Gamernode: Reviews - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight ...
• Wii
• Nintendo
• Nintendo
• November 19th, 2006

When one thinks of time-tested, classic video game franchises, it's difficult NOT to think of The Legend of Zelda. Now the series that has wowed gamers time and time again has been introduced on Nintendo's new Wii console, with The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. The only question that remains is, does this spiritual successor to The Ocarina of Time stand up to the task, and is it worthy of the Zelda name? The answer: yes, it is everything gamers have come to expect from the franchise, in just the same way they've always experienced it...but in this era of gaming, is that enough? The desire to stay close to what has made the series great in the past operates both as a boon and as a hindrance to Twilight Princess. Familiar trappings such as well-designed dungeon areas, deep boss battles, interesting characters and a variety of useful items make this an enjoyable (and lengthy) adventure, but issues with control, pacing and an overall feeling of datedness keep this game from achieving all the glory of previous editions.

Twilight Princess is the tale of another young lad named Link who comes from humble beginnings as a goatherd in the small village of Ordon, just south of "Hyrule Proper." An unfortunate series of events sends Link to the rescue of a few of the villagers, but before he can make it very far, he is drawn into an alternate world known as the Twilight Realm. It is here that a good portion of the game will take place, and serves as this game's analog to the light and dark worlds from A Link to the Past, or even Link's childhood and adulthood in The Ocarina of Time. In this digitized dark filter of Hyrule, Link is transformed into a wolf, and has a different set of abilities than while in his human form.

Wolf Link is able to dig into the ground for items, and even pass under obstacles such as gates and walls. He also possesses the "sense" ability, which reveals things that would otherwise be imperceptible such as scents or apparitions. If these aren't enough, a little twilight-dweller named Midna joins him on his quest, and grants him new combat techniques and the very nifty ability to make seemingly impossible leaps in rapid succession. The dichotomy of the two worlds along with Link's two forms creates a sense of variety in gameplay, which is more fully realized later on in the quest, but falters slightly when first introduced.

Early on, Link must venture to various portions of Hyrule in traditional Zelda fashion, complete a series of dungeons to collect a group of items to eventually save the land of Hyrule. The difference here is that each area is initially veiled in Twilight, and Link is charged with the task of locating "tears of light" to de-twilightize it. This is where the alternate world mechanic feels wholly unsatisfying, and efficiently spoils the game's pacing. Collecting these tears of light simply amounts to a few glorified fetch-quests, which take up way too much time and do not offer any significant captivation or development. In all honesty, during these segments I found myself playing more for the prospect of returning to human form than for the actual gameplay itself. It just feels like fluff or filler, and it's not even a necessity in terms of the broader scope of the game. Combine that with excessive hand-holding at the outset, and you have the ingredients for a laboriously slow introduction.

Otherwise, the design of the game is predominantly very good. Hyrule is huge, approximating roughly five times that of Ocarina, and it's put together such that it unfolds to the player naturally and elegantly. As Link traverses the landscape, load times are few and far between, and when they do rear their ugly heads it's brief and relatively painless. This applies to dungeon areas as well which, as always, are superbly conceived and executed, with very well thought-out progression and plenty of interesting new puzzle ideas. These are really the meat and potatoes of the game, and provide the essence of the Zelda experience. There is generally a point within each dungeon where the gameplay is stepped up, presenting a new set of challenges to the gamer. These points coincide with the acquisition of one of the game's many new secondary weapons and items. Of course there are the old standbys, such as the bow, boomerang, and bombs, but Twilight Princess also incorporates a slew of new toys for Link to play with, and even adds slight tweaks and new uses for the recycled items in order to keep things fresh.

The new controller is a great advantage here, and makes aiming Link's projectile weapons incredibly intuitive. You simply point at the screen, and fire away with the B trigger. Alternatively, you can elect to disable the pointer and aim with the control stick, but I think the pointer works better in this case. Another nice alteration is that Link's tools no longer dwell within the shadows of random treasure chests, but are acquired by defeating "minibosses" within each dungeon. The sense of achievement involved is reminiscent of the recovery of abilities in Metroid Prime. Link truly does earn his weapons now.

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