The game that gave birth to user Wolflink001.
It was way back torwards the Gamecube's end that my long wait for this Zelda title finally was over. I had endured the whole long wait and delays and finally this game fell into my grasp! December 11th of 2006 was the day Zelda Twilight Princess finally hit the gaming market! It was a very exciting release and I was so happy to see that the Zelda series had blossomed into such a realistic artstyle! This game how could I explain? The best game to ever happen to the Zelda franchise since Ocarina of Time! The Zelda series took a turn to a dark atmosphere and gave birth to our Twilight Link! The turn also gave birth to Wolf Link which is like one of my sole reasons why I love this game so much and the fact that Ganon was also remade and remastered for this game realistc artstyle setting! I was never a huge fan of Toon Link and I was somewhat angry that Nintendo was giving Toon Link all of the attention and not the "real" Link. But I've gotten over that somehow and I let him grow on me a bit until I throw him in Eldin Volcano when Skyward Sword comes out. Anyway, I need to begin the review of this game so lets go!
Storyline: Zelda Twilight Princess takes place in the land of Hyrule. You play as of course Link who is a rancher living in Ordon Villiage. Things suddenly go wrong when the evil Shadow King Zant wants to take over Hyrule by opening rifts to the Twilight Realm in his attempt to pretend to be Ganon. Thus everything gets screwed up forcing Princess Zelda to surrender and Hyrule is left under a strange dark veil. Because of these strange rifts Link ends up getting cursed into a Wolf form and now he must once again save Hyrule from darkness. This entire game is the reason why the Zelda franchise can be brought into a darker and "realer" atmosphere.
Gameplay: Zelda Twilight Princess plays just like Ocarina of Time but with a couple of changes. Instead of having to deal with that annoying fairy (Navi) you have a much less annoying partner but with smart ass attitude! Midna is like the best partner as of now in the Zelda franchise. She will hide in your shadow and only alert you when its something you really need to know. In your quest she is of so much use to Link. During the fights with the Twili Monsters in his Wolf form Midna targets multiple enemies! Hold down B and the damage field appears! Let go and watch all of them fall over! Another change also in this game is that you can't just move freely through the dfferent areas without first cleansing the area. Yes, each area has been engulfed by the dark rifts of twilight and you must get the lights back from the dark beetles while stuck in your wolf form! Each guardian you meet in the springs will give you a special item called the Vessel of Light that stores the "tears" you've taken back from the dark beetles. But its your job to go out in each of the twilight infested areas and kill all of dark beetles to get the tears back! Once you have killed all of the dark beetles in an area take it back to the spring and the light will come back and return the area to normal. Finding all the dark beetles can be really annoying at times but once you find and kill them all you won't have to worry about it anymore. Basically, that's pretty much what you will be doing the entire first part of the game before you get into the second core part of the game which involves all major dungeons!
Graphics: The artstyle for Zelda Twlilght Princess is what we Zelda fans regard as the artstyle it should ALWAYS remain in. Many even argue that Zelda Twlilight Princess has better graphics than Skyward Sword! But I don't think that's true. While some people might think the "realistic" artstyle is always the best way to go, I think a change in the artstyle to a bright water color immersing world look wouldn't damage this series. Windwaker already proved that toon shading can be beautifly done so I don't really understand why some people really fuss about it so much. But the graphics of Twilight Princess really proves that the Zelda franchise can go down the dark road and into some HD territory artstyle at that.
Value: Zelda Twilight Princess I've replayed so many times I've lost count. I'm pretty sure by now that this game is marked down to an affordible price. Replay value it does have in my opinion as I never get tired of playing this game! All Zelda games have value if you ask this person.
Overall: If you're Zelda fan or are just getting in on the action then this game should be in your collection! This game alone was the main reason why I joined Gamespot (I don't know why) and I never regreted buying it! It was also because of this game that I'm even typing this review now to be read! Zelda Twililght Princess will forever be the game that gave birth to user Wolflink001.
Uh... Link will win. This review was brought to you by Wolflink001.