The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

A Long Awaited Twilight

As a long time LoZ fan, i’m very aware of the fact that you either love or you hate Twilight Princess. Luckily for me, i’m the former, meaning that when it was announced that Twilight Princess was getting a long overdue remaster after numerous leaks and rumors, you can bet I was excited. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the thirteenth installment in this excellent franchise. Originally released on the 19th of November 2006,  Twilight Princess released on the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo GameCube to critical acclaim, however it’s also known for dividing the fans much like Majora’s Mask did. Some people hate this game (which is completely fine) and this HD remaster sure won’t change that, however, if you enjoyed Twilight Princess or haven’t played it yet, I highly recommend you pick this one up and give it a go. Trust me, it’s so worth it.

The new textures really do make the game look so much better.

A Twilight Adventure

Twilight Princess has the exact same story as it did back in 2006, which is of course to be expected. Twilight Princess, much like Majora’s Mask, had a fairly dark tone to it. Sometimes it really does feel like Hyrule is filled with despair and sadness, but I like this tone in a Zelda game. Set a number of years after Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess follows the story of Link (or whichever name you see fit) and Midna, his Twilight companion. After a string of events to kick the game off, Link is pulled into the realm of the Twilight, where he is transformed into a wolf and imprisoned within Hyrule Castle. After being helped and freed by Midna, you are guided to Zelda, who explains that the Twilight King Zant has stolen the light from 3 of 4 Light Spirits, conquering Hyrule in the process. The plot is actually really interesting if you haven’t played Twilight Princess before, and has a twist right at the end that you won’t see coming if you aren’t already aware of it.Twilight Princess has some of the best characters in the series in my opinion. It has it’s standard Link, Ganondorf, Zelda and so on. You’d think that this would make it pretty ordinary but Midna and Zant are incredibly unique and interesting. Zant is one of my favorite Zelda villains, simply because he’s so well designed and mysterious, and how can you not like Midna after dealing with Navi for so long?

Zant is a playable character in Hyrule Warriors if you didn’t know already.

Slash, Bite and Claw

Twilight Princess further innovates the combat system, with more depth and options to tackle different situations. This isn’t just because of the items and enemy variation, but it’s also affected by Wolf Link. Conveniently, you can change to Wolf Link by tapping on the gamepad, which saves so much time and unneeded hassle. Twilight Princess has some of the best bosses and dungeons in Zelda. If you’ve played any Zelda game before, you’ll be familiar with the formula. String of events to kick off the plot, explore a new area, complete dungeon, fight boss, progress plot line. It’s a formula that I absolutely adore and it never seems to get repetitive. It’s just as good in Twilight Princess. The one criticism I have with the game is that there a few items in the game, cool items like the spinning top, that are only really useful in 1 or 2 dungeons. It’s only minor, but the spinning top is such an awesome item and I would’ve loved to see it used more. The Wolf Link Amiibo that comes with the game gives you access to the Cave of Shadows, which is a wave by wave battle mode as Wolf Link, with rewards. It serves as a good distraction, but I didn’t find myself wanting to complete it.

The base game is packaged with the Wolf Link amiibo. For now it cannot be bought separately.

A Night and Day Comparison

The most changes and modifications in this HD remaster are in regards to the technical aspect of the game. The whole game runs at a smooth 30 frames per second at 1080p the whole time, making for a really enjoyable and smooth experience. The one problem with this is that the updated textures really do bring out the age of Twilight Princess, but this is a remaster not remake. The game is so much better to look at and some of the environments like City in the Sky and Hyrule Field look absolutely gorgeous. The soundtrack in Twilight Princess is nothing short of fantastic. I always find my self humming along to the Hyrule Field and Castle Town themes, they seriously never get old. It should go without saying that there’s no voice acting whatsoever in Twilight Princess HD. The gamepad has some really simply, but effective additions that make the game that much more enjoyable. The ability to access inventory through the gamepad screen is a godsend and like I said before, changing back and forth between Link and Wolf Link is so much better too.

A comparison between the Wii (right) and Wii U (left) versions of the game.

Verdict: 9/10

In my opinion, Twilight Princess is one of the strongest games in the Zelda franchise. It has a solid story, strong game-play, interesting characters, creative bosses, puzzling dungeons and a fresh dark tone that Zelda doesn’t play around with much. The remaster goes to prove that even more, with improved looks and performance. If you enjoyed Twilight Princess when it came out in 2006, do yourself a treat and pick this one up, if you didn’t like Twilight Princess, this HD remaster won’t change your mind, and finally, if you haven’t played Twilight Princess at all, try give it a go, it’s a truly fantastic Zelda experience.

Positives

-Dungeons and bosses

-Improved visuals and performance

-Soundtrack

-Story and dark tone

Negatives

-Use of certain items

-Updated visuals brings out the game’s age

Thanks for reading guys, sorry it took such a long time to get this one out. I ended up messing around with Pokken when it came out so I didn’t get it done as fast as possible. Keep an eye out for a Pokken Tournament review because it’ll hopefully be up in the next few days!

Harry.