The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess is the most recent Zelda game to date as of this writing. Originally intended for release on the Gamecube, development shifted towards Nintendo's newer console, the Wii. It was released on November 19th, 2006 along with the Wii. It is said 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

 * It will have a more deep and complex storyline than any other zelda game. It will feature "darker" and more serious elements to it.


 * The Village shown in the scans is the very first village in the game, called "Ordon Village".


 * The game-world will be two to three times larger than Ocarina of Time, with 70 hours of game play, confirmed by Iwata.


 * Link is 16 years old when the game starts, and they emphasize that he will "mature" during the game, this is just mentally.


 * Zelda & Ganondorf are both in the game, but they will somehow be different than in other Zelda games. Some rumors state that they might have different roles in the game.


 * The Twilight Realm is like a mergeance of the Golden Realm and Hyrule, and people transform in it as they do in the Dark World.


 * This game will happen in between Ocarina of Time (Majora's Mask) and The Wind Waker.


 * Link will have facial expressions similarly to in The Wind Waker. Link's eyes move to give you clues on how to solve puzzles. His head moves to look at enemies or other things in the game. (a few examples of this can be seen in the trailers).


 * There will be an advanced weather and "day and night" system with more effects than in The Wind Waker.


 * There are rumors that state that they are using motion capture techniques in the game.


 * The game will be tougher than any other Zelda game.


 * There will be rivers connecting all the different areas of Hyrule.


 * Skull-Kid (like the one from Majora's Mask) is in the game. He seems to use a horn to summon creatures to attack Link. His role in the game is a mystery.


 * The fighting system in the game will be different and more "violent" than in previous zelda games.

Gameplay

 * Link transforms into a wolf whenever he enters the Twilight Realm, and is ridden by a creature known as Midna. (In a screenshot Link is seen in Wolf form while not in the Twilight Realm and Midna is not in the picture). While Link is a wolf he can't use a sword, shield, or most items. He will be able to Bite, Claw, and Dash into enemies. He will have advanced sight and hearing (he is rumored to have the ability to see smells). He will also be able to communicate with animals.


 * Combat will be much more advanced and will greatly improve on the fighting controls from The Wind Waker.


 * Horseback battles will be plentiful.


 * Controls will be similar to the ones in The Wind Waker but much more advanced. This includes the return of Z-Targeting as well as Auto Jump.


 * The Item Menu will be circular and will not show the amount of Items you have left to collect.




 * Link can summon a hawk with blades of grass to attack distant targets. There might be other uses for the hawk that have not yet been revealed.


 * The horse, which can be named by the player, can go through shallow water unlike in previous Zelda games.


 * The amount of mini games in this game will, just as in The Wind Waker, be fairly large, and an example of a mini game is where you have to lead some goats in to a certain area while on horseback, or fish for the Hylian Loach (same as the minigame in Ocarina of Time).


 * In the beginning of the game, Link is a "cowboy". The term "cowboy" seems to be a product of localization as Link is more of a ranch hand than a traditional cowboy. There is also a minigame to teach you how to ride. Other minigames teach you how to fight, carry items, swim and other basic game controls.


 * You can steal and ride the enemies' mounts. (but not in the beginning of the game).


 * You can also ride goats (there may be other creatures you can ride that have not been revealed yet).


 * There will be both new and old weapons in the game. It has been stated that at least some old weapons will have new abilities the (Gale) Boomerang can create small whirlwinds and can also be used to open doors in the Forest Temple) while other weapons will be completely new.


 * There seems to be the ability to combine weapons or items.

Graphics & Sound

 * No voice acting. There will be similar yelps, grunts and yells, just like in The Wind Waker.


 * Artwork of Zelda shows her wielding a sword.


 * The developers have aimed for a very realistic approach with the water, and there will be an underwater part of the game as well.


 * Eiji Aonuma wanted the graphics for the game to be as refined as possible, which is why they didn't use the graphics from the SpaceWorld 2000 GameCube Tech Demo, featuring Ganon and Link. They also wanted there to be a sense of scale and realism.


 * At the E3 Conference on May 9th, 2006, Nintendo stated that sound effects for the game will take place in both the Wii remote's internal speaker and the TV screen, allowing for unprecedented depth of sound.

Enemies

 * Armos
 * Baboon
 * Boar
 * Bokoblin
 * Bomb Insect
 * Deku Baba
 * Dodongo
 * Keese
 * Lizalfos
 * Moblin
 * Skeletal Boar
 * Skulltula
 * Stalfos
 * Ganondorf
 * Villagers (when a wolf)

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