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darkneonblog · 7 years

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Twilight Princess HD Review (Used Game Reviews)

In 2006 with the launch of the Wii, the world was graced to a new form of Hyrule. One that lacked the bright-eyes cell-shaded cartoon visuals of 2002’s The Wind Waker, nor the morbid and frightening vibes present in Majora’s Mask. What the world got was what fans of the Space World 2000 tech demo of a 3d modeled Link fighting Ganondorf expected. A more realistic and gritty Zelda Adventure that takes full advantage of 21st century gaming hardware. Now over a decade later Twilight Princess is still beloved by many for its take on the Zelda series, being slightly darker in more ways than one, not only with its story telling but its plot elements as well. Many saying it refined elements set by Ocarina, Majora, and Wind Waker to make a game that is sometimes considered The Legend of Zelda series at its core. But is this always a good thing? We’re here to determine that. How well does Twilight Princess really hold up in 2017? Here’s our Used Game Review of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD for Wii U

In 2006 much praise went to Twilight Princess for its darker take on the Zelda franchise, being harsher and grittier in its tone and storytelling. The game is to this day still the only Zelda game to earn a T for Teen rating by the ESRB for some slightly aggressive imagery including Link’s initial transformation into his wolf form, and Ganondorf being chained up and stabbed by the sages of the Gerudo desert. In terms of looking for a “darker” Zelda experience, grabbing a copy of Majora’s Mask 3D would suffice as most of Twilight Princess keeps the same standard level of danger and threat as its contemporaries and never pushes the envelope in terms of harsher or more intense themes.

But in saying this is not a slight towards the story presented in Twilight Princess itself for what is presented is a well-meaning and well-told story centering around the character Midna and her plight to restore her realm of twilight and the people she resides over as their Princess. Aside from Midna, and the antagonist Zant there isn’t much to many of the other main characters resented in the game. Link remains the standard well-mannered silent hero with the heart of gold for players to project themselves onto; and neither Zelda nor Ganondorf appear early enough in the game for any true fleshing of their characters and who they are besides the standard battle of good vs evil. But it’s the struggle between the worlds of light and twilight, and the dichotomy between light, dark, and the world between that truly shows the narrative strengths of the game. And with Midna being the most integral character within all of these it’s very easy to get invested into her story and the world surrounding her, which in turn affects Link and all the characters around them giving the story some emotional weight. Even with these limitations they ending fells natural and carries the plot to a conclusion that isn’t void of emotion.

Despite the main characters being limited, the variety of side characters met throughout the game often have unique personality traits and quirks. Such as the Goron Patriarch Darbus who is a towering force of rock-hard muscle that refers to you as “tiny human” in simplistic caveman like speech. Or the child Malo, who despite being around 5 years old, runs a shop all on his own, and is often seen criticizing other characters harshly under his breath. These and other side characters make the land of Hyrule feel more lived in and developed than other mainline Zelda entries.

In addition to the characters, the expansive nature of the world map of Hyrule adds to this scope. With a variety of entry and exit points in accessing the different provinces Hyrule feels like a varied Kingdom of different races that is worth exploring. Chest and secrets cover the land that will give you pieces of heart and rupees for taking the time to search. No major secrets, and the abundance of rupees makes them trivial later on in the game but the pieces of heart and the introduced howling stones always feel worth the price of taking your time to get to them. Traversal isn’t issue as Link’s horse that you have the ability to name can be summoned at any time if a certain flower is in your area, and if they aren’t the world map shows you wear. Hose riding controls the same in Ocarina of time, with a certain number of sprints allowed before they need to charge as signified by 6 spurs on the bottom of the screen. Controlling the horse can be kind of tricky, as it doesn’t turn very well or as accurate as we would like. In the open areas of the Hyrule field where you will be spending most of your time on horseback, this is not an issue, other areas where you ride, this problem showed itself again.

Camera movement is mapped differently than it is in most games. Pulling down on the control stick zooms out instead of looking completely downwards. Being able to change the camera’s distance from the Link is new to the series. And has its advantages in choice, especially in encounters of enemies that either fly or tower above you zooming out very much lets you get a better scope of your surroundings and how to proceed in a fight All other movements of the camera were perfectly fine but some problems arose.

Depending on camera angles, game can get confused as to which way you should be heading when climbing or walking. If there is a sudden shift in camera angles holding up on the control stick may be tacking you forwards at one moment, but then suddenly you’ll be heading left for as the camera changes up on the control stick will take you to the left instead. This caused for one or two fatalities. not on our own volition when climbing and instead of climbing to the left we proceeded to climb down to our death

IN some instances, in certain areas where there are walls that are close-knit but can be climbed over, the camera can begin to stutter violently causing the whole screen to shake. A simple rotation can cause it to cease, but this problem was especially worse in the Gerudo Desert dungeon where with so many climbable objects in tight corners there were two times where no camera rotation would stop the shaking, and it just had to be dealt with until we could physically move link to a new area.

The game begins with an excellent tutorial segment that integrates the basic mechanics of movement, targeting, standard attacks, and calling your horse, all within the introductory story segments of the game, instead of just generic text boxes with words and button prompts. Combat is identical to that of Ocarina of Time, and Skyward sword. Z-targeting is used to focus on the enemy, and they are slashed with the sword until they are down. With differences depending on the enemy type, and if it is a boss encounter or not. The mechanic of finding the Howling stones in order to learn new combat techniques besides the basic dodge and slash are incredibly worth it and not only give you variety and types of strategy in your gameplay but also enhance you in a proper way that makes you as a character are actually growing with link in strength. Some may see it as a little overpowering in the game as tougher endgame enemies prove as little challenge with your advance skills. But certain enemies still put up a fair amount of challenge as enemies began to wear increasing number of amounts armor and shields to carry.

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess is a relatively easy game. Enemies will always do the same things and Its often praised for being a Zelda game at its utmost core which is both a blessing and a curse. The puzzles of h dungeons in the games are varied and are often relatively straightforward in how to accomplish them. It’s the layout that is the same that shows the game at its weakest. You will enter in, and progress your way through until you face a mini-boss exactly halfway through. Upon defeat the mini-boss will give you the newest equipable item that you will then use for every puzzle for the rest of the dungeon until you reach the boss which will also require you to use the new item.

Most of the bosses in Twilight Princess are memorable in design enough, and the task of how to take them down is never immediately apparent in how you are supposed to use the item, and only gets increasingly more challenging to figure out the later on in the game the boss is. But once you have figured out how, every boss becomes very minimal in challenge as the item is catered to take down that enemy once it’s used a certain way three times.

Around 45% of the game will be spent as Link in his Wolf Form in one way or another. This transformation offers a variety in gameplay as since as a wolf Link cannot use any weapons or items, but is much faster, and has the ability to sense things in his surrounding with a sort of animal 6th sense. Wolf Link adds a welcome variety to puzzles and combat as you have to think a little differently to accomplish both in that form. When the game allows you to later change into either form freely, some encounters can be accomplished easier in your wolf link form, so forgetting about using it for combat could only hinder you.

Though one problem with wolf link is the act of transforming. The game prevents you from transforming in front of any NPC characters as it would realistically cause a ruckus to see a young boy transform into an anima or vice versa. But certain areas that should let you transform, do not. Even when there is no one in your immediate view, nor can they see you, it will prevent your transformation, forcing you to move to another area, even if only a few steps.

The interface is simple and intuitive. The start button takes you to a menu where all your equipable items are, where down on the d-pad takes you to a collection screen where you can change into other outfits, and check the amalgamation of objects you have found. This also the portal to where the amiibo functionality occurs.

The amiibo is a tricky thing. It can be used as a way to save your game progress to it and bring it to another Wii U to continue to play. A very niche functionality that doesn’t provide a real use in a current gaming landscape. It also unlocks the chamber of shadows challenge. Where you enter more and more rooms of increasingly difficult waves of enemies, locked into your Wolf Link form. Based on the amount of hearts you saved to the amiibo last, that is the amount of hearts you are able to recover only once during your time in the chamber

What foils the game is its use in The Legend of Zelda Breath of The Wild. The amount of hearts you have save are the amount of hearts a wolf link companion will have in Breath of the Wild, which becomes a hindrance is the final section. The final 3rd of the chamber unlocks after you have completed 90% of the game. And the difficulty spike is high as it provides the most difficult challenge in any kind of gameplay throughout the entire game. Much harder than any moment in the main game. But the new hearts can be saved only when you complete the whole dungeon. When before you could save hearts after only 6 floors, by the end of the game you can only save after clearing all 40 which is an incredibly difficult task. And the incentive to complete the trials is less enticing as completing it is not necessary to awaken wolf link in Breath of the Wild but becoming nigh impossible to have a wolf link with perfect health, unless one goes through the trouble to find enough pieces of heart in the world to max out hearts to have enough to even survive the cave of shadows. An ability to exit the dungeon with the remaining hearts at certain intervals should be added for those who don’t feel like struggling through the cave in order to save hearts they already earned in the normal playthrough.

Looking back Twilight Princess isn’t the groundbreaking experience it was once revered for, as its design is a standard Zelda format at its most simplistic that isn’t void of minor issues. In that Twilight Princess HD offers nothing short of an enjoyable adventure into Hyrule with updated and distinctive visuals and amiibo support that is creative and enhances the experience in this game, and another. Anyone who has found any enjoyment in any 3d Zelda game before should take the time to join Link and Midna in their quest to restore peach to the land of Twilight.

It should be knowns, if you plan on playing Twilight Princess HD AND then play with the amiibo in breath of the wild, max out your hearts and try and get a damage less run in the cave of shadows before entering the realm of twilight.

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