IGN Score: 9.5
System: Wii/Game Cube
Release Year: 2006
After finishing Skyward Sword a few months ago I said I was going to go back and re-play Twilight Princess to see if it really was as good as I remembered. I just finished the game this past weekend and my thoughts are below.
In my opinion, Twilight Princess is the best Zelda game to date. What really sets the game apart from the others is its story, a tale that is intriguing and fun and at times quite dark, which is very rare for the usually tame Nintendo games. Thanks to Wikipedia for the following plot summary.
It begins with Link as a young adult working as a ranch hand in Ordon Village. One day, the village is attacked by monsters, who carry off the village’s children. Link pursues the attackers, but encounters a wall of twilight. A shadow beast pulls him beyond the wall into the realm of twilight, where he is transformed into a wolf and imprisoned. Link is later freed by a twilight creature named Midna, who guides him to Princess Zelda. Zelda explains that Zant, the King of the Twilight, has stolen the light from the three Light Spirits and conquered Hyrule. In order to save Hyrule, Link must restore the Light Spirits.
During this time, Link also helps Midna find the Fused Shadows, fragments of a relic containing powerful dark magic. In return, she helps Link find the village's children. After Link restores the Light Spirits and Midna has all the Fused Shadows, Zant attacks them; he takes the Fused Shadows, turns Link back into a wolf using his magic, and critically injures Midna. Link then brings a dying Midna to Zelda. Zelda tells Link that he needs the master sword to be restored to human form, then heals Midna before vanishing mysteriously.
After Link is returned to human form, Midna leads him to the Mirror of Twilight, the only known gateway between the Twilight Realm and Hyrule. However, they discover that Zant has broken it. The sages there explain that Zant tried to destroy it, but he was only able to shatter it into fragments; only the true ruler of the Twilight can completely destroy the Mirror of Twilight. They also tell them that a century ago, they used it to send Ganondorf, the leader of a band of thieves, to the Twilight Realm.
Link and Midna set out to retrieve the missing shards of the Mirror. They use the repaired mirror to open a portal to the Twilight Realm. Before they enter, Midna and the sages tell Link that Midna is the true ruler of the Twilight; Zant changed her into an imp after he usurped her power. In the Twilight Realm, Zant informs Link and Midna that his god, Ganondorf, granted him great power to do whatever pleases him, on the condition that he use it to conquer Hyrule. After Link defeats Zant, Midna recovers the Fused Shadows and then destroys Zant after he reveals that only Ganondorf's death can undo Midna's curse.
Returning to Hyrule, Link and Midna find Ganondorf in Hyrule Castle, with Zelda suspended above his head. After Link defeats Ganondorf, the Light Spirits are then seen reviving Midna, who is restored to her true form.
After saying her goodbyes to Link and Zelda, Midna returns home while using a tear to destroy the Mirror of Twilight, thus severing the only known link between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm.
This entire story, with the exception of a couple of temples near the end, takes place in medieval times in the familiar land of Hyrule, complete with all the familiar provinces and locales, including Death Mountain and Lake Hylia, the Gerudo desert and the Zora Domain and Kakiriko village. You ride around by horse or foot, not random birds. The people of Hyrule are some of the most memorable as well, with the mailman being one of my favorites (pictured below). Like I said before, the whole game feels like Ocarina on steroids, which is a very good thing. This is the best Hyrule has ever looked and it is a wonderful backdrop to the very intriguing story mentioned above.
The battle game play isn't as good in Twilight compared to Skyward Sword, but keep in mind Twilight was a Wii launch title, and additionally it was first made for the Game Cube. So I don't think it is fair to compare the two because 1:1 motion controls using Wii MotionPlus didn't exist in 2006. The overall game play, however, is just as good if not better. In Twilight, you aren't bothered with numerous search and retrieve missions that seem pointless. There are a few of these but they aren't nearly as annoying and they clearly relate to the story being told. Also, the game doesn't get interrupted constantly to remind me of the obvious. You get to fight on horseback and you use the Wii controller to aim things like the bow and hookshot so there is some element of motion controls. Plus you don't have to calibrate the controller every 5 minutes in this game.
Again, the music is the best the series has seen and it is one of the best game soundtracks I've ever heard. It is so good, I actually have the album and will occasionally just listen to the music. The music is quite enjoyable and provides a great compliment to the intriguing scenery.
The temples in Twilight are quite good, with the Snowpeak Ruins and Hyrule Castle temples sticking out in my mind as the best in the game. Overall the temples in Skyward Sword are better and that is the one category that I think Skyward Sword wins between the two games. However, the temples in Twilight Princess are by no means bad.
All of this adds up to what I think is the best Zelda game to date, Twilight Princess. It is similar to Ocarina, with enough differences to have its own identity and enough improvements to make it better. And it feels and looks like a Zelda game, which I think Skyward Sword frequently does not. It is a game I'd be willing to play for a 3rd time, which is very rare for me, but that's how enjoyable I have found this game to be. I kind of miss playing it already.
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