Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Michael Tarlow

The Zelda series has been Nintendo’s golden egg since its conception on the NES, and it has been used numerous times to boost a system in its opening days. Each title in the series has innovated the RPG genre, explored new aspects in inventive and different ways, and found a way to always make the gamer happy to waste away hours and hours playing the game. For the NES this game was Legend of Zelda I and II, for SNES it was A Link to the Past, for N64 it was Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, for Gamecube it was The Wind Waker, and finally the Zelda series has arrived on the Wii in the form of Twilight Princess. This title retains the title of Nintendo’s champion series, consistently making good games, and not spawning god-awful spin-offs (but we’re just going to not count the SEGA CD Zelda). I realize many people have skepticisms about the graphics of this title considering it is some sort of a port from the Gamecube version (which was ironically released after the Wii version) but you should have nothing to fear for this game is beautiful. I’m not going to bash it for maybe a few not so smooth textures here and there because overall it looks amazing. You will not notice the few bumpy textures or blurry background objects when you are engaged in the game. The first time you walk out into a field and see castles in the distance and the massive scope of the land you’ll be in awe. Things can be seen for miles and miles and if you can see it then you can most likely get to it. This would have to be the one area I can crack down on for this game. It bugs me that Nintendo still does not feel the need to include voice work in this game. I do understand that our hero does not speak and as a character choice it lets people be more engaged and imaginative with their character to an extent. Other townspeople, on the other hand, are characters that I did not find had much depth. The reason I didn’t find much depth to them was because I would rather not read what they have to say. I’d love to hear it though. The music, while still beautiful, is midi instead of a full on orchestration. Otherwise, the sound and music in this game are outstanding. The levels feel alive when you can hear the sounds of swords clashing, the rustling of leaves, growling of your character in wolf form, and the like. This has to be the most important category in any Wii review, and I’m sure it will be this way for a long time. Zelda’s control scheme has been changed to a certain new scheme for the Wii remote. The buttons have lost their functionality, but then again there are less buttons. Instead, the buttons have now taken on things like jump, lock on, and similar functions while the remote has taken on the slashing, aiming, and combat functionality. Fear not for this control scheme, while different, is the most intuitive control scheme in a Zelda game and on the Wii in general. The controls feel very fluid and you won’t ever want to go back to a regular controller after using Twilight Princess’s control scheme. That being said, you will have no problems with the controls and you will enjoy the game more as you can be further immersed into it.

This is the part when I tell you just how great this game is. This is the best Zelda game to date; everything in this game just makes the gamer feel joy to own this title. In a sense, this game is the spiritual successor to Ocarina of Time; it is somewhat of a sequel. Anyone who plays this game will notice many things seem very similar to the game. That feeling of déjà vu is not a bad thing though as you will enjoy the similar structure to the temples, characters, and places you visit.

You won’t be surprised to learn there are two sides to this game. The normal world of Hyrule, which some may call "the light world" and the realm of the twilight. In the twilight world, Link becomes a wolf which controls just like Link with the exception of different attacks (although they are similar to Link’s attacks, just imprinted on to a wolf). You will spend much of your time in this realm finding what the game refers to as "tears of light."

Once you have found all the tears of light in a level, which are gained by killing small flying bugs, you can transform back to your normal self and resume your quest. All the things you know and love also return, such as the temples, which retain a very similar feel from Ocarina of Time. There is a temple for each element as you would suspect. Each temple also introduces new items or weapons for you to use in your quest. The weapons are creative and necessary in solving the puzzles later to come and can also be used in boss fights. If you liked the other Zelda games, you will almost surely like this one.

Nintendo and many reviewers estimate the game time around 50 or so hours making it the longest Zelda yet, but realistically the game should take you longer than that. Be honest, did the Wind Waker really take you as long as they said or did you spend a lot more time with it? The game is huge and you may not even get to the first dungeon for hours. Your money is well spent with this game and although it does not have immediate replay value such as multiplayer, you will want to play it again. Simply put, if you are a Zelda fan, you would not be wrong to pick up this game. Even if you are not a Zelda fan, this game may just make you into one. I have not known a single person who has complained about spending their hard earned money on this title. Just buy it and be happy.

Gaming Trend Score

94

1. Graphics: 95
2. Audio: 90
3. Controls: 96
4. Gameplay: 95
5. Value/Replay: 90
6. OVERALL:94