eat-sleep-game.com review

Admittedly, I wasn't expecting a great deal when I first sat down to play The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The last major Zelda title - Windwaker - was only tolerated by most, and evoked some serious malcontent in others. My personal relationship was little more than a mild fondness for the game, reminiscent of an old, bitter couple occasionally remembering that they did indeed marry for love. But even though I generally appreciated the game, let's face it: how many times can we endure playing through the same story lines over and over again?

The first hour or two in the game certainly didn't help my apprehension. The game starts as a sort of tutorial, building Link's repertoire of skills so that when the player encounters different, more subtle situations in the field, the player will understand what to do. I honestly wanted to stop playing for a while, but something kept drawing me back: subtle character relationships, superb animation and music, and a great fantasy element all worked to suck me in, until I quickly became immersed in the gameplay. Once I saw the large boar-mounted Orcish General kick ass and take names, I knew that this, finally, was the Zelda sequel that would appropriately fuse classic gameplay with rich characters, amazing environments, and moments I can only describe as totally sweet.

In the story, the aforementioned boar rider kidnaps a dear friend of Link's, and escapes into a Shadow Realm. Of course, Link gives chase, and after passing through the dark gate, Link morphs into his bestial counterpart, a snarling wolf with an artistic style that hearkens back to the lupine hero from Okami. I loved the fact that they brought back the Shadow Realm from the A Link to the Past(remember Link morphing into a pink bunny?), because when the world environment can elicit such an acute feeling of somber hopelessness, it really adds a dark edge, especially to the first Zelda title to bear a Teen rating.

However, it's the way that Link interacts with his environments that truly makes Twilight Princess a cut above other games, and certainly above all other Zelda titles. For instance, while in lupine form, Link can use his "senses" to sniff out scents, find buried items, and discover hidden paths. Also, unlike the Link in tights, the wolf can use his bestial agility and the guidance of his Shadow Realm friend (I'll say no more, as it bears on the story) to leap around onto predesignated ledges.

Once Link reverts to normal and enters a dungeon, it truly pays to observe the entirety of each room, because Link must interact with each level in unique ways. For instance, Link must utilize magnetic strips to walk on walls and ceilings, adjust canals and waterways to fill up large cisterns, and must swing on monkeys to reach distant ledges (yes, monkeys). The game even revamps most of the classic Link items, such as water bombs, bomb arrows, a boomerang that generates wind, a sort of sniper scope for the bow, and so on, all of which must be used often to solve various problems.

Zelda titles have consistently excelled at utilizing level environments in unique ways, so we have come to expect it from each subsequent title. It's the unexpected moments of gameplay gold that make this Zelda title my top game for 2006. While it may seem odd and completely unfair to give high praise for a game based on mere moments of gameplay, Zelda honestly merits it, because the game's core is so solid that the extra tidbits are what make the game just special. While some of these tidbits manifest in gameplay scenarios, others stem from character interaction and storyline, or great cinemas that add a more cinematic feel to the game.

For example, some of the action scenes include a wild horseback chase across the plains, in hot pursuit of the Orcish general, who had kidnapped one of Link's childhood friends. During this scenario, Link has to fight off mounted goblin archers, while racing to catch up to the leader in a fast-paced pursuit. The pursuit ends with a joust between Link and His Burliness across a narrow bridge that spans the length of a massive gorge. In short, it's enough to make any fan of Arthurian fantasy positively wet themselves. Later in the game, Link has to defend a caravan as it travels to the mountain town of Kakariko in a similar sort of horseback scenario, only this time, as an added challenge, the goblin archers attempt to set the caravan on fire and Link has to use his hurricane boomerang to quell the flames. But in general, Link is just . . . well . . . he's just a Bad Ass. Link learns a ton of new moves that all look great, he sheathes his sword like a damned ninja, and as always, he is the consummate soldier, gung-ho against even overwhelming odds. The best part though, is the developers got all of these things right. The music, the pace, the animations, and the flow of the events all work together to make the player feel like they are part of something amazing.

As for the characters and cut scenes, no RPG has ever come close to duplicating the realistic feel of Hyrule. A bold statement, to be sure, but few games match Hyrule's winding streets and alleyways, all of which are crowded with merchants, shoppers, entertainers and animals. Stepping into the bar later in the game truly feels like you are part of Le Resistance, as the back room is crowded with freedom fighters, one of which is a close personal friend from Link's home town. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the music in Twilight Princess is exceptional: my favorite pieces are the chilling, haunting melodies played during the nighttime or while in the Shadow Realm, because Link frequently deals with ghosts during the game, and the music can really give a haunted town an atmosphere reminiscent of Silent Hill. But above all else, I will never, ever forget Link's brief soirée as a slightly demonic, homicidal murderer, even if it was only for the duration of a dream. In the dream, Link and the girl from his hometown are frolicking through the fields, until they stumble upon the location of the Triforce. Upon seeing it, the girl turns towards Link with a demonic, malicious glint in her eye, but then appears wounded: being the cunning little elf that he is, Link was way ahead of her, and had already removed his sword to cut her down while smiling with his own terrifying visage. The dream then spirals on down to other similarly depressing scenes, all of which hearken back to previous Zelda titles with intriguing storylines.

Admittedly, though the game is an exceptional title, it's not perfect, most blatantly obvious in the shaky control system. I have long since lost count of my missed jumps, either because of the terrible camera, or because a ledge wasn't marked properly in the design stage, causing Link to fall to his death instead of grab its edge. It was also extremely frustrating when attempting to perform Link's shield bash technique, as the nunchuck just wasn't tuned well enough to accurately differentiate between the shield bash and Link's spinning sword attack.

I almost threw my Wiimote (intentionally, I assure you) when I was protecting the caravan, because at the end of the road, once the caravan was close to the gate, it was incredibly difficult to steer Epona around in the tight space. So much so, in fact, that I ended up forgoing the horse for solid footing, allowing me to finally dispatch the last few goblins. Ultimately, the developers could have used more time to iron out the controls, and that is my only true complaint with the game. While shoddy controls have single-handedly ruined games for me in the past, here they were infrequent or mild enough to cause only minor irritation, rather than destroyed appliances.

Looking back upon this article, it makes me a little sad about how much I couldn't cover, and how much had to be only glossed over. I suppose that ultimately this is a testament to the game's depth, as it is a 50 hour game, give or take. I suppose you readers will have to just play the game for yourself to experience everything I didn't cover. And on that note, with hearty emphasis, I put my stamp of approval on this game.

9 out of 10