The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

aka: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 2, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Zelda TP, Zelda no Densetsu: Twilight Princess
Moby ID: 25103
Wii Specs
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Description official descriptions

Twilight Princess is the first Legend of Zelda game for the Wii and also the last for GameCube. At first, Link is a simple farm boy, whose tasks consist of herding goats to watching children in Ordon village, Link's hometown. One day, Link is asked by the mayor to run an errand in Castle Town, but things suddenly go wrong…

The land becomes dark, and strange creatures appear from another world called the Twilight Realm, which turns most into ghosts. Link, however, becomes a wolf. After becoming a wolf, Link is aided by Midna, a resident of the Twilight Realm. Midna helps Link find a way to turn human again along with other tasks.

The wolf cannot use a sword or other items. Instead, as a wolf Link must use his senses to solve puzzles and get past obstacles. The beast can also dig holes to find hearts and rupees and to get in places. It can push blocks with its head to climb higher or reveal hidden passageways. Additionally, it can attack enemies by biting or pouncing on them.

As a human, Link can move around quickly, aim his bow, swing his sword, and even fish. Link also collects many different items, which allow him to perform varied attacks and reach places he couldn't before. Link performs many attacks with his sword and can even learn other sword moves.

The game's art is similar to the naturalistic style of Ocarina of Time, rather than the cel-shaded look of The Wind Waker. Chronologically, the game takes place between the two aforementioned titles, and quite a few locations from Ocarina of Time can be visited. The main adventure takes place in several provinces with dungeons and temples. With the help of Midna, you can easily travel around quickly later in the game.

The Wii U remaster of the game includes:

  • Enhanced graphics
  • Wii U GamePad support (allowing for a mini-map to be displayed on the touchscreen, or items to be changed using the touchscreen)
  • Miiverse support
  • Some areas of gameplay have had minor adjustments
  • A new difficulty mode
  • A new dungeon, the Cave of Shadows, which is accessed using the Wolf Link amiibo
  • Additional amiibo support for health refills or arrow refills

Spellings

  • ゼルダの伝説 トワイライトプリンセス HD - Japanese Wii U spelling
  • ゼルダの伝説 トワイライトプリンセス - Japanese spelling
  • 젤다의 전설 황혼의 공주 - Korean spelling

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Credits (Wii version)

227 People (188 developers, 39 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 94% (based on 173 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 226 ratings with 15 reviews)

The biggest (and best) Zelda of its era

The Good
The huge open world to explore, the amazingly designed dungeons and puzzles, the story, the characters and the wolf transformation mechanics. It all works so well to create an amazingly enjoyable experience.

The Bad
The incredibly long and boring introduction/tutorial segments. These could have been toned down a lot and it would really help replay-ability!

The Bottom Line
An action-packed adventure game with a huge world to explore, intricately designed dungeons and puzzles and the ability to turn into a wolf and travel between worlds in order to stop your own world from being engulfed by the other.

Wii · by Deleted (13945) · 2019

Perfection achieved

The Good
This is by far the best Zelda game I have ever played.

Being one who has lived through all the Zelda games to the current date, I can without doubt call this game a masterpiece. I bought this game on Friday, was finished on Sunday evening. I didn't leave the freaking chair, it took me a whole 37 hours to play it through. It is by far the most adrenaline-filled Zelda game that has been launched.

Twilight Princess has beautiful artistic perspective, and one of the best looking Game Cube games to date. There is nothing more fun than shooting an arrow all the way across Hyrule field, then riding your horse trying to find it again. With award winning sound and gameplay, the most in depth plot, great graphics, great artistic perspective, over 60 hours of gameplay, and a character that never talks, The legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is sure to bring enjoyment to any gamer who appreciates games for what they are, an art.

Twilight Princess amazingly follows through on all of its promises. Nintendo has done what one might consider the unthinkable -- achieved perfection.

The Bad
For some people that have played several Zelda games in the past. This is not a very hard game to finish.

The Bottom Line
There is not a single point where the game is not at an outstanding level. I would like to tell you more about it, and tell you in detail about every feature in the whole game, but...why should I tell you, when you can experience it yourself? Why should I spoil the greatest adventure of all? The best way to experience all this is to play it yourself. And I do recommend that you do just that, so go buy one, for your own sake, and get the game. You will not be disappointed. Nintendo has created a true masterpiece.

GameCube · by SiriusCrane (8) · 2007

A good Zelda game, but with some weird problems

The Good
This Zelda game starts of very well by featuring a complete new characters cast with barely any characters from previous installments. I like that a lot because using characters from previous games often causes me to lose interest because I already saw them before and know how they act (like the Mask Salesman from Ocarina of Time that also appeared in Majora's Mask).

Using the Wii remote also feels better than in most other games on this system because using it actually feels natural. You swing your sword, aim with your bow or throw objects and never did it feel forced or unnecessary. Combat also works perfectly fine although it is a bit easy at times.

The graphics look great and I especially like it when you go to the Twilight Palace which looks just as creepy as it sounds. You can't expect much from the Wii, but this game can beat most Xbox 360 titles in terms of graphics.

Playing as Wolf Link is a lot of fun and although the combat is a lot slower due to the absence of a finishing move, it is still a fun game mechanic that can be used for both puzzle solving and fighting.

The story is well told and most characters you get to meet actually play a role in it rather then just standing around waiting for you to do it. Something I have always missed in the Zelda franchise is the feeling that Hyrule is actually at war, but in this installment you can see that the country is caught in a conflict. The story is also a lot darker than most other Zelda games with characters actually fighting back and dying.

The Bad
The world is rather big and while that sounds like a good thing, in order to make a big world have impact on the player that world also has to be interesting. Hyrule Field is a good example: There is literally nothing to see there and travelling all the way through it takes the same amount of time as it took to get from one place to another in Oblivion.

Most characters try to be funny way too much and feel out of place considering the darker story. The goofy major, the weird bomb vendor and the "wise" (read demented) Goron elders all fail to endear themselves to you. And please Nintendo, get rid of all the cowardly soldiers!

Some dungeons and most of the music is copied straight from previous Zelda games. Especially the music takes the piss because the only song I enjoyed that wasn't ported from another Zelda was the Hidden Village song. Music is to the Zelda games what cheese is to macaroni, you can still go without, but it just cries out for something more. The dungeons are a bit cheap, but not to apparent. The Water temple and the Arbiter Grounds took the piss because those were copies from the most annoying dungeons from Ocarina of Time.

The Bottom Line
This game is a good sign because it shows that the Zelda franchise is far from over. The game looks and plays great and the new story filled with fresh, new characters is really enjoyable. The game made me laugh at times as well and that is always a good sign.

It does fail big time in the music department and some characters try to be funny way too much, but I was able too look past that while playing the game. If your a fan of Zelda game then you'll love this game and for newcomers this isn't a bad start either.

Wii · by Asinine (957) · 2011

[ View all 15 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Android version? Deleted (13945) May 18, 2019
Genre Correction Mark Picard (1) Jul 9, 2013
Mirrored? beetle120 (2415) Nov 25, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Delay

The game was originally announced for release for the GameCube in November 2005. This was delayed to November 2006 so that the developers could add more content to the game and release it on the Wii as well as the GameCube.

Development

  • During development, Midna's hair was red and green, while in the final version it's red but ends in blonde-yellow.
  • Although Sheik, Zelda's ninja-like alter-ego from Ocarina of Time, does not appear in Twilight Princess, an updated design of the character was drafted up in its development. He is however available as a playable character in the Wii game Super Smash Bros.: Brawl.

Characters

Throughout the game you'll encounter the strange Shadow Beasts (the dark blue/black coloured humanoids with the bizarrely shaped disc-heads and tentacle hair). However, in two cut-scenes, you can see two big Shadow Beasts with differently designed disc-heads flanking Zant like bodyguards.They don't appear in-game as enemies.

Glitch

There is a bug in a room with a big cannon Link can use to warp. If you save in that room, an invisible character won't let you leave, but he can't be spoken too. Link can't transform into a wolf either. Customers could return the disc to Nintendo to have it replaced. A video of the glitch is available in the related links section.

Inside Zelda

Nintendo of America's official magazine, Nintendo Power, published a monthly series of articles called Inside Zelda, which revealed how the game was developed. The series can be read in its entirety here.

Inspiration

  • The Oocca race appears to be inspired by M.C. Escher's painting Another World.
  • The masks worn by the Ancient Sages resemble those worn by chorus members in Ancient Greek dramas.

Midna

The character Midna, who speaks gibberish, is actually speaking English that has been scrambled beyond comprehension. Some of her unscrambled voice lines are related to the game's story whilst others are related to key gameplay elements (such as "I'll take you there with my power", which is used when warping to other areas. This is especially interesting as Midna's voice actress, Akiko Kōmoto is Japanese.

References

  • if you look around the fishing hut, the owner, you'll see an old black and white photograph of the Fishing Guy from the Lake Hylia fishing pond from Ocarina of Time. The hut's owner and operator Hena refers to him as the "legendary fisherman" and comments that she may be a descendant of his.
  • In Hyrule Castle Town you meet a character named Thelma, who owns a bar in the city and is a fairly important NPC to the storyline. She also owns a cat named Louise, who helps you as well. The two characters are a reference to the movie Thelma & Louise.
  • The characters Malo and Talo, children living in Link's hometown Ordon Village, are named references to Malon and Talon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, who are references to Marin and Tarin from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
  • The symbols that represent each Sage are the Six Medallions from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Version differences

Unlike every other Legend of Zelda game, Link is right handed in Twilight Princess. This is so most people (right handers make up 85% of the population) can make use of the Wii controls in the same hand as Link. Sword in the right, shield in the left. The GameCube version has Link using his left hand as usual. To make the game work for the right handed Link of the Wii, the Wii and GameCube versions of this game have the world map and everything in it mirrored So everything stays the same relative to him.

Awards

  • GamePro (Germany)
    • February 01, 2007 - Best Console Game in 2006 (Wii version) (Readers' Vote)
    • February 01, 2007 - Best Console Action-Adventure in 2006 (Wii version) (Readers' Vote)
  • GameSpy
    • 2006 – Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Console Game of the Year
    • 2006 – GameCube Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Wii Game of the Year
    • 2006 – GameCube Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
    • 2006 – Wii Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
    • 2006 – Wii Adventure Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Wii RPG of the Year

Information also contributed by Keeper Garrett, Mark Ennis, Sciere and Thomas Dowding

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Keeper Garrett.

Wii U added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. Android added by firefang9212. GameCube added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Sciere, Freeman, gamewarrior, samsam12, —-, Patrick Bregger, Grandy02, Rik Hideto, Kam1Kaz3NL77, FatherJack, Deleted.

Game added November 20, 2006. Last modified February 11, 2024.