The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

"A solid, yet unoriginal, entry to the Zelda series"

Nintendo's latest The Legend of Zelda entry in the 3-D console world is a solid effort, though not as original as the previous three entries for the Gamecube and Nintendo 64. It's difficult to rate a Zelda game without comparing it to the other games in the series, especially those similar to it; maybe The Twilight Princess would have fared better had it been the very first 3-D Zelda game. No, scratch that. It may have fared worse. The Twilight Princess is a solid game, to be sure, but mostly because the series already has such a great history.

The Good:
+ Lengthy game that never has a dull moment
+ At least a couple of the boss fights are spectacular
+ Some of the story scenes are surprisingly touching

The Bad:
- Way too easy
- Most of the boss fights are disappointments
- The wolf does very little to separate this from the other games in the series

The Welcome:
~ You no longer have to go back and forth between menu screens to equip and unequip the iron boots

In my review of Super Mario Galaxy, I noted that Nintendo seemed to be reaching for the magic that made Super Mario 64 so great. With The Twilight Princess, Nintendo similarly reaches for the magic of Ocarina of Time. Nintendo also attempts to sidestep its previous “childish” entry, Wind Waker, and show the world they can make an “adult” game. They try too hard. The Twilight Princess fails to match Wind Waker in terms of quality. Nintendo succeeds with adult themes for at least a little while, with a story with true emotional impact—at first. Where the endings of the previous Zelda games go out with a bang, this fizzles.

The idyllic, rustic style Nintendo aims for is a little off-putting initially, but its magic works fairly quickly. The first several hours will have you spending time meeting the inhabitants of Ordon Village, where Link lives and he appears to be the only man his age and Ilia seems to be the only woman his age. The developing romance between Link and Ilia is done very well. I wanted more. When this town is under attack by the Twilight beings, the game gave the impression it would focus on Link's rescue of Ilia, and, well, I'd rather not give away too many spoilers. The interactions between Link and the children of Ordon Village is fresh and charming. Link befriends a boy named Colin, who idolizes him. Colin gives Link a fishing rod that's required to proceed further into the game. Link fishes, oddly enough, as though he's attempting to imitate his fishing rod: wooden and stiff. There are also three other children who supply some laughs, especially the girl Beth, whose crush on Link provides by far the game's funniest moments.

The evil twilight world eventually attacks the light world, for reasons you learn as the game progresses, and Link finds himself transformed into a wolf. In the twilight world he can exist only as a wolf, whereas most people exist as spirits. This, of course, has to do with the Tri-Force symbol etched on his hand, a symbol that serves as a thread between the games in the series. In the twilight world Link meets Midna, the Twilight Princess, who helps Link on his quest only because both of them need each other. Midna, at first, is an off-putting character, but I think Nintendo intends that. Initially she teases and makes fun of Link. But as the game progresses, she grows more likable, especially after she, Link, and Zelda, Princess of the land of Hyrule, meet together. Of the three women in the game, Zelda actually plays the lesser role, only showing up briefly at the beginning and end. I have a problem with the end, however, because Nintendo drops the key plot item I most anticipated.

Even without the side quests, this is easily amongst the longest, if not the longest, of the Zelda games. The game's world is massive, but this doesn't necessarily lengthen the game because fairly early you gain the ability to travel between warp points on the map. The game has two halves. In the first half you're collecting pieces of something that Midna seeks, something I will let you find out on your own. In the second half, you're collecting the pieces of another key item you need. Collection is the name of the game, along with a lot of dungeon crawling. The dungeons, like the rest of the game, are mostly solid, but unoriginal. For example the first three dungeons are the Forest, Fire, and Water dungeons, in that order, the exact same order as the first three you complete as adult Link in Ocarina of Time. Only, these dungeons are inferior to their counterparts in the N64 classic. The dungeons in the second half of the game pick up the pace a little more, especially the Ice dungeon and the second to last dungeon.

You'll go through the dungeons in familiar Zelda fashion: travel between rooms, find chests with key items or collectibles, fight bad guys, solve puzzles, fight a mini-boss, and fight the end boss. Several of the items are staple to the 3-D Zelda series, such as the Bow, the Clawshot (or Hookshot), and the Boomerang, imbued this time with a tornado's vortex. Other items are new to the series, or little used, such as the Spinner, the Ball and Chain, and the Dominion Rod. The Spinner, the Clawshot, and the Ball and Chain are put to the best, most creative use of these items, whereas others disappoint, like the Boomerang, and others are no fun, such as the Dominion Rod. For a majority of these items, you will need them for the dungeon you find them in and then very briefly outside of that dungeon. I can't help but wish they were put to better use. The Slingshot, for example, serves no purpose whatsoever not too long after you receive it. This makes the game feel fragmented or glued together rather than a smoothly running machine.

Each dungeon is made to revolve around, eventually at least, the item you will find in it. Only a couple of dungeons are spectacular, one that takes place in somebody's large house and another that makes creative use of light and dark. Only a few of the bosses are spectacular, as well. There are the sub-bosses that you fight in order to obtain dungeon's new item. Mostly these bosses are pitifully easy, no matter how impressive-looking they are. Only one sub-boss caused me to scratch my head because there seemed to be no true method to fighting him, no weak point, and I only found out how to fight him by accident. It turned out that wasn't exactly the way the game intended. The final bosses, however, are even more disappointing. From the first to the last they are impressive sights. They are the very definition of epic. A giant plant, a mutant Goron, an awesome-looking dragon. But these fights have one thing in common—they are pathetically easy. Wasn't The Twilight Princess supposed to be the “adult” game? Then why is it just as easy as Wind Waker? I do have to say, however, that the boss fight in the desert dungeon is one of the greatest boss fights the series has to offer. It's up there with Majora's Mask's mechanical bull.

Nintendo almost succeeds, with The Twilight Princess, in making a living, breathing world even superior to the worlds of Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, and Ocarina of Time. But it falls short in every regard. Nintendo allowed every opportunity to make this world alive to slip away. This is most noticeable in the side quests department. The side quests are lazily done, consisting of collecting heart pieces (though this has always been a key side quest to the series), collecting Poe's souls, and collecting bugs. Collecting, collecting, collecting. And, for the most part, nothing very interesting. The bugs are difficult to find and the rewards they net you are nothing more than rupees, which are useless except to purchase a few key items and to earn at least one heart piece. The Poe's souls are difficult to find and you receive only two measly rewards, rather than the many rewards Ocarina of Time's golden skulltula quest gets you. And I have to wonder, why did Nintendo do away with the mini-game shops?

I have made very little mention of the wolf, the key component that's supposed to separate The Twilight Princess from the rest of the games in the series. The wolf plays a minor role, unfortunately. Much of the time I even forgot about it. Nintendo doesn't give Link enough to do as the wolf, and thus the wolf has no choice but to play a supporting role. Maybe Nintendo should have given the wolf more thought or considered another alternative.

I realize this review trashes the game more than it praises it, which goes against my rating of an eight. I enjoyed The Twilight Princess's first half more than its second, despite the fact the dungeons get better. But later on the game loses the personality its early characters brought it. Thus when I finished the game I had a lesser impression of it than when I started it; it also doesn't help that the ending is less than stellar. There are some great moments, especially when Link rides horseback, and some great cinematic moments, especially the interactions between Link and his friends from Ordon Village. Nintendo made a mistake when they left the residents of Ordon Village behind. They at least gave the game a human factor it loses in the second half. I would also like to add that Nintendo really needs to get with the game and gives its heroes a voice. Naughty Dog did it with Jak after only one game—I can't imagine how angry Link will be when he finally has the opportunity to speak, and he doesn't have a furry buddy to lighten things up. Well, voiceless hero and unoriginal dungeon-crawling aside, this game is solidly made, amongst the best action-adventure games on the market. If you have a Wii or a Gamecube, you should play this, if you haven't already. Just because The Twilight Princess falls short of the other great Zelda games, it doesn't mean you won't have a good time with it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/08

Game Release: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (US, 11/19/06)