Zelda: Twilight Princess Final Impressions (Wii) [unmarked major spoilers]

Well, I finished off Twilight Princess last night and it very well may be my favorite game of the series. The best way to describe this Zelda is if Ocrina of Time and Majora's mask had sex, and Twilight Princess came out. TP maintains the charm of traditional Zelda games (like A Link to the Past and OOT) and blends it with the dark edge that was the main focus of MM.

Frist off, I had the best time I have ever had in TP's world than I did with any other Zelda. As my other thread mentioned, playing with the Wii Remote felt natural, and I didn't have any problems controlling Link. The level design was ingenious. The dungeons were challenging to figure out, but not too challenging to figure out. I would even say that a few dungeons are my favorite in all of the series. The only let down was some of the bosses were too easy to take down, but ease of the bosses take down was canceled out by the fact that defeating all the bosses were incredibly fun. The overworld finally feels right, as well. I felt that Hyrule feild in OOT had too much space with nothing interesting and sailing in Wind Waker got tedious. Not only TP's version of Hyrule was well designed and easy to navigate, but the landscape itself made sense. What helped achieve this feeling was the warping ability given to you as Wolf Link. Although you don't have this ability right off the bat (you gradually open up warp points by fighitng a specific kind of enemy), it makes getting from place to place that much faster. For the first time I never felt like I was wasting time traveling.

Speaking of the Wolf, using Wolf Link to was suprisingly fun. In addition to the warping ability, you can use your animal sense ability to find hidden treasures (a digging ability comes into play here), memorize scents, and see ghosts in order to fight them. Midna, the mysterious ally from the Twilight relm, and whose personality kicks a lot of ass, rides you in your Wolf form. She can help you jump large gaps or navigate through tricky areas. It feels automatic because all you are required to do is Z target and press a button, but it is sure fun to watch.

The dungeon weapons are a fresh experience this time around. I believe the only unaltered weapons you obtain are the bow and arrow and the normal bomb. Everything else you aquire either has a unique twist or is a completely new weapon. My favorite new weapon: The Ball and Chain. My favorite old weapon with new twist: Double Claw Shot.

The soundtrack is excellent. Every track does a great job of setting up the perfect atmosphere for every area (one of my favorite tracks is the night time world map music). Although some people may be disappointed in the lack of the main Zelda themed music, I welcome the change. Sure, OOT did not use the theme for the world map either, but plenty of other Zelda games have. Plus, I feel the new theme perfectly reflects the attitude of TP. Other old themes make their triumphant return and plenty of new tracks will sure be heard again in future Zelda games.

For those of you who are reading my thread and ignored the spoiler warning, look away NOW because I am about to drop some story spoilers. Something that I loved about Wind Waker was the increased storytelling. I was hoping that more Zelda games would continue this trend. To me, it makes Link's quest seem more important, and good character development makes me feel that when I make Link sucseed in his adventure, I really helped make a difference in Hyrule. But don't worry you old school puritists! It's not like you have to watch a 30 minute cut scene every twist a turn. The only time there are a lot of scenes to watch are near the beginning of the game and the end. I don't know if Nintendo meant to do it this way, but it seems like a good compromise for the people who just want to expereince pure Zelda gameplay and the people looking to experience a well told story.

There are also unique twists to the story in TP. Sure, you confront Ganon at the end, but it's not a simple matter of going from dungeon to dungeon, knowing that you are collecting some dodads so you can unlock the way to fight Ganon. The foe who caused all the chaos was a Twilight renegade named Zant, who declared himself the King of the Twilight relm. Midna, who seemed just to be a normal Twilight resident, reveals her true nature and motivation by the end of the story, and it makes perfect sense. Sure, Ganon ties into all this perfectly, but I dare not reveal that even in this review.

Overall, I believe TP is a new favorite in the Zelda series. I realize that I may be experiencing the euphoria of playing a first class game for a couple of weeks, but I truly believe that we have a new winner here. If you don't want a Wii/can't get one right now. I strongly recommend that you purchase this for the GameCube. Now that I think about it, TP may be my personal Game of the Year.