Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess

The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess brings you back tot he land of Hyrule, as you uncover the mystery behind its plunge into darkness. Link, a young man raised as a wrangler in a rural village, is ordered by the mayor to attend the Hyrule Summit. He sets off, oblivious to the dark fate that has descended upon the kingdom.

When he enters the Twilight Realm that has covered Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf and is captured. A mysterious figure helps him break free, and with the aid of her magic, they set off to free the land from the shadows.

Link must explore the vast land of Hyrule and As he does, he’ll have to enlist the aid of friendly folk, solve puzzles and battle his way through dangerous dungeons.

In the Twilight Realm, he’ll have to use his wolf abilities and Midna’s magic to bring light to the land. Revisit classic and new characters – Link, Zelda, Midna and many others

Product Features

When Link travels to the darkened land of Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf and must scour the land with the help of a mysterious being named Midna.
Ride into battle against troops of foul creatures, using an incredible horseback combat system, then take on massive bosses that must be seen to be believed.
Many puzzles stand between Link and the fulfillment of his quest, so players must sharpen their wits as they hunt for weapons and items.
Characters include Link, Zelda, Midna and many others, both new and old.

Product Description

Despite all the hoopla surrounding the next generation consoles, the most anticipated gaming event of this year is undoubtedly the latest The Legend of Zelda game. Subtitled Twilight Princess, the game looks radically different from The Wind Waker with less stylized, more realistic looking graphics.

As ever with a Nintendo title, much of the game is still surrounded in secrecy, but previews have already shown the game’s enormous scale with huge areas of rolling countryside for you to ride your horse and battle various evil enemies. Indeed, the game seems more action-focused than previous adventures, both on horseback and on foot.

One major new feature revealed in the game is that Link is now able to transform into a wolf. This gives him a whole suite of new features including the ability to “see” smells and access areas impossible as a human (or elf).

Despite the greater emphasis on action, the puzzles in the game are even more elaborate than before. A forest dungeon reveals your ability to communicate with animals. You order around a troupe of baboons to solve puzzles and to help battle the level boss.

The GameCube could hardly have asked for any better swansong than this, with utterly amazing graphics and an apparently endless range of features and settings. Even with so little still known about it, this is still on course to be the best game of the year. — Harrison Dent, Amazon.co.uk

This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.

Review from Gamers

UNDISPUTED GAME OF THE YEAR!, December 12, 2006

Wow, this game is amazing! I bought this game for only $40 at Curcuit City. I’m very happy I found it because I looked everywhere, and it was sold out. When I went to Curcuit City, I was amazed to see one sitting there for only $40.

Now, to the game itself. There have been a lot of great games that have come out this year. I own Gears of War for my XBox 360, and I didn’t think a game could top it for years to come. Well, a couple months later, Twighlight Princess was released. The GameCube version, which is the one that I have, has just as good if not better graphics than the Wii version. I played the Wii version a little bit at the store, and I was surprised to see that the GameCube Zelda was just as pretty looking. This game is as good as any graphic wise on the current gen consoles.

There has been so much focus on the 360, PS3, and Wii that this game might not get the praise that it deserves. This is the perfect game to end the current gen consoles. It’s simply amazing.

Anyone who still owns a GameCube should definitly get this game. It might not just be the game of the year, but maybe the game of the century! It was well worth the wait. And if you don’t believe this game can live up to Ocarina of Time, you better try this game. Then you can be the judge of that.

Get this game ASAP!

Nintendo Wii Version Versus GameCube Review

This is a review written by someone who has played both versions.

In this review, I’ll not only touch on the aspects of Twilight Princess but also tell you a few differences between the Wii and Gamecube versions because some will most definitely be curious.

Absorbed in Twilight (Review includes differences between the Wii and Gamecube Versions), December 15, 2006

The Legend of Zelda is one of the most popular games of all time. When a new Zelda game marches forth, the fans are always there. Now, after spending years in development, with delay after delay and ultimately being pushed onto the Nintendo Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is finally here. It’s pretty generous of Nintendo to keep the game on the Gamecube as well as pushing it to the Wii. It’s great that even those without the Wii can experience this amazing game.

Twilight Princess is by far one of the most instantly absorbing in the series. The game begins with you as Link in the village of Ordan. Things are going well for Link and his friends until a band of monsters riding a boar come and kidnap two of his friends.

When Link awakens, he’s suddenly thrust into a twilight realm where he meets a creature named Midna, who decides to aid Link on his quest.

From the get go, The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess is instantly absorbing. The storyline is by far one of the best in the series and is very engrossing and absorbing.

The first major difference between the Gamecube and Wii versions are the controls. On the Wii you swing the remote and Link swings his sword. Here, it’s just the press of a button. For anyone who played the Wii version, it’s surprising how much time it takes to get used to the control scheme.

When using the slingshot or hero’s bow, aiming also feels strange. It’s far easier on the Wii. The controls for the Gamecube version are good, though. It’s just that if you played the Wii version you have to adjust to it.

However, it actually is an entirely different experienece all together. This doesn’t mean if you have the Wii version you should go out and buy the Gamecube version. They are, after all, the same game.

The heart of the challenge from the game mainly comes from the puzzles rather than the actual dungeon crawl itself. Most enemies are easily taken down by a couple of sword swings. Some of the puzzles, however, can really throw you for a loop. This also brings about another key difference between the Wii and Gamecube versions. The environments are completely mirrored. In other words, Link holds his sword in his left hand instead of his right. A path that was on the left in the Wii version will be on the right in the Gamecube version. Anyone who played the Wii version first will no doubt find this to be rather confusing. However, most of you are probably getting the Gamecube version because you don’t have a Wii. So this is really no problem at all.

A unique twist to the gameplay of Zelda is that Link not only goes around in his normal form, but can become a wolf as well. As a wolf the controls are virtually the same with the exception of Link being able to use senses and dig.

You’ll also be forced to solve puzzles in wolf form as well, and it does indeed add some variety to the game. As you progress in wolf form, Midna sits on your back and is there to offer advice for you. Gameplay wise, Twilight Princess knows how to keep you immersed in the game.

Visually a Gamecube game has never looked better than this. It’s fairly lifelike. It also looks very identical to the Wii version. However, the Gamecube version doesn’t play out in widescreen so there’s letterboxes whenever you view one of the cutscenes. The game sports some amazing detail, though. Link has never looked better. The land of Hyrule has never looked better. Your enemies and some of the cinematics also sport some awesome detail.

The music still sounds pretty good. A lot of tunes you’ll recognize from previous Zelda adventures, but the new stuff sounds pretty good too. There’s no voice acting, though, and that still bothers me about Zelda to this day. The Windwaker could’ve used voice acting and so could Twilight Princess.

The story is so absorbing, and it probably would’ve been better had they added voices to it. Link grunts and such and from time to time one of the NPC characters might yell something, but there’s really no spoken dialogue throughout the game.

It would’ve been really exciting to see some of the cinematics brought to life through fantastic voice acting. In the long run this probably won’t bother anyone, and its a small price to pay for a game that’s as fantastic as this.

For what its worth, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is very good. Its by far the most absorbing story in the entire series, and its gameplay is unmatched.

Fans who have followed Zelda since its days on the NES will be pleased at just how far the series has come with Twilight Princess. Its one of the best in the series.

On a final note, the Wii version is superior to the Gamecube version. While they are virtually the same game, the controls of the Wii version are better, and some of the environments look smoother. The control scheme and mirroring of the environments alone makes playing both versions a different experience. However, if you own the Wii version, this different experience isn’t so different as to warrant the Gamecube version a buy. The reverse is also true. If you invest in the Gamecube version, it’s hard to say, “Get the Wii version too.”

Whichever version you get, however, you’ll be satisfied either way.