Ah yes, the "Zelda Cycle" is as reliable as the passing of the seasons. What is the "Zelda Cycle" you might ask? It's a pattern that takes place over roughly a decade wherein a new Zelda game is released to universal critical and community praise, then scrutinized, then bashed, then loathed and hated as "the black sheep" of the series, then reevaluated and slowly accepted again, until the final step wherein it is viewed as a beloved cult classic. For a long time, admitting you liked
Twilight Princess
was a statement you had to qualify and justify to others (right now it's
Skyward Sword's
turn on the hobbling wheel, judging by internet comments anyway). Not now though, because we've finally gotten to the point in the Zelda cycle where Twilight Princess is now rightly viewed as a high quality classic. The same thing happened to
The Wind Waker
as well, which is now universally loved, and rightly so (As you can see by my review on that page, Wind Waker is my favorite entry in the Zelda series, which is my favorite game series of all time). For the record, I've loved Twilight Princess since I first played it roughly a decade ago, and my love for it has only grown each time I've played it since (which is about 5 or 6 times with a couple completionist runs in there, and I've played both the Gamecube and Wii versions). It has always been one of my favorite Zelda games. Now that everybody is generally on board in liking the game, it is the perfect time to release an HD remaster. Everyone loved Wind Waker HD, and I'm happy to say that Twilight Princess received the same stellar treatment here. Given that I've had so much experience with the original, I feel I can give a fair assessment of this remake. However, I must warn you, if you don't like long reviews, you may wish to stop reading now. I want to be fair and thorough to the game. You've been warned.
*For those already familiar with the original Twilight Princess and want to know only about this HD remake/remaster, skip the next three paragraph mini review*
After experimenting quite a bit with
Majora's Mask
and Wind Waker, Nintendo listened to all the feedback from fans and took TP back to 3-D Zelda roots by essentially revisiting the formula of Ocarina of Time closely. They abandoned the cel shaded Toon style of WW, and went with a gritty, high fantasy graphic novel look, like OoT but grown up. They abandoned the Great Sea and Termina and returned to the grand fields and regions of Hyrule, and made the game world way bigger than any Zelda game ever before it. They went back to a more classical Zelda thematic theme of duality, both in the story and in gameplay. In every way, TP feels like a true, faithful sequel to OoT, just much bigger and more refined. As a matter of fact,Twilight Princess is arguably the most refined, expansive, and encyclopedic classical 3-D Zelda entry ever. If you love Ocarina of Time, then Twilight Princess should be your bread and butter. It took the damn-near perfect formula from OoT, and sharpened it to an almost blinding gleam. TP is classic Zelda, plain and simple, but It wasn't just a retread of OoT. TP is also incredibly unique in the series. Hyrule is gigantic here, so the game's emphasis on horse riding and the genuine improvements and expansion on that mechanic, including horseback combat, is thrilling and enjoyable. No game has Epona ever been more important. It expanded on and refined the combat to the point where I'd say it's the best swordplay in the series. The game's dungeons, their unique items, and boss fights are some of the best in the series, and that's a great thing as there are more dungeons in TP than any other 3-D Zelda game (which was nice given that people complained about the comparatively templeless WW). There were some really unique mechanics employed here as well, and yes, that includes Wolf Link. Love it or hate it, the wolf segments of the game did lend itself to good storytelling and variety in gameplay, in my opinion. Later portions of the game, where you can transform between Normal and Wolf Link at will, really embrace a great level of complexity that I enjoy greatly.
Twilight Princess is also, by far, the darkest entry in the main series (even more so than MM at times, which is hard to believe). It has a story that is filled to the brim with lovable, unique, and compelling characters who are all written and developed superbly. Midna, your main companion in the game, is by far the best companion character in the entire series (my wife and I named our Rat Terrier in her honor). This version of Hyrule and its various regions feels lived in and ancient. The world building is exceptionally well done. Each race and town all feel like a living, integral part of this world. I love the game's take on classic villains, but TP also featured a genuinely chilling and unnerving new villain with a very nice twist that I appreciate more every time I play the game. Aside from a slow opening, the game had excellent pace where no task felt like padding or a waste of time (*CoughSkywardSwordcough*) and there are tons of unique places to explore. The visuals are beautiful, with a gritty high fantasy take on classical Zelda themes. The peaceful, isolated serenity of the snowy region, or the sunset soaked bloom lighting of the Twilight Realm alone are worthy of mention when it comes to the game's timeless visual splendor. In some ways, even the original TP looks better than ever Skyward Sword, a much newer game.The soundtrack too reflected the more mature, nuanced, and complex world that Hyrule offered. It is probably my favorite soundtrack in a Zelda game, as it does such a wonderful job creating atmosphere and deepening the impact of the story.
Added all together and TP offers a complex and refined adventure. Its expansive take on classical Zelda elements make it the most refined, encyclopedic 3-D Zelda game to date, and the new and unique visual, thematic, and mechanical additions it made also makes it one of the most unique 3-D Zelda games. Those two statements may seem mutually exclusive, but TP somehow simultaneously pulls them off flawlessly. It certainly is not objectively perfect, but this HD remaster goes to some length to refine and improve the game, which I feel it succeeds at pretty well. Let's talk about that now.
*Review of the HD treatment Twilight Princess received*
By far the biggest and most noticeable improvement in Wind Waker HD was its visual upgrade. The vastly improved lighting and shading effects, the color range and vibrancy expansion, the much higher resolution, the completely redrawn textures, and more, all made Wind Waker look brand new and beautiful enough to stand tall against anything on the Wii-U's admittedly more powerful console competitors. This version of Twilight Princess received the exact same treatment as WWHD, but the upgrades are a bit more subtle. To be sure, this is by far the most beautiful version of TP, and it looks substantially better than the famously muddled Gamecube original (and yes, this is the GC version being remastered). Looking across Hyrule field in the early hours, with the warm sunlight penetrating the cold fog of night, looks stunning, as does walking around the Ordon Woods with gorgeous sun beams filtering through the trees and striking its serene sacred spring. The warm sunsetlike light of the Twilight Realm, which were always my favorite looking parts of the original, look absolutely gorgeous and radiant in this version, complete with its awesome particle effects. The texture upgrades also makes a HUGE difference in improving TP's visuals. Even something as simple as a wall texture, or the textures on characters themselves really improve the experience. What most people don't seem to realize is that in both WWHD AND TPHD, no work was done to upgrade any geometry or the character models themselves. It is only because of the timeless cel shaded look that emphasized color and style over realism that WWHD looked brand new again. Any time a game puts more emphasis on more realistic looking graphics over stylistic graphics, it will age more and quickly. That is the case here. So, in terms of the visual remastering, TP can be a bit of a mixed bag at times. All the improvements are wonderful, but it seems strange to see all that contrasted by almost completely unaltered Gamecube character models. Thankfully, even though TP went for a more realistic look, it is ultimately a Zelda game, which makes TP have its own distinctive stylized visual language even if it is through a more gritty lense. I also have to say I'm very happy we got the canonical Gamecube version of the game where Link is left-handed, the Gerudo desert and Lake Hylia is to the west, and Death Mountain is to the East. It's the little things which makes a Zelda nerd like me happy.
As with WWHD, there are also tons of subtle improvements to the game itself. A lot of people's biggest complaints about the original were its sometimes slow pacing, and a lot of these fixes help remedy that. Remember the somewhat slow and tedious quests to find the Tears of Light? Those have been quickened considerably, cutting the tears of each region from 16 to a dozen or so. This definitely helps the pacing along a lot. Hunting Poes is much less tedious due to an all-new Poe Radar Lantern item specifically made to make tracking those troublesome creepy Wraith monster dolls easier. They added a button on the touchscreen to make transforming between normal Link and Wolf Link much quicker and easier. If you open a chest with Ruppees in it, they no longer go back into the chest if your wallet is full, AND wallet capacity has been increased by default to accommodate this change, thank goodness. Other, more subtle improvements, such as speeding up climbing and swimming, also adds up a lot. Controls overall have been refined to feel smoother and more responsive. Stuff like this is all over the game, and is greatly welcome. Also, if you felt the original TP was too easy, well you're in luck, as the more difficult Hero Mode is available right off the bat. Overall, with all these tweaks, additions, and refinements, as well as the upgrades in presentation, this is the best version of TP by a lot.
The gamepad is used pretty much the same way it was in WWHD. The touch screen is put to excellent use as a way to quickly and efficiently look at the map, manage inventory, and other things like the new Wolf/Normal Link button I mentioned earlier. It all goes a long way to making the game experience more seamless. By far my favorite gamepad feature here is the gyroscopic controls. Aiming things like your bow, boomerang, slingshot, etc, all feels so good with the gyroscopic controls. Of course, if you hate the gamepad and would rather have a more traditional control experience, you can use the Wii-U Pro Controller, which is a nice option for gamers to have. There's also Amiibo support by default. If you were lucky enough to get a Wolf Link/Midna Amiibo, then you can have access to a "cave of trials" type arena where you play as Wolf Link, and which has its own rewards for completing it. Other Zelda themed Amiibos do unique things once per day. Ganandorf's amiibo makes Link take more damage, Link replenishes your arrows, and Zelda/Sheik replenishes hearts, etc. Not a groundbreaking feature by any stretch, but a nice, superfluous inclusion.
As much as I like Twilight Princess HD, it's not all perfect. While some of the pacing has received substantial improvement, by far the biggest complaint that people had about the original in this area was the game's incredibly slow opening 2-3 hours. For the record, I've always liked the game's opening, as I feel it does a good job at world-building and setting the darker, more mature tone of the game. I can understand why others dislike it though, and it's mystifying to me that Nintendo did nothing to speed this portion of the game up when they improved other areas people didn't like for being slow. I mean, seriously? One of my biggest gripes about WWHD is that the soundtrack itself didn't really get much love, and it's the same situation here. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to hear at least SOME of TP's fantastic, atmospheric soundtrack with full orchestration? It'd be great, right? Well, tough. All we get is some simple. often barely perceptible remastering, which is a bummer. As I said earlier, the character models stick out like a sore thumb a bit. I'm not saying Nintendo needed to pull a full-blown Ocarina of Time 3D remake, but it would've gone a long way visually if they had at least made new character models for the game. Nintendo themselves have said these HD Wii-U remasters are quick and easy to make. They couldn't update Link or Midna's model in the past two and a half years? Not onl that, but, like WWHD, the framerate is locked at 30 fps. I generally don't care about framerate as long as its stable and the game is good, and so I have no problem with 30 fps here, but I'll mention it because I know some do care about that. Another gripe I have is that you cannot play the Wii version of the game by default, and there's no motion control option. For those unaware, the Wii version of TP was mirrored with every location flipped and with a right-handed Link. If you want to play the mirrored version, you can only do so in Hero Mode. The default adventure is always the Gamecube version. Astonishingly, there's no Wii mode where you can use motion controls if you want. This seems like a massive omission that would've been easy to include given that all the work to implement motion control WAS ALREADY DONE FOR THE WII VERSION. Bummer.
In my opinion, few HD remaster/remakes have been as worthwhile as the ones Nintendo has done for the Zelda series. TPHD makes many genuinely excellent improvements on a game that I genuinely used to think had little room for improvement. I may be a weirdo for this, but I've always felt the original TP deserved to stand alongside OoT,
Link's Awakening
, and Wind Waker HD (which fixed the flawed original) as relatively flawless Zelda games. TP has grown on me over the years. Every time I've played the original (which is about 5-6 times), my love for it has grown. This HD remaster has only solidified its place in my top 3 Zelda games of all time list. It took a ten year old game, improved it immensely, and made me realize just how timeless it really is. It's still a great game even when compared to brand new releases today. If you are one of those who didn't like TP for whatever reason, this version gives compelling reason to come around and enjoy it. If you're a die hard Zelda fan, this is a no-brainer. It's the definitive version of an underappreciated, underrated cult classic and one that deserves a place of honor in Zelda's fabled 25+ year history. Hopefully now it will get the recognition and love it has always deserved. My recommendation: Buy it, prepare yourself for a true high fantasy adventure, and accept your fate as the Hero of Light chosen by the gods.
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Zelda - Twilight Princess HD game review (for Wii U)
VINGIN
Customer reviews
Greener on this side. List of changes
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016
Instead of reviewing the core experience presented 10 years ago (2006 original release) I'll just going to give you the list of observable changes to the game:Visuals up first, there's a noticeable difference. The grass is greener, higher resolution, revamped textures, detailed changes in polygonal models/objects, and addition of lighting effects which makes the world look less of a drab and pops out more than the originalHero mode: enemies do twice the damage (4x if you use Ganondorf amiibo)In terms of link's hand placement: Gamecube version on Normal (left-handed), mirrored wii version on hero modeLoading times are a lot faster, maybe 1-2 secs faster for every screen transition. Which doesn't sound like much, but definitely adds upTreasure boxes remain open, once you open them.Custom miiverse stamps in hidden treasure chestsNew lantern item: Poe's lantern makes it easier to hunt down poes. You carry it around the world map and it glows whenever a poe is within close proximity. You still have to wait till night time (in game) to see themAmiibo support:Link and Toon Link restore arrowsZelda and Shiek: restore heartsGanandorf: 2x damageLink, Toon link, Zelda and Shiek is only 1 per day (resets at midnight everyday), while Ganandorf has unlimited use and can be toggled on or offWolf link amiibo (only available with retail limited edition version of game):Once you reach a certain point of the game, you can scan in the wolf link amiibo to access the Cave of Shadows where you battle a gauntlet of enemies level-by-level like the cave or ordeals, but you only play as wolf link.You are not able to go through all levels in your first go as there are level gates until you defeat the next dungeon boss in the main campaignGamepad Control:Option to play off screenGamepad allows for inventory screen/map displayEasily access items and equips, easily swap items in and out without having to pause the gameChange link to wolf form with a simple button press instead of talking to midna, which saves a second which will add up in the long runNew motion controls and aiming your weapon like in Wind Waker HDNote: you cannot play with wii remote and nunchuck, only optional pro controllerIn terms of presentation of the physical copy: I'm very impressed. The front of the box has a nice metallic glow to it and the box art is simply beautiful. I wish they included a poster of the box art so I can display it on my wall. The Wolf Link amiibo is also very detailed and has a nice weight to it compared to other amiibos I've ownedOverall surely the definitive version of the game. You'll play through the same game, but with better visuals, easier controls, and faster loading times.
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
#Jasshtag
Una gran remasterizacion de un gran juego.
Reviewed in Mexico on April 22, 2016
Sam West
Great game, Looks incredibly nice with a Great looking amiibo!
Reviewed in Canada on December 31, 2016Wula
Very nice remaster and nice to see it on my HDTV ...
Reviewed in Canada on May 28, 2016
