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Note: This review of mine also appeared on DSiHub.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released for the Wii back in November of 2006 (and December that year for the GameCube.) All over the internet, the game was hyped up to a point that no game could ever hope to satisfy those who put in on its pedestal. However, that is not to say that the game is bad. In fact, it's one of this generation's best adventure games.
As with all Zelda titles, Twilight Princess is heavy on exploration and features light RPG elements, such as health, tunic, and weapon/item upgrades (in place of the traditional RPG experience points.) When the game begins, you are equipped with little more than a wooden sword. But as the game progresses, your item repertoire increases to include a Shield, a Boomerang, Bow & Arrows, and Bombs, among other things. These items and weapons are the main vehicles for Zelda games' exploration. For example, you can bomb open deteriorating boulders to reveal caves to explore, often finding upgrades such as Pieces of Heart for your labor. The main form of progression in the game is to complete various dungeons. The dungeons are several floored affairs that you explore, fight enemies, solve puzzles, and then defeat a miniboss, who drops a new weapon after defeat, which is then used to defeat that dungeon's boss. The dungeons are usually well designed and the difficulty is just right. Also, because this game introduces Link's wolf form, the gameplay is expanded as the wolf can perform special actions such as teleporting and tracking scents. Twilight Princess also includes the Zelda staple of collectibles and side games. In Twilight Princess, you can collect Golden Bugs and Poes, the former of which, when given to the right person, allows you to hold more money. There is also a fishing hole, in which you can….fish (and play a minigame of sorts.)
The combat in Twilight Princess is relatively simple. The main way to deal out damage is to swing the Wii Remote, which corresponds to Link performing a sword strike. While this is somewhat of a waggle-fest, it's alleviated by the fact that most of the other weapons utilize the accurate pointer instead. Some enemies, such as the powerful, armored Darknuts, can't be beaten through normal means. They must be taken out by using special moves (of which there are seven) that learned throughout the game from the mysterious Hero's Shade. Once you've progressed to a certain point in the game, you gain access to Link's wolf form, which changes the combat drastically. This form has access to now weapons or items. Instead, it relies on bites and spins to attack, including an attack to take down multiple enemies. There are even a few special combat motions, such as a jousting-like fight.
Twilight Princess has a darker, mature art style which appeals to people like me In contrast to, say, Wind Waker, it uses few highly colorful elements in the game. The graphics are great throughout, with the exceptions of some of the textures, which while aren't too great, are at least passable. The enemy and character designs in the game are good, with few exceptions, and most of the bosses are designed to give you a hint as to their weakness.
Twilight Princess also excels in the music area. There are, of course, classic Zelda themes, including several that give a nod to Ocarina of Time. They all sound great and fit the area that they play in. Admittedly, they would be better had they been performed by an orchestra, but that's a minor complaint.
Overall, Twilight Princess is a great game in basically every area. It may be less creative than some other games in the series, but based on its own merits, I'd say it's definitely one of the best. It's the ultimate expression of what a Zelda game should be, and continues the tradition of the excellence in the Legend of Zelda franchise, and should be picked up by any Wii owner.
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