Review: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 05/05/2008 by Michael
Action-Adventre/RPG
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
The long running and wildly successful Zelda series arrives on the Wii with Twilight princess, allowing you to think of your remote as Link's sword and swing it wildly around, which despite what you might think never becomes old. The absence of this I feel would be the biggest drawback of playing this game on the Gamecube, as although the game looks almost identical, apart from the fact the whole thing is a mirror image, the physical nature of the Wii control makes for some good immersion into being Link. The best example is the way the sword strike changes with the angle you swing the controller, but also the point to shoot method for ranged weapons is also nifty..
Now apart from the fun new control style the game itself dosen't break that much new ground in terms of the Zelda series and largely follows the same formula as previous games, most notably Ocarina of Time. Now this isn't really a bad thing as the formula of roaming the countryside looking for trouble, solving the dungeon/temple puzzles then fighting a level boss is tried and true and endlessly fun, but one feels that having a new platform to work with we might have expected a bit more of a shake up. The graphics look dated at times and the sounds are a bit old school, like the whole wierd noises every time someone speaks, but thats just Nintendo I suppose. Anyway what we do have is still a wonderfully complete game that is full of great characters, has a wonderful story, challenging puzzles and plenty of medieval combat goodness..
So this time round Hyrule is being covered by a menacing twilight, that sucks the life out of everything and of course the princess need saving. Now when Link is in the twilight realm he transforms into a cool wolf, this gives you extra canine abilities like super senses that allow you to follow scents, find hidden things and talk to the animals, but obviously at the expense of all your human abilities. Now when in this mode you are accompanied by the game's guide and pointer outerer of important stuff, Midna. Midna is a weird little floaty imp who has cool teleporting skills and when in wolf mode midna can yelp you with jumping long distances, very handy. She is also the most interesting character in the game, and it is a long time in before you work out her story.(and when you see her in her real form she is super hot, for a cartoon woman. I know I suck.).
Moving right along the game is big and most people average about 40hrs to complete it. It demands a fair bit of attention, and maybe a few sick days from work, but it will keep your interest by mixing up the gameplay, between Link, the wolf and riding on horse. Add the temples, each with a completely unique feel and the special items which open up new sections of the game, and give new skills, the evolution of combat with more complex moves and so on... There is a hell of a lot to do in this game and if you choose to be a perfectionist, getting through all the secrets, as in the poes and the golden bugs you will probably play well past the average 40hrs quite happily. And if by chance you still want more there are the mini games and fishing to be done. And then you can get stuck into the Cave of Ordeals, a 50 stage combat challenge that is hella fun and one of the only times you will be pushed in a combat scenario..
But the core of the game is the dungeon/temple levels which start off very straight forward and develop into quite challenging puzzles like the Sky temple. These puzzles are multifaceted and usually require you to do several things over a whole level, at the start of a level they will seem quite confusing but on the whole the levels are largely linear with not that many ways to go wrong. That being said there will be times where you are completely stumped and walking in circles staring at the same stupid stuff. My advice is relax, try to use the item that you got in that level, and don't overthink it. The game is made to be played by kids too remember. Or you can just admit you suck and look it up on the internet. .
So despite not looking super flash, the game is enthralling and recommended to anyone looking to pass the time having an adventure. A warning though, as I said before the game takes time and the story can be quite elaborate, so it may not be best suited to the occasional gamer, as if you leave the game for a while and return to it you will have lost the plot and hence interest in the game. No, this game is best suited to someone who can play the game nightly for a few hours, or of course the hardcore gamer who will buy it saturday morning and not sleep till it is done in the wee hours of Monday. You know you want to.