The Legend of Zelda is a game that is based in a medieval-like time with a huge castle where the princess Zelda resides. The castle is called Hyrule Castle. Zelda is the ruler of the Land of Hyrule and she is faced with an evil Twilight Realm that engulfs the entire kingdom. Link, our hero in the story, must find a way to save the Kingdom of Hyrule and bring light back the land.
I’ve never thought that there would be yet another Zelda game that would capture the gaming world so extremely as this one has. If you own a Wii or even a Gamecube and have played The Legend of Zelda in the past or if you’re just beginning to play the series, then you should play this game. Once this game hit the shelves at video game stores, they were gone in seconds. People rave about this game, and so do I.

Game Play

With the Wii remote controller you can do many things: swing your sword, raise your shield, and even shoot arrows by aiming the remote at the TV you are playing on. The user interface is very clean and you can see the world clearly while you explore through its glorious environment. To move Link around your environment you are given a nun chuck controller with a joystick that hooks into your Wii remote controller. The movement is very accurate when you move Link around with the joystick. The way you move your Wii remote controller could be a little better since it is used for swinging your weapon and using items. When I slightly moved the controller, Link would unsheathe his sword and it would frustrate me because I didn’t need to use it at that time. Otherwise, the game play is fantastic and easy to get used to when you first start out.

Graphics

The graphics are beautiful in this title and I also love how eerie the theme of this game is. This part of the game in the Legend of Zelda series is most like something from the Twilight Zone, hence its name “Twilight Princess”. It is one of the first darkest Zelda games ever created and it was also one of the first Zelda games rated Teen by the ESRB rating system as well. The game’s graphic output is mind-blowing. Every detail in every terrain is so beautiful; when you gallop over certain parts of Hyrule with Epona, you would hear the texture of the terrain being kicked up underneath her hooves. The realistic features in this game are so amazing you would think that you’re inside the game sometimes. The way Link’s hat blows with the wind to the way Epona’s tail swats from side to side when you mount her saddle. The graphics often glow in such a “twilighty” way when you are given a cinematic, which you encounter many times throughout your game play. The facial expressions of each character actually make you wonder what they’re feeling and what they’re thinking as well. There are clear expressions of anger, sadness, and even happiness. Link’s expressions often change throughout your exploration, but sometimes I just wish he had shown some teeth when he smiles (He only smiled with his lips).

Sound

The sound quality on this game is amazing, from every swish of Link’s sword to the sound of the rain falling in Hyrule Field. The music, which was composed by Koji Kondo, is remarkable as well as the game’s sound effects. I always loved the music in each area I visited in the game. The eerie sound you hear while you travel into Twilight in the game really gets your gears turning in your head, which makes you feel alert while you explore the world. The music changes while you are in Hyrule Field when the sun rises. After the sun sets, night falls soon after which is then followed by a new song being played in the background as you travel throughout the night. It sets the mood in the atmosphere of the area that you are visiting at the time. Since there are no voiceovers in this particular game, there is dialogue to read which makes this game more like an RPG such as one of the Final Fantasy video games. But there are small grunts, laughs, and yells that come from many different characters that you encounter throughout the game. But there is no speech, which I’m pretty disappointed about. I would like there to be at least one Zelda game that would have actual voiceovers instead of reading again. But once you think about it, there really is somewhat of a tradition held for these games in the series. I guess Shigeru Miyamoto (the game’s developer and founder of the Zelda series and Super Mario) wants to keep the consistency of dialogue in those games for some odd reason.

Summary

All in all this is a very great game to consider buying if you really liked the Zelda series before this particular Zelda game. You interact to a great extent with your entire body by swinging your sword with the controller, which actually makes you think like you’re holding a sword in your own two hands. That is one of the greatest aspects of the entire game. I really enjoyed this game and I know you will too.