The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess is the most recent Zelda game to be released to the public. Originally intended for release only on the Gamecube, development shifted towards Nintendo's newer console, the Wii, and the adventure title was eventually released for both systems. It was first released on November 19th, 2006 as the premier launch title for the Wii. It is considered among many to be the most comprehensive and immersing game in the Zelda series.

History
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was first revealed E3 2004 when Nintendo showed a small group of people a "Trailer" to their new Zelda Game. When the Zelda Community found out, they almost exploded with excitement. Threads popping up on Zelda Forums everywhere discussing what the new game looks like, sounds like, even smells like. After 10 months of complete silence from Nintendo, a new trailer was finally revealed at the Game Developers Conference on March 10th, 2005 to an eager audience.

It was learned at the Nintendo E3 conference on May 9th that Twilight Princess will be released in Quarter 4, 2006 and will simultaneously be released on Gamecube and Wii.

On Wednesday September 13, 2006 it was revealed that Twilight Princess will be a launch title for the Wii which will be available on November 19, 2006, while fans will have to wait another month for the GameCube version to be released.

Game Information
The game is meant to have a more mature atmosphere than the rest of the Zelda games, as well as significantly darker and more depressing. It is also the longest Zelda game to date, accumulating at least 60 hours of gameplay, twice as long as Ocarina of Time, confirmed by Iwata. Zelda and another memorable character (spoiler) also appear in Twilight Princess.

The game's story takes place after Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but before The Wind Waker. As featured in The Wind Waker, Link uses special facial expressions to inform the player and give subtle clues on how to solve certain puzzles. For some people, the game still proves to be more challenging than other Zelda games preceding it. Another returning feature is the day and night system of Hyrule, consisting of not only the cycle of days but weather and atmosphere effects as well.

Motion capture is used to bring the characters alive in a realistic manner. This is most evident during cinema sequences.

Story


Originally set hundreds of years after the events of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the game begins with Link living in Ordon Village, working as a ranch hand. A group of monsters attacks Link and two other Ordon Villagers; when Link pursues the other two, he is pulled into the Twilight Realm, transformed into a wolf, and imprisoned in Hyrule Castle. An impish creature named Midna helps Link escape from his cell, and the two join forces. Link and Midna meet another one the castle's prisoners: Princess Zelda.

Zelda explains that the Twilight King Zant is trying to merge the Twilight Realm and Hyrule into a land of darkness. Zant is a member of the Twili, a race of beings descended from the magicians banished to the Twilight Realm by the goddesses of Hyrule. Midna is a Twili searching for a weapon called the Fused Shadow to defeat Zant and save the Twilight Realm. Restoring the four light spirits of Hyrule, Link and Midna re-assemble the Fused Shadow. Zant takes the Fused Shadows, traps Link in his wolf form, and exposes Midna to the light of a light spirit, critically injuring her. Link rushes Midna to Princess Zelda, who reveals that the only way Link can return to his normal form is to find the Master Sword. Zelda sacrifices herself to heal Midna, allowing her to exist outside of the Twilight. After Midna and Link obtain the Master Sword, Midna condenses Zant's curse into a gemstone that allows Link to assume his wolf form at will.

When Link and Midna reach the Mirror of Twilight — the only way to stop Zant — they learn that Zant has already broken it into four fragments, and three are missing. The ancient sages who guard the mirror reveal that they sealed a man named Ganondorf inside the mirror. Link and Midna retrieve the shards, restore the mirror, and the sages reveal that Midna is the true ruler of the Twili and was turned into an imp by Zant. They then confront Zant in the Twilight Realm's Palace of Twilight. Zant explains that he went into a rage after being passed over as the king of the Twili, and it was then that he encountered Ganondorf, who, offering to make Zant's wishes come true, made Zant a vessel for his power. Link defeats Zant, and Midna attacks him using the Fused Shadow, which was returned to her.

Link and Midna return to Hyrule to save Zelda. Hyrule Castle is surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable magical barrier, but Midna uses the Fused Shadow to break through it. Link battles Ganondorf, who fights as Princess Zelda and then as a giant boar. Midna purges Zelda of Ganondorf's spirit and returns her soul to her body. She then warps Link and Zelda to safety and tries to destroy Ganondorf herself with the Fused Shadow. Hyrule Castle explodes, and Ganondorf appears on horseback, holding Midna's helmet. Princess Zelda uses magic to summon the light spirits, who give her the Light Arrows, and she and Link battle Ganondorf on horseback. Ganondorf falls from his horse in battle but challenges Link to a swordfight. Link drives the Master Sword into Ganondorf's chest, and Ganondorf stands, implaled, as the image of the Triforce fades from his hand. His eyes close and he stops moving.

With Hyrule and the Twilight Realm safe again, the curse that Zant put on Midna lifts, and she regains her true form. Link, Zelda and Midna travel to the Mirror of Twilight, where Midna returns home. Before she leaves, Midna shatters the Mirror of Twilight with a tear, severing the link between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm. At the end of the game, Link is shown riding away from Ordon after returning the Master Sword. The final image is of the statue of the Triforce and the Goddesses above the throne room in Hyrule Castle, now restored.

Gameplay
Twilight Princess features a stylized, naturalistic art style (similar to, but more advanced than, that found in Ocarina of Time), rather than the cel-shaded look that The Wind Waker exhibited — although it still makes use of cel-shading effects, using a very heavily modified version of The Wind Waker’s engine. In a further departure from The Wind Waker, Link is once again a young man, as opposed to a child, as in the latter part of Ocarina of Time and in The Adventure of Link. The game also takes on a darker tone, rivaling that of Majora's Mask.[10]

Link transforms into a wolf when entering the Twilight Realm, a void that has ensnared Hyrule. This is not a wholly separate place like the Dark World in A Link to the Past, but a festering malignancy across Hyrule.

The Wii version uses the "point-and-click" feature of the Wii Remote as a "fairy" cursor (an on screen pointer modeled after the fairy Navi in Ocarina of Time), for accessing menus, and for using various tools such as the Hero's Bow, Clawshot, and Fishing Rod, (see Weapons, items and abilities); it uses the Nunchuk attachment analog stick for movement. In order to swing the sword which Link uses as a weapon, the player makes a slashing motion with the Wii Remote. A jab with the tilt-sensitive Nunchuk will cause Link to perform one of his secret moves, the shield attack. To use Link’s “spin attack” (a powerful attack where Link swings his sword circularly around himself), the player swings the Nunchuk horizontally.

In order to use items, the game allows the player to equip the items to the left, right, and down positions of the D-pad of the Wii remote using the item screen. When an item's respective direction button is pressed, the item is switched into the B button for easier use. The built-in speaker on the remote is used for sounds like the bowstring of the Hero's Bow being drawn and released, Midnas's laugh, and the “Zelda chime” when discovering items.

By comparison, the GameCube version uses a control scheme similar to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, with the B button used for sword attacks, other items mapped to the X, and Y (but not Z like in The Wind Waker, which is now always assigned to interaction wth the character Midna), the L button for lock-on to enemies and NPCs, and the C-stick used for manual camera control.



In Twilight Princess, Link learns more moves than in any other Legend of Zelda game to date. Link also shares similar moves between human and wolf, for example when an enemy is on the ground, Link has the option to finish them off by plunging his sword into their chest or in wolf form (on poes, to rip out their souls). Link can communicate with animals in wolf form as if they were people. When transformed into a wolf, Link’s sense of smell is greatly improved allowing him to follow trails left by certain characters in the game. With these abilities come some disadvantages. While he is a wolf, Link cannot utilize any of his items, or open any doors with handles until he can transform into human.

There is no extensive voice acting in the game. The characters laugh, scream, and make other such noises, as they have in previous installments on the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube. In conversations, Link remains silent, and his responses are implied, much like other The Legend of Zelda games. The only character who is completely "voiced" is Midna. However she says no clear words, instead speaking in an unintelligible language (similarly to E. Gadd in Luigi's Mansion).

Returning from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, a horse can again be ridden in Twilight Princess. The default name for the horse is Epona (the set name of the horse from the two aforementioned games) and is used as the main form of transport whilst Link is in human form and until various warp points are opened around Hyrule.

Sound
Music once again plays a role in Twilight Princess, as in previous Legend of Zelda games. While Link does not carry a musical instrument of any type until well into the game, he can pick grass from certain patches and whistle with it to call an animal, either a Hawk or Epona, Link's horse (later on, an instrument shaped similarly to the grass used to summon Epona is given to Link and has the same effect as the aforementioned grass). Also, while as a wolf Link can howl near the same patches, to the same effect. When Link is in his wolf form, there are six "howling stones" located around the world where, after Link howls a certain melody shown on screen a few times, a golden wolf appears and jumps somewhere else in the world. Link must then change back to his human form and find the wolf to learn a hidden sword technique. The songs howled by Wolf Link are taken from Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, and The Wind Waker, with the exception of the final howling stone, which is the "bass" of the game's Hyrule Field main theme.

In a first for the Zelda series, part of the soundtrack has been orchestrated as opposed to using MIDI. The fact that Nintendo has decided to use mostly MIDI for the soundtrack, however, has been a point of criticism. MIDI allows the background music to be more dynamic, but the sound quality suffers. Koji Kondo, the lead composer for the game's soundtrack, originally stated that he "would really like to push for" the music to be orchestrated.[16] Part of the full soundtrack (featuring the songs "The Legend of Zelda: Orchestra Piece #2", "Hyrule Field Main Theme", "Ordon Village", "Kakariko Village", "Death Mountain", "Midna's Theme", and "Illia's Theme") is received when a Nintendo Power subscription is purchased (the subscription also comes with a game guide for Twilight Princess). A soundtrack also is packaged with the Twilight Princess Collector Box, an exclusive item sold at Target stores. The soundtrack also features two bonus tracks. The first bonus track, known as "DS Trailer Pack", was the theme that was to be used instead of the present Hyrule Field Main Theme

Dungeon Info
This section lists the nine dungeons of Twilight Princess in order of exploration, followed by obtained item information and the boss that awaits within.


 * Forest Temple - Gale Boomerang - Diababa: Twilit Parasite
 * Goron Mines - Hero's Bow - Fyrus: Twilit Igniter
 * Lakebed Temple - Clawshot - Morpheel: Twilit Aquatic
 * Arbiter's Grounds - Spinner - Stallord: Twilit Fossil
 * Snowpeak Ruins - Ball and Chain - Blizzeta: Twilit Ice Mass
 * Temple of Time - Dominion Rod - Armogohma: Twilit Arachnid
 * City In The Sky - Double Clawshot - Argorok: Twilit Dragon
 * Palace of Twilight - Light Sword - Zant: Usurper King
 * Hyrule Castle - Zelda: Ganon's Puppet, Ganondorf: Dark Lord

Races
- Hylian The Hylians are a human race that reside in Hyrule. Most characters in the game are Hylian. The Hylians are distinguished from Ordonians by having long, swept back, pointed ears. Notable Hylians in the game include Link, Princess Zelda and all members of The "Group" except Ashei and Rusl.

- Ordonians As the name suggests, Ordonians are humans from the Ordon Province. They are distinguishable by having "normal" rounded ears and sharing their appearance with real life humans. In Twilight Princess notable Ordonians include Ilia, Colin, and Malo, Talo and Beth.

- Goron The Goron race has returned in the latest installment of the Zelda series. Aside from being taller, they retain many of the same features as the Gorons from past Zelda installments, only differing in that they now have a more rock like appearance with a rocky crust that can be seen on their head and back areas, and also wear tribal markings on their skin and loincloths. They serve as enemies in the game at first, rolling into Link like boulders upon noticing him. A little later the player is taught how to fight off this attack. Upon completing the second dungeon, the Gorons decide to make peace with the humans (which the Gorons call them instead of Hylians) and no longer attack Link. A much larger Goron featured in early game artwork serves as a Mini-Boss in the second dungeon guarding the Hero's Bow. This Goron is noticeably different as it is much larger than most Gorons (albeit not as large as Biggoron, a character in past games) and also features large pieces of metal grafted onto its back and arms.

- Zora The Zora also make a comeback in the game. After they are freed from the ice, they are seen in a number of different locales apart from Zora's Domain such as Lake Hylia and Death Mountain. It appears that Zora's River has cut much deeper into the rock over past centuries as the waterfall is much higher now, and it originates in Zora's Domain instead of above it. Also, it should be noted that Jabu-Jabu did not make an appearance in the game. An interesting revelation was the connection between Zora and Kakariko Village. At the back of Kakariko Village, there is a pool which is the final resting place of the Zora.

- Sheikah Though the name is not directly stated, Impaz is heavily implied to be a Sheikah because she said she was named after the one who made the Hidden Village (Impa from Ocarina of Time) and is in the same clan as they were. Impaz also has noticeably red irises and white hair just like Impa. During Ocarina of Time, many Sheikahs also resided in Kakariko Village, although that was some time before the events of Twilight Princess. Apart from Impaz, the mysterious swordsman that teaches Link skills may be a Sheikah, as the howling stones bear the Sheikah symbol.

- Gerudo The Gerudo race itself has not returned, as Ganondorf is the only one stated as being Gerudo in the game. It may be that the Gerudo have disappeared from Hyrule, or they were only excluded from the game.

- Yeti The only Yetis that exist in the game are Yeto and Yeta. They are married and inhabit a mansion called "Snowpeak Ruins". It is suggested by the game that female Yetis are much smaller than males and lack a tail and arms in this case.

- Twili The latest race to be revealed in the The Legend of Zelda series is the Twili. They are the descendants of a group of mages who defied the gods and attempted to take over the Sacred Realm. As a result, they were banished to the Twilight Realm for their actions. Both Midna and Zant are Twili.

- Oocca Another new race, the Oocca, are said to be an ancient race that created the Hylians. They are small, flying creatures that have human-like heads and bird-like bodies. They dwell in the City in the Sky, which Link must visit toward the end of the game. The only key character from this race is Ooccoo. For each the first seven dungeons of the game, she will help the player escape the dungeon at any time after freeing her from a pot. Her son, Ooccoo Jr., will help the player return to the dungeon at any time, too. Her main goal is to return to the City in the Sky after finding the keeper of the Dominion Rod.

- Animals Many animals including cats, dogs, monkeys and as a series standard Cuccos feature in the game. Many of these animals, such as common frogs and squirrels, assist the player throughout the game and can even communicate and give hints to the player in Link's wolf form.

Enemies

 * Armos
 * Boar
 * Bokoblin
 * Bombling
 * Deku Baba
 * Dodongo
 * Keese
 * Lizalfos
 * Bulblin
 * Stalhound
 * Skulltula
 * Stalfos
 * Toadpolis
 * Ganondorf

Items

 * Gale Boomerang
 * Hero's Bow
 * Lantern
 * Bottles
 * Lantern Oil
 * Red Potion
 * Water
 * Bombs
 * Water Bombs
 * Ball and Chain
 * Zora Armor
 * Spinner
 * Iron Boots
 * Slingshot
 * Clawshot
 * Double Clawshot
 * Dominion Rod
 * Magic Armor