We've invested roughly eight hours (or so the saved game says) in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and that gives us enough data points to write up a bit about the game.

This isn't a full blown review, but more of TechDiversion's opinion of the game. What makes us so special? We've played a great deal of Zelda games from the mid-1980's up until today. We've seen the game mature from a little classic to a full blown Wii experience.

A Console Seller?
Will Twilight Princess sell a Nintendo Wii by itself? For Zelda lovers - definitely. For others? We think Wii Sports will do that on its own.

Link stands beside Mr. Mario as a status symbol, no, a trademark of the Nintendo generation. Link didn't make the first issue cover of Nintendo Power but he did leave a very large mark on the gaming society as a whole.

The Rundown

• Awesome gameplay experience.
• Intriguing story that isn't a rehash.
• Expansive world and awesome levels/dungeons.
• Puzzles, not all hack and slash.
• Not a 3D jump fest.

Gameplay

First, the gameplay should go without saying for Zelda fans - no title has let us down yet, why start now? The Wii controller does not overuse the Wiimote functionality but stays true to the new remote design.

All your attacks require some form of Wii remote jiggling or stabbing but not excessive amounts. You can shake the nunchuck to do a spin attack, stab the remote while locked on an enemy to stab, and whip the remote to slash. Pretty simple stuff.

If there is any downfall, its the game yelling at you to "point the controller at the screen" when you switch to a targeting weapon like the boomerang or slingshot while your Wiimote is pointing towards the floor or off in some random direction. This occurs because the direction of the controller does not impact the camera movement like the game Elebits. So you're not really forced to hold it up at all times.

Zelda is one game that won't tire you out with the controller scheme. You can sit down on the couch with one controller by your side, the other resting on your leg and perform many tasks. Only holding it up or shaking it to attack when needed. The game isn't 100% hack and slash so don't worry about always needing to point that sucker at your screen.

Story

The story is wonderful because its fresh but contains enough hints of the old game design to make you feel right at home. For instance, there are two "worlds" similar to the dark world in Zelda: Link To The Past. Many Zelda fans consider Link To The Past one of the best in the series. To pay homage to this concept in such a classy way deserves a bow to the folks at Nintendo.

You'll find yourself battling as link in the "light" world and as a wolf in the "twilight" (hence the name of the game). It is hard to get bored when your learning new ways to battle in different forms for a duration of time and will be sent back and forth between forms to keep things changing.

Your original form is much more exciting because you have so many weapons at your disposal but it's hard to complain about the change up; you can experience much of the same world in a unique perspective. You'll find yourself digging for hearts/gems in special areas, sniffing out bad guys, following scents to save people, holding fire sticks in your mouth while charging an oil lamp and much more.

The game has many goals and tasks to complete in order to move on in the storyline. It is still very linear, more so then the original which allowed you to explore different labyrinths at your own pace and more on par with Ocarina Of Time in the linear storyline.

Of course, you'll have to collect three things here, seven things there and so on and so forth. The story follows a classic fairy tale fireside story wrapped in a Zelda theme.

The World

The world is a huge 3D experience that goes beyond any of the other games. Consider a world the size of Wind Waker minus the massive bodies of water. Then, add to that, the ability to walk the world in twilight as one shape and daylight as another.

Having two forms to explore the world makes each area "replayable" since the two forms have different abilities, things to see and do and secrets to unlock.

Eight hours into the experience and we've only begun to touch the huge world that Nintendo has laid out for us to explore.

The downside to the world size is that you'll constantly find yourself locked into areas without ways to explore further until you've completed parts of the story and saved whoever needs saving. If you love the questing style in games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 you'll feel very restricted.

Finally! Puzzles!

The Zelda experience is nothing without the puzzles and secret ways to progress through dungeons and caves. Something so many RPGs have yet to learn.

Just when you think you've figured out those tricky developers at Nintendo you'll be stuck again. The puzzles, so far, have been tricky but doable with a little persistence and no strategy guide. Unlike some games which hold secrets almost impossible to find, in Zelda you'll more then likely kick yourself for not figuring it out sooner than think it was a nasty hidden trick.

If you struggle long enough you may get a tip from one of your side kicks that might help guide you towards the answer. Sometimes its not hard but so easy that you miss it (and you won't get any help for easy ones).

Harder puzzles will hold treasure chests with money or other items. Most of the real challenging puzzles reward you with money and things you don't really "need" to progress in the game further. This means you won't be stuck for hours spinning in circle before giving up and hitting the Internet for a walk-thru. You can just move on (unless your one of those that can never leave a chest behind.)

Not A Jump Fest!

We hate games that offer challenge by making you jump on tiny 3D pixels for hours to get to the top of a tower. Then, you misstep and fall all the way to the bottom to try again. Sound familiar? The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess does not offer up this ridiculous waste of time.

The camera has never stuck us in a wall and obstructed view. That means, when we do have to jump we're never dealing with developer bugs while trying to do it correctly. A jump occurs when you walk off a ledge, automatically, so you don't have to deal with silly timing issues. If you fall off a cliff and die it will almost always be due to your own carelessness and not the fault of the game or a means of "challenging" you.

Graphics

The Twilight Princess graphics are not Microsoft Xbox 360 quality by any means. You won't feel at all like your playing Gears of War but you might be reminded of a Kameo experience.

Personally, we feel that the reviews saying how bad the graphics are where way overrated. The graphics, in our opinion, are better than any Zelda game to date, as they should be. But we won't lie and say they're stellar works of art either. They fit the theme of the game and that's all that is required. If you're looking for the artsy cel-shading used in Wind Waker you won't find it here. These graphics are rendered to be more realistically shaded (just not real realistic).

Sound

The game sounds like Wind Waker plain and simple. Nothing unusual about the games sounds besides the Wiimote having some sounds of its own.

Overall

Solid RPG title for the Nintendo Wii. The Wii remote feels natural in the game and takes seconds to adapt to if you've played any other Wii titles (especially Wii Sports).

Nothing about this game says re-hash; the game is polished and complete. You do not get the feeling it was half-baked to get it out in time for launch. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess is exactly what we want in a Zelda franchise title. Mad props for Nintendo taking the time to make a complete, solid, functional game that doesn't requiring patching as a launch title.

Perhaps someday we'll see a Zeldathat has the graphics of a Gears of War game but not today. When that day does come, we think everyone will be a bit sad to see the innocents of the series die out as it leaves retro and turns mainstream...

Thanks,

Derrick