The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
When The legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was announced, It seemed as though this game would never see the light of day. Fans of the series were getting little stir crazy after watching Nintendo reschedule the launch date several times. Well, Nintendo made the call and announced that it would skip the Game Cube and make it's way to the Wii as a launch title and that day has finally arrived. Our pointy earned grunting man boy Link is back with a whole new story and a somewhat fresh new take on one of the most successful franchises of all time. The story in Twilight Princess revolves around Link trying to save Hyrule from being taken over by the Twilight Realm. He befriends a creature from the Twilight Realm named Midna who eventually transcends into Hyrule and offers advice and assistance throughout Links quest. Link is now able to take the form of a wolf and can revert back and forth (as long as there is no one around to freak out by doing so).
If you played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina or Time, then you will have no problems getting accustomed to Twilight Princess. The controls are essentially the same but now you use the motion sensitive Wii Remote to slash at your enemies and aim your bow and arrow along with you slingshot and boomerang. This adds a slight sense of involvement when playing this fantasy title and revitalizes the franchise a little bit in doing so. You still automatically jump when you get close to a ledge and cycling through your inventory is done in the same manner as well. The nunchuck is used to move Link around and to also enable control of the camera, lock on to enemies and block enemy attacks.
This is essentially the same when link is in wolf form other than the fact that you will now be biting instead of slashing with you sword. While playing as the wolf (and not the one who likes lots of cream. lots of sugar) you are able to utilize your sense of smell to track things down or to find buried items. When tracking something, you are normally required to 'learn' the sent of something and then will be able to see a sent trail that you can follow. You will also see little sparkles on the ground representing items that you can dig up. I found that playing as the wolf wasn't quite as entertaining as Link but it never got to a point where I wanted to put the controllers down due to high levels of suckyness.
Zelda games along with practically every other Nintendo showcase game always shine when it comes to level design. Twilight Princess offers some of the best puzzle solving dungeons you will ever have the privilege of exploring. They are incredibly well thought out and are challenging enough to keep you interested but not so hard that you just give up. The dungeos in Twilight Princess follow the same format of looking around for items, finding treasures and keys in order to progress to the next section but are all done in such a brilliant way you can't help but appreciate the time and effort that went into the production of this title. Simply put, the level design for the dungeons is astounding. There's a good chance you won't see anything this intricate and well done until the next Zelda game is released. Needless to say, the boys at Nintendo have level design on lock. Word.
The graphics are well done but they won't blow you away. I'd compare it to a less pixelated Ocarina of Time. It's also evident that this was originally designed to be a Game Cube title. Now that doesn't mean the environments aren't huge and the character animations aren't well done. It's still a great looking game and the artwork is right where you'd expect it to be when considering this is a Zelda title. The dungeons are laid out in the same formulas as earlier versions. You start off with a rather simple forest type dungeon and the move on to a fire related one and then ice and then water and then mountain etc etc. In this sense, you don't feel like you are playing an entirely new game even though it clearly is. The designs are different and revamped but there's still that lingering feeling like you've seen this before. It feels more like an Ocarina of Time version 2.0 then a true next gen addition to the franchise.
Swinging your sword with the Wii Remote is fun but it's the only real thing that stands out as a completely new feature. Sure the levels and puzzles are great but they are far too familiar to give it that sense of taking the franchise to the next level. You'd expect more from the latest edition of a popular game to make it's way on to the latest console. This is still an amazing game and worth every penny but don't expect to be blown away as what can only be described as a beefed up version of one of the greatest games of all time. Because the shock and aw factor is not present, I have to settle with a 4/5. If you've never played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, then prepare to get your socks blown off this as game is off the chain! If you have, then you will still enjoy it but you won't feel the same was as when you first popped that limited edition gold cartridge into your Nintendo 64.
