The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

After the successful re-release of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (2013) for the Wii U, Nintendo brings another title back from the past with their recent remake, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. Released back in 2006 for the Gamecube and Wii, Twilight Princess HD follows the same patterns as the last Zelda title as a high definition remake for the Wii U. Updating the graphics so the visuals are smooth and crisp, tweaking the gameplay to make a convenient use of the Wii U’s gamepad and adding a new feature for that makes use of Nintendo’s collectible amiibo figurines. While making little changes to the storyline that fans love about the franchise.

Centuries after the events of Ocarina of Time (1998) and Majora’s Mask (2000), the young hero named Link works on a farm in Ordon Village. Until one day his village is attack by Bulbins as they carry off with the children as Link pursues the monsters. Link is then stopped in his tracks by a wall of Twilight where he is pulled in and the strange realm turns him into a wolf. Waking up imprisoned he is freed by an imp-like Twilight being named Midna who mocks his situation but agrees to help him providing that he obeys her. As they escape, Midna guides Link to Princess Zelda who explains the reason for the phenomenon. Zelda explains that Zant, King of the Twilight has stolen three of the four Light Spirits and conquered the kingdom of Hyrule. As soon as Link in his own realm, the mission is on to restore the light to the kingdom and stop Zant’s diabolical conquest. However, not only is there more to Midna than she lets on but an ancient evil from the past returns that threatens both Hyrule and the Twilight realm.

Story wise, Twilight Princess is still one of the darker entries of the Zelda franchise. Not just visually but the story builds up the threat much more than before to make it feel legit. With real people dying instead of being put to sleep then waking up and presents demonic possession. The player can actually feel the evil around them in this game. Added with the character development in Twilight Princess HD the writing makes the game more solid for those who love to play games for the story.

As mentioned earlier, Twilight Princess HD is a darker game in terms of visuals and tone that can be compared to the Lord of the Rings. The reason for the darker visuals is that since the release of The Wind Waker back in 2003, fans had mixed reception with the more colourful cel-shaded approach with its graphics. The gameplay remained true to the Zelda name and even the story is quite emotional. But fans wanted a darker approach to every new game as The Legend of Zelda franchise established itself to be the opposite of the colourful and more family friendly Super Mario Bros. So Twilight Princess was made to cater to that demographic as a more “adult” Zelda game. While the updated visuals really shine to make the game less blurry than it did before, the graphical update isn’t as big as The Wind Waker remake was. For that game the Wii U’s graphics really made the colour pop out more as if it was MADE to be released in HD. This doesn’t hurt Twilight Princess HD’s visual update, but it pales in comparison by a bit to The Wind Waker HD.

For the remake’s gameplay, the re-release takes the two versions of Twilight Princess and combines them into one. In standard mode players play the updated version of the Gamecube version whereas hero mode is the updated Wii version as the world is flipped around and the player takes more damage when hit, adding more difficulty to players that want to challenge their skills. The Wii U’s gamepad makes it easier to access the menu for items for a smoother experience without the need to pause the game constantly. Like the other Zelda remakes of the past the use of the double screen helps for a faster gameplay that doesn’t interrupt the player’s pace.

 

Finally, the addition that makes Twilight Princess HD standout from the rest of the franchise is that the game is the very first Zelda title to use amiibo figurines. It should be noted that the game can only use the amiibo based off of the Zelda characters, which also includes the exclusive Wolf Link amiibo that only comes with the Collector’s Edition. Using the Link and Toon Link amiibos restores the player’s arrow ammunition and the Zelda and Sheik amiibo restore the player’s health. But the Ganondorf amiibo contrasts to the other four by weakening the player’s health so even in standard mode the player will take twice as much damage from a hit. Adding the same challenge one would get from the hero mode. Finally the Wolf Link’s amiibo usage is quite different as it is the only amiibo that can access the game’s Cave of Shadows dungeon. A special area that is similar to the optional side quest Cave of Ordeals in the main game, but the player cannot recover their health. So this addition is like a survival mode that has a hidden reward that a player can only access by clearing the Cave of Shadows. The usage of the amiibo is optional as they are not really needed to play the game but they can be used if the player needs assistance or want to challenge themselves.

Overall, Twilight Princess HD is a solid remake that will please those who enjoyed its original release with its updates features. While it may not stand out as much in updates when compared to The Wind Waker HD, the comparison is quite minimal. Twilight Princess HD can be approached by any fan whether they played the entry before or are new to the game.