Other characters have similar language-independent verbalizations, including laughter, surprised or fearful exclamations, and screams. Midna has the most voice acting—her on-screen dialogue is often accompanied by a babble of pseudo-speech, which was produced by scrambling English phrases sampled by Japanese voice actress
Akiko Kōmoto.
The Verdict:
Anyone who knows me personally know that I think very highly of
Ocarina of Time as that was my favorite Zelda game in terms of visuals and controls for a VERY long time. That being said, I haven't had much time nor experience playing any newer Zelda titles since then. Sure, I played
Wind Waker,
Majora's Mask, and some of the various portable outings off and on briefly, but never flat out and went out of my way to purchase a new(ish) Zelda title until now.
With
Breath of the Wild right around the corner as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch console, I figured I would jump on the ball and start knocking out some of these older Zelda titles off my gaming backlog.
Twilight Princess was on my backlog for a VERY long time and I'm glad that I finally got the chance to cross this game off the list.
Controls
The motion controls are a cool novelty at first, but after like about 2-3 dungeons in, I was completely over it and switched the controls to manual aiming and camera manipulation. Even then it was better, but I thought it was stupid that the game still inverts the axis no matter what you set in the options settings. This issue is amplified more when you get the double hookshots, where in most occasions you have an limited amount of time to target your next grapple point before your current one drops Link to certain doom or leaves him suspended like a sitting duck since you have no combat options while using that item. I think it was more with the Nunchuck I was using but I also had an issue where Link would get stuck after climbing vines on walls and won't release his grip at times or would go and grab the wall again when I wanted to move away from the wall. I would have a similar issue with Z-Targeting where I would lock onto an enemy it would unlock and I'd have to lock-on again. So I go into the Options and change it to "Hold" the button down. Same issue kept happening over and over so I was just got use to it. It works best when Link is facing an opponent 1-on-1 but seems to screw up when facing multiple foes at once. That seems to be a design flaw as the targeting system always wants to target what's in Link's field of vision and that's not always aligned to what the player what him to lock onto as a primary threat.
While I'm at it...
Fuck the combat controls while riding Epona. To this date,
Shadow of the Colossus still has the best horseback combat controls I have personally experienced in a video game. I'm really surprised that Nintendo didn't take a few nods from that game here. I was fine with controling Epona for just riding around Hyrule but combat from horseback blows. Shooting arrows was hit or miss, much like the motion controls.
Oh well, I'm currently playing
Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4 so let's see if my opinion on horseback controls changes after that game.
I have to mention that even if you turn the motion controls off, you still have to manipulate the Nunchuck and Wiimote for Shield Bashes, Spin Attacks, and Sword Slashes. What annoyed me the most though was that huge delay it felt like between Link doing what I did with the Nunchuck between it actually happening in game. If only there was a way to make all of those inputs manual instead of motion activated it would have been a perfect in terms of combat. If I were to revisit this game again, I would honestly lean more towards the Gamecube version or the HD remake on Wii U if there's a traditional control scheme instead of the motion controls.
To be honest, I can forgive Nintendo for more care about that issue since the majority of the game was a solid experience.
Narrative
The story follows the fall of the Twilight Realm that is linked to Hyrule but became corrupted after Zant cursed Midna and took over with Ganondorf's help. The latter isnt' revealed until near the end of the game and by that point, it just felt like a cop out to me to just make Ganondorf the Dr. Wily/Sigma of this game that we just have to fight at the end of every Zelda title. That being said, Zant ended up being all talk and having little to back up his position of power. To say that he went out of his way to curse Midna and cover Hyrule in shadows, only to be revealed to be yet another Ganondorf pawn was pretty underwhelming. Then again, Zelda fans are rarely here for the story so whatever. Seriously, if you're playing
ANY Nintendo first-party title for a great story then you're definitely in the wrong place. I'm sure that's going to change once
Breath of the Wild drops, so we'll see.
After establishing Link, Zelda, and Ganon as the "unholy" trinity as I like to call it in Ocarina of Time, I guess Nintendo felt that they have to keep them in their console Zelda games even though this game exists in an alternate reality compared to the other games. This story could have been easily contained to just being about Link and Midna's bond as they work together to save both Hyrule and the Twilight Realm from Zant's reign of power.
 |
If you've seen the ending, Link seemed more happy to see Midna than Princess Zelda for once... Not that
I can blame the man... |
That being said, I really liked the bond between Midna and Link. She was definitely what Link needed to balance out his character and why Zelda feels like a third wheel in this story. It was rather stupid to close the door on her story as they could have left the door open for her to return in a future title in some form or fashion.
From what I tell, Midna seems to be a VERY popular character after this game with a lot of fans even campaigning for her to be included into a future
Super Smash Bros. title. At least she made it into
Hyrule Warriors, so that's at least something.
Overall Experience
I'll be completely honest and say that I REALLY didn't like Wolf Link at first. The concept was cool and all, but the execution fell flat at times. The fact that the charge attack with Midna took a while to charge up, allowing enemies to hit Link and knock him out of it in the process. Plus, I didn't care for the early sections of the game where they forced the Wolf state on you just to move the plot along since the game didn't want you to have all of your skills and weapons that you would in Hylian Link form. I felt that once they gave you that item where Midna allows Link to change from human to wolf freely, that's when the game truly feels fun. From that point on, the game doesn't force using the wolf on you, instead it encourages you to have an open mind about using both forms and it really works out in the long haul after that point, especially towards the endgame phase of the game. By that point, the game already had you jump through enough hoops in both forms so you know what to expect from them both when you have to tackle hairy combat situations throughout the game or need a new angle to approach one of the many in-game puzzles.
As for the puzzles themselves? There weren't nothing too hard to figure out outside of a few optional sidequests/dungeons, but there wasn't a single dungeon that had me stomped on what to do outside of that weight scale puzzle in that one dungeon where you get the Dominion Rod that makes statues follow your commands.
While I loved the huge variety of weapons available, I felt it was a shame that nine times out of ten, the sword and arrows get the job done. You might use the hookshot/dual hookshot, Wind Boomerang, and Bombs occasionally here and there, but the game caters combat heavily towards the sword and arrows. I can't complain about combat too much as the Hidden Skills side quest kept things interesting with a variety of new techniques for Link to acquire and master. I enjoyed the fact that by the end of the game, the enemy AI made sure you had the bulk of these techniques down or you weren't going to best them at all, especially those knights and lizardmen towards the end of the game.
 |
| Nintendo knew EXACTLY what they were doing putting big boobed Telma in this game. |
I enjoyed that most of the side quests weren't as much of a chore or as time consuming as those in past Zelda games. You know the ones that come to mind, such as that long trading quest back and forth from the portable games that had you fencing different items for multiple NPCs until finally ending this process towards the end of the game. Here, they only serve as minor diversions to the main mission(s), but overall help Link and Midna in the long haul with their rewards, such as increasing Link's item carrying capacity on his various weapons and Rupee wallet. Helping Malo Mart fund their new store in Castle Town allows Link to purchase items in Castle Town at a discounted price, as well as being able to purchase the Magic Armor, which renders Link invincible to all damage as long as he has Rupees to in his wallet to take the damage instead. I thought the bug collecting for Agitha wasn't too demanding and I would have hunted down all of the Poe Souls (they aren't that hard to spot, especially at night) if wasn't in a rush to go ahead and finish the game. Then there was the Great Fairy Hunt/Challenge that I didn't bother with either, which challenges Link to conquer 50 floors of increasing difficulty to acquire the last few Poe Souls and few extra bonuses.
Nintendo definitely didn't disappoint with the bosses here as there wasn't not a single boss that I didn't enjoy facing. Sure, I mentioned earlier that Zant was a bit of a pushover, but I won't deny that his boss battle was still fun even though I was expecting a bit more fight from him than that. In typical Zelda fashion, every boss is a reflection or rather a final exam of the knowledge and strategies you devised in the dungeons that led to them. The bosses also serve to test the player's mastery over the new item(s) or weapon(s) acquired on their way to said boss. Zant is the perfect example of that; whereas his boss battle is the ultimate test of almost everything you have used throughout the course of the game to get to that point that ultimately leads to a hand-to-hand sword-slashing finale.
Play It or Don't Bother?
 |
| I love the promotional art for this game and the huge poster like this that came with the strategy guide. |
If you're a Zelda fan,
definitely play this one if you haven't already. The motion controls a bit hit or miss but you can't go wrong with this adventure. It's a slow grind a the beginning for the tutorial and the introduction to the Wolf form, but once things get going, it's hard to put this title down. Most players will more likely want to opt for the Wii U version with the updated visuals, additional content, and Amiibo support, but if you only want to to experience the game, you honestly can't go wrong with the standard Wii version I went with.
