By Morgan Limmer ’18, Contributor
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess originally received positive feedback and was highly rated when it released back in 2006. Fans loved its mature art style and darker, more in depth plot. It’s one of the most critically acclaimed games even to this . Nowadays the Wii and GameCube version just look ugly but fortunately Nintendo has released HD remake of Twilight Princess for the Wii U.
The story is the same as it was 10 years ago, and hasn’t changed at all. You play as the protanganist, Link who must lift the curtain of twilight from the lands of Hyrule and defeat Ganondorf, the evil king of the Gerudos . The conflict starts when Bulbin, troll like monsters, attack Link’s peaceful village, Ordon, and kidnaps the children. Link gives chase but encounters a wall of twilight which he’s pulled through by a shadow beast and transform into Wolf Link. You wake up in a prison cell in Hyrule castle and meet Midna, your companion for the rest of the game. Saying anything else would just spoil the game. B usually with the item acquired in that particular dungeon in order to acquire a key object. The plot is incredibly deep and immersive and while it has a darker atmosphere but still manages to retain a childish sense of humor. The characters a multidimensional and extremely well done, even if the graphics are subpar.
The controls themselves haven’t changed that much, but instead of wildly flinging your Wiimote™ and Nunchuk™ about, you can manage everything from your Wii U gamepad. Many players found this to be an improvement upon the game even if they weren’t a fan of the gamepad to begin with. The gamepad doesn’t have motion controls so it’s less obnoxious than the original Wii controls and you can manage your items from the gamepad instead of pausing the game and opening the item menu. The map can also be viewed on the gamepad instead of the bottom left corner of the TV screen. I’m still partial to the Wii version, even if the motion controls were a little obnoxious, but that’s mostly because Twilight Princess was the first actual story-driven game I ever played.
The overall look of game was enhanced with better in-game models, smoother textures, and improved lighting. This gives the game a much sharper and modern feel. The creators also added a few more trees and even a whole new dungeon, though this dungeon is only accessible if you purchased the new Wolf Link amiibo™. There was also a new item added called the “Ghost Lantern” which helps the player locate poe souls. Poes are a crucial point in one dungeon, Arbiters Grounds, and there are other poes that linger out in the open world map can be caught and traded for items. Personally Arbiters Grounds was my favorite dungeon in the entire game, it had one of the best bosses and one of the best mini bosses.
Changes were made based on complaints received from fans about the original game. During the “tears of light” segments you only have to collect 12 tears instead of the original 16. Originally you had to talk to Midna to change into Wolf Link or back into human Link but in the HD remake you only have to press a button which saves quite a lot of time. Possibly one of the most requested changes is the increased wallet size, now the absolute maximum amount of rupees you can carry, assuming you still have that Wolf Link amiibo, is 9,999. The previous amount was only 1,000. I especially think that was a huge improvement because buying expensive items was a long and tedious process if you didn’t have the right wallet in the Wii version. Personally I would’ve liked it if they had really, really amped up the graphics because, too be honest, the game needs a lot more TLC in the looks department.
The “Cave of Shadows” can only be accessed if you have that Wolf Link amiibo™, which you need to fully experience the game. The whole dungeon is a whopping 40 floors long but unlike the other dungeons in the game, it’s not puzzle based, it’s combat based. The way to beat the dungeon is by fighting waves of enemies as Wolf Link since you are unable to change into human Link while in the dungeon. At the end of the dungeon you get a wallet upgrade and 300 rupees.
I’m a huge fan of the “Hero mode” which cranks up the difficulty because personally I feel like the normal mode is just way too easy. Even the creativity of these bosses can’t hide how pathetically easy it is to defeat them. Hero mode removes all recovery heart drops from the entire game and Link takes double damage from not all, if you have the Ganodorf amiibo™, Link takes quadruple damage from opponents. It’s good for seasoned players or people who really like a challenge.
So overall I think the HD remake was a great improvement on the original, even if the Wolf Link amiibo gimmick seems like a cheap way for Nintendo to really rake in that cash. I highly recommend this game. I know I played the Wii version almost religiously for a solid 3 months when I first got it and the HD remake adds so many new features and easier to look at graphics. It’s easy to play and overall a really fun game with good controls and an excellent plot.
Image Source: http://www.justpushstart.com/2016/03/legend-zelda-twilight-princess-hd-review/
