Finally, the Zelda that’s supposed to dethrone ocarina of time and become the new king to beat…or is it? Read on to find out!
Introduction:
ocarina of time is probably the best game ever created (right next to mgs4). i mean, there really cant be another game, let alone another legend of zelda that could possibly be any better than ocarina of time…
and twilight princess would have been it, but its just several years too late, and it does a few things wrong (even after you would think nintendo would smarten up).
Graphics:
now, you have to realize that twilight princess was (and still is) meant for nintendo’s gamecube, and NOT the wii. the entire game was just ported, with the only “enhancement” being 16:9 widescreen (thank you god or else i would have been mighty pissed off). dont get me wrong though, the locations, models, and everything else looks plain awesome and is typical zelda (better graphics after every generation of game), but unfortunately (and sadly), there is HORRIBLE aliasing (jagged lines on everything) everywhere. in the end, its just gamecube graphics which had widescreen tacked onto it. at least it supports progressive scan (480p).
Sound:
for some reason, nintendo doesnt want to support dolby digital, but only dolby pro-logic II. even the ps2/xbox supported it, and the wii is supposedly “much faster and superior” than both of those old-gen consoles. apart from that, the sound is quite good, as every sword slash, enemy footstep, and distant background noise is heard. the music is great too, although i wish they could finally go to real orchestrated sounds (like mario galaxy) as opposed to midi like they’ve been using all these years, though nintendo never falls short in sounds or music, which is a good thing. i just they would use true 5.1 as opposed to upconverted stereo to 5.1.
Gameplay:
its zelda! what more do you want? run around, collect items and equipment, get keys, defeat enemies and bosses, discover hidden secrets, and explore hyrule. it gets tedious sometimes, but it never, ever gets boring, even after the last 5-6 zelda games. i do wish nintendo would try something new/fresh though, as they clearly went conservative/tried-and-true in twilight princess (wind waker was a total departure from the other zelda games).
Presentation:
excellent. typical zelda, typical “sucking you in until the game ends or until you read the gamefaqs message boards”. the story is nicely told and its just nintendo at its best. the opening cutscene (press A/B) is just simply amazing. Midna ties into the story wonderfully, as well as zelda herself, but i have to ask what the FUCK was up with turning link into a wolf? that was more of a hindrance than another “character” to enjoy and play as.
Multiplayer:
doesn’t have any…obviously.
Singleplayer:
same as every zelda game…nothing else i can say really.
Extras:
getting all of the equipment, extra items, golden bug catching, fishing, heart pieces, hidden skills, poe hunting, rollgoal, and the cave of ordeals. thats way more extas than i ever expected in a zelda game, although for the most part, they are really…easy to do. and whats up with not adding more challenging extras too?
Conclusion:
twilight princess could have been the best zelda game ever released, but it falls quite short. the graphics didnt really WOW anyone the way the past zelda games did (partly because its honestly a ported gamecube game and that the wii cant display anything higher than 480p). also, the gameplay was very conservative and tried-and-true like ocarina of time/majoras mask, and didnt really reinvent or try anything new, and about the gameplay, my gosh its like a tweaked version of ocarina of time. i dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing (personal preference).
if you are a zelda fan (like me of course), you will definitely enjoy this game even with its obvious shortcomings, but nonetheless get irritated at the fact that this game could have been SO much better if it wasnt a port and how it felt kind of…neglected in a way.
8.5/10.
