The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess [A Review]

After a long absence from contributing to the VT, I figured I needed to tackle something I’m very passionate about to make an effective return. Anyone who knows me, knows ‘The Legend of Zelda’ series is one of my passions. What follows is the first videogame review for the VT, a review of ‘The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’ for the Nintendo Wii.

Story: 7.5
At first ‘Twilight Princess’ starts off just like almost every other Zelda game; Link, a young boy on the verge of manhood, wakes up to a day that will change his life forever. The princess is in danger, he’s a hero chosen by the gods, and the Triforce will somehow be stuck in there in ways that might, or might not (likely not, in fact) be fully explained. Link will gradually become a man, travel to the remote areas of the world, and will be forced to stop Gannon(dorf), whether or not the story had anything to do with him when it first began. Add improvements, and repeat.
Let’s be honest, actual story telling is not the strength of this series; and no one cares. As ‘Twilight Princess’ advances, the story actually has a surprising amount of gravity to it; at least for a Zelda game. Link’s new companion, Midna, along with the inclusion of the Twilight realm creates a story with enough new twists to at least keep you interested between challenging puzzles and action sequences.

Gameplay: 10.0
This is where the Legend of Zelda has always shined; and the day that this changes is the day Nintendo needs to retire the series for good (may it never happen!). ‘Twilight Princess’ keeps intact the basic control scheme of targeting to handle difficulties involved with controlling a character in a 3-D world developed for ‘Ocarina of Time’, with only minor improvements. The changes are minor, but that’s fine because it’s still the best control scheme for a 3-D game ever developed.
The biggest change in control comes due to the fact that this game is played with a Wii-mote and Nunchuk attachment. The game designers have done an excellent job of transferring the controls to the modified button configuration, while greatly improving control aspects involving targeting, such as shooting a bow or aiming the hookshot. Oh yeah, and and when you swing the Wii-mote or Nunchuck, you swing your sword or shield, respectively. It’s not a 1:1 scheme, which has upset many people, and feels just slightly tacked-on (remember, this was originally a Gamecube game). However, it never detracts at all form the experience, and frequently adds to it.
The combat system has also evolved one step beyond ‘Wind Waker’, which implemented the “Parry” technique into combat. There are now 6 specialty attack techniques, which must be acquired throughout the course of the game. While not a revolutionary step, it’s a very nice addition to an already streamlined combat system.

Difficulty: 8.5
When ‘Wind Waker’ came out for the Gamecube, many people just couldn’t handle the dramatic graphical shift. My biggest complaint, however, with ‘Wind Waker’ was the difficulty of the game. The game had good length, and the puzzles were as mentally challenging as any Zelda game prior. The fighting, however, lacked any real challenge. I think the only time I actually had to continue in the game was when I playfully attacked an animal (I giant pig) until it back lashed enough to kill me; sadly, I wasn’t carrying a fairy in a bottle at the time.
This is a problem that ‘Twilight Princess’, for the most part, rectifies. The action sequences are significantly more challenging, even if a skilled player will rarely be in true danger of dying. The puzzles are also challenging, and fairly fresh. The one thing that seems to really hurt the challenge of the game is the unevenness off the difficulty level. One dungeon can be infinitely more difficult than another, and it has nothing to do with the sequence in which the dungeons are completed. On top of that, the end boss fight, while fairly long and creative, isn’t particularly difficult. As a result, the game ends on a bit of an anti-climax from an action-sense, which is really a shame.

Graphics: 8.0
The graphics in ‘Twilight Princess’ neither lead the gamer to be impressed nor leave him or her greatly disappointed. It’s pretty much a good looking, but not great looking game. No one will confuse it with an XBox360 or PS3 game, and most can easily see the game for the Gamecube port that it is. That being said, it’s a very good-looking Gamecube game. While some are sure to be disappointed by these facts, I never found the graphics distractingly poor, and enjoyed seeing a Zelda game that takes the more “realistic” graphical approach (as opposed to ‘Wind Waker’, which was an enjoyable shift in its own right) in action.

Value: 10.0
I’m a notoriously thorough gamer when it comes to the Zelda series. As a result, I’m quite slow when it comes to beating these games. I like to leave, literally, no stone unturned, no blade of grass uncut, and no pot unbroken. With two very minor side quests not quite completed (don’t worry, I’ll be going back to complete them!), I finished the game after a lengthy 83 hours of gameplay. If anyone can find a single-player game out there that provides that kind of longevity, please let me know what games it is, and if it’s any good!

Legacy: Everybody’s Second Favorite
Is it the best Zelda game ever? That was the hype surrounding the ‘Twilight Princess’ when it was released, and it’s high praise to have to live up to! Keep in mind that numerous publications gave ‘The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time’ not only a 10.0/10.0 ranking, but touted it as the best video game of all time when it came out for the N64 many years ago. Even those who disagreed couldn’t argue with the fact that many people thought that; it was just an exceptional game.
So where does ‘Twilight Princess’ fit in? Unfortunately, that is an answer I’m not sure I can fully give. The game is excellent. It fits right in the upper tier of all-time video games, just like ‘A Link to the Past’, ‘Ocarina of Time’, and ‘Wind Waker’ (many people would dispute the virtues of this game, but I would argue for it as the 2nd most enjoyable game in the series, after ‘A Link to the Past’, and the numerous Game of the Year awards it won would seem to support that). If I had to guess, when more time has passed and fans of the series can look back at ‘Twilight Princess’ more objectively, I see it become many people’s second favorite, but not many people’s favorite. It does everything well, it just doesn’t stand out in any way. ‘A Link to the Past’ is more fun, ‘Ocarina of Time was more ground-breaking (introducing 3-D graphics/controls, and expanding the scope of all video games to a new level), and ‘Wind Waker’ provided the most unique experience of them all. In the end it has many of the best aspects of the previous Zelda games wrapped into one complete package; it just doesn’t have any elements that it can stand on as its claim to glory all on its own.