The Twilight Sun

Well, having just recently finished LoZ:TP on the Wii, and once before on the GameCube, I figure this is probably a good time for a game review.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was pretty hyped up before its release. However, like movie trailers and the actual movies, the former can set some high expectations of the latter. Who wants to show off an unlikable part of the movie? That is what I think happened with Twilight Princess. The game truly is a great addition to the Zelda collection, but what I think fans were expecting was a masterpiece on par with, or even exceeding, the glory of Ocarina of Time.

.:Graphics:.
I can honestly say the graphics of the game were stunning. As for realism, there was a good balance between life-like and Ocarina of Time-like – not that OoT’s graphics were bad! In a similar vein, I was quite surprised to see the level of detail in Princess Zelda’s facial expressions, as well as Midna’s all-around expressiveness.

.:Gameplay:.
I found the overall gameplay to be quite enjoyable, although there were at least two or three spots I found annoying. The first is the Ordon Village introduction, from the start to the first entry to the Twilight Realm. It was just boring to the point of doing something other than playing. However, the amount of above-average gameplay in other areas, such as the “bow practice” at Old Kakariko, more than make up for it.

My only other gripe is that that cannot easily move the camera around on the Wii. (And on the GameCube, you can backflip off of Epona with a certain button combination…)

.:Storyline:.
Now this is what I love about Twilight Princess. The storyline, from the moment you meet Midna, draws you in. And the further along in the game you are, the more you discover, and things keep falling into place. From the curtain of twilight that’s settled on the land, to the Fused Shadows the Mida seeks, to the kidnapped children, the storyline keeps you hooked almost the whole way through. You might have noticed that I said ‘almost’… I feel that some of the dungeons were added more or less just to extend the gameplay. This brings me to my next point…

.:Dungeons:.
These dungeons are pure visual gold, in my opinion. Visual and gameplay. Every dungeon has its own unique “trick”, such as the magnetic flooring of the Goron Mines, or the spinning bridges of the Forest Temple. The three dungeons that I mentioned felt added in to extend the game, are still just as immersive. It could have been done a little better, in terms of how and why they were added, however.

.:Sidequests:.
This is the one big thing that I didn’t feel compelled to do. Agitha’s bugs felt pointless, Malo’s fundraisers didn’t do much for me, and while I attempted to slay every Poe I found, I never really had the urge to bring the Poe souls back to the gold guy. Even the heart pieces felt unneeded, as I finished the game with not too much trouble with only eleven hearts. They’re good sidequests… there’s just not enough incentive.

The one minigame I loved to do was the sled racing with the yeti couple, probably because it was fun the first time around too, during the actual storyline.

.:Overall:.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a stunning game. While it not better than Ocarina of Time, it’s almost as good. The one thing that prevents it from getting a perfect score is the sidequests, which I felt were mostly lacking in incentive. I highly recommend this game to any Zelda fan. I know some Wii owners out there will hate me for saying this, but I suggest getting the GameCube version instead of the Wii version. It’s really just nitpicking – they’re both very enjoyable – but the fact that you can’t move the camera properly on the Wii can be slightly hindersome.

~Jonathan