She's A Beauty

Author's Rating:

Pros: Absolutely gorgeous game, the temples especially.  Lots of side stuff to do.

Cons: Sometimes graphics tend to blur, overall it's a bit on the easy side.

The Bottom Line: 
The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a must-have for any Zelda fan and a prime example of just what Zelda is all about.

Author's Review
As a longtime fan of Nintendo's infamous Legend of Zelda series, I recall being somewhat underwhelmed by my first playthrough of The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  In retrospect, it may have had more to do with the fact that I just wasn't that much into video games when Twilight Princess was released.  Because I tell you what, I've re-played the game almost twice over the course of early 2010, and I'm getting a much different vibe.

Twilight Princess takes a lot of flak for being "just another" Zelda game.  Where previous titles have all had a certain gimmick, such as Wind Waker's cartoonish cel-shaded graphics, Ocarina's age difference and Majora's... well, everything, there really isn't much of a gimmick to TP aside from Link's ability to transform into a wolf, something that if you're over 20, you've probably seen a million times, and if you're over 30, you got the Wolf Man on top of that.  Besides, it's not like we've never seen Link turn into an animal before.  

But for all its "lack" of originality, I actually find that Twilight Princess is a refreshing break from the gimmickry and just a good all-around classic Zelda game.  In this game, you will pick up items and have absolutely no idea what they do at first, engage in wonderfully complex sword fights, fight on horseback, and meander through some of the most cleverly designed temples this series has ever seen.

The controls are surprisingly tight for a game with such complex animations; I would still consider Wind Waker to be the most "responsive" Zelda game, but Twilight Princess improves hugely on Ocarina's play control, which in all honesty I found to be just a tad on the "clunky" side.  Link's movements look more human than ever.  On first impression, you may sometimes feel like it takes a bit too long to get through animations like rolling or swinging the sword, especially when you hit a wall by mistake.  By all accounts that I've heard, the Game Cube version of this game (which is the one I own and am reviewing) is much more responsive than the Wii version, especially when attempting a move called the Shield Attack, which is a simple stroke of R on the GC controller, but a thrust forward of the nunchuck on the Wii, often being mistaken for a spin attack by the machine.

While I do highly anticipate the coming of Zelda Wii later this year, I don't know if they'll ever be able to make a more beautiful version of Hyrule than they have here in Twilight Princess.  From long days with rolling clouds to creepy nights where everything seems to glow, the entire world is simply a masterpiece.  I'm not sure if I like it as much as Final Fantasy X's Spira, but it's close.  The only thing that holds it back is the tendency for graphics to go blurry or "muddy" in certain circumstances, which sometimes makes it difficult to tell where to go next.  But ultimately, it's a small (I'd say almost negligible) price to pay for the sheer grandness of this version of Hyrule.

There is no shortage of side quests here.  So if you don't feel like spending two or three hours in your next temple, and maybe you've just had enough of the whole Heart Piece thing, you could always seek out the elusive glowing bugs.  You could go after one of the three bomb bags, or the upgrade that doubles the capacity of all three to 60!  Seriously, 180 bombs?  You could go fishing for rare chu jellies, or you could just go fishing for fish, I suppose.  You could seek out one of the four bottles (well, okay, nothing new there) or later in the game when you gain the ability to warp all over the world, you can hunt for one of the 60 Poe souls spread across Hyrule.

It's also worth noting that the entire world of Hyrule is inverted between the Game Cube and the Wii versions.  This was done because Link is supposed to be left handed in the series, but the majority of Wii players are right-handed.  So when Nintendo ported the game to the Wii, they opted for flip-flopping the entire code, essentially making Link right-handed and the entire world backwards.  I've watched a lot of both versions of the game on Youtube, and the differences in the world are far more alarming than you would think.  I don't know of any other instance besides Super Mario Kart's Mirror mode that this has been done, but it's fascinating.  Just be aware that if you look up walkthroughs online to help yourself through the game, some of them may not specify that they are talking about the Wii version, and mislead you into going East when you should be going West.


The music in Twilight Princess is as stellar as Zelda music has ever been.  The overworld theme simply kicks the crap out of that of Wind Waker, and to be honest I would say it rivals Ocarina's as well.  The transition in the music from day to night is a fascinating listen.  And the night music, well, can we just say creepy?  Wow.  There are also several throwbacks to songs from previous games (most of which are howled by the deliberately off-key Wolf Link), but every now and then the game surprises you with something like the remixed Epona's song that plays at one point in the game when Epona goes crazy.  I love how stuff like that just happens in this game.


Past Zelda titles have never failed to throw down an epic storyline, and Twilight Princess doesn't bother to break the chain.  Here, we are introduced to the dark king Zant, who is trying to wreck the world under a sort of parallel dimension called twilight.  As time goes on, more is discovered about his true story, his motivation, and his... connections.

Here, Link is joined by a much larger, darker and less annoying version of Navi.  She is Midna, whose look and animation calls back the cel-shaded style of Wind Waker.  But because she is pretty much the total antithesis of what Wind Waker looked like as a game, it's hardly noticeable.  As a character, Midna starts out cocky and brash, but like all good cocky characters, she has a growth throughout the game that endears her to Link and the player alike.  There are many other key players besides Midna, though, more than you've ever seen in a Zelda game, with the possible exception of Majora's Mask.

In the end, the what really makes Twilight Princess shine amongst the other Zelda titles is the design of its temples.  In the past, Zelda temples have often tested the patience of the players.  Unlocking that boss door was the greatest relief for which one could ask, but in Twilight Princess, how do I say this?  You never want it to end.  The temples in this game are not only drop-dead gorgeous, but they are designed in such a way that they often don't feel like temples at all.  One of them in particular is basically a mansion in which two Yeti lovers reside.  It reminds me of Big Boo Mansion in Super Mario 64.  You really feel like you're just wandering around someone's house.  The Arbiter's Grounds is sort of a sandy, Prince Of Persia meets Indiana Jones kind of temple, but nothing can prepare you for the awesomeness that is its item, its second half, or the boss fight itself. 

Granted, the Lakebed Temple might come across to some as mildly irritating, but it's no Water Temple to be sure.  The last of the set of four temples that you visit mid-game can prove to be a challenge, as there is a lot of "Spider-Man" stuff you have to do, but the thing I love about this temple is that you're never really "inside".  Every room has a window or a draft coming in from somewhere, and damn if I don't feel it as I'm sitting right there.


It's no surprise that Twilight Princess cleaned up on as many awards as it did, because it is a true work of art.  As a game, about the worst you can say is that it's too easy on the fighting side.  But hey, that's what happens when you take the scenic route.  In the end, Twilight Princess is an absolutely essential experience to anyone who has ever been a Zelda fan.