Play Impressions: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess marks the twelfth game in Nintendo’s critically acclaimed series. The original concept for Legend of Zelda, as stated by producer Shigeru Miyamoto, is the universal theme of boyhood exploration. If you’ve ever splashed in a puddle, climbed a tree, or set off on a brave adventure, you’ll feel right at home in the Zelda universe. Miyamoto grew up with the experience of exploring the forest and caves around his home, and many of those early memories shine through the Zelda series. Miyamoto is also known for pushing game developers until the finished work is polished to perfection. Release dates are often pushed back under his supervision and Twilight Princess was no exception. Its original release date was November of 2005; however, Miyamoto pushed it back for another full year of development. Was it worth the wait? The chorus answers with a resounding yes.

The first thing you might notice about Twilight Princess is that it bears a striking resemblance to last year’s games. It’s covered in blurry textures, jagged pixels, shoddy draw distances, and frequent loading screens. However, what Twilight Princess lacks in processing power is easily made up with art design. Taking cues from design experience on the underpowered portable Nintendo DS, Twilight Princess is beautiful where it can afford to be. Need a distant vista of Hyrule castle? No problem, slap up a 2d cardboard cutout and layer over a shimmering heat effect. Not a particularly cutting edge hack, but it works. My first steps into Ordon village revealed lovingly designed rustic sheepherding huts, and subtle touches abounding everywhere. I saw frogs hopping around the stream, kitty cats staring longingly at fish, and heard the creaking of the waterwheel. Everything that a boy would love is here. I even have a fishing pole I can cast into the water with a flick of the motion sensing Wii controller. Intently watching my floating bobber for those virtual nibbles is pure joy.

In the tenth grade, my English teacher had us all come up to the front of the class and stand on his desk after he swept everything off it onto the floor with dramatic poise. “Looks different from up there, doesn’t it?” was his accompanying lesson. Although he didn’t know it at the time, his demonstration was a perfect example of the central theme of Twilight Princess. Many of the characters, locations, and experiences central to Zelda are accompanied by complete reversals of perspective. For instance, in the game’s opening scenes, I used my horse to get around and herd the goats without once thinking how my virtual companion might feel about the riding crop. Later on in the game, I become the steed, similarly incapable of communicating with or bucking off my rider. In another excellent example of duality, I remember my first thought when I saw the frogs hopping around the riverbank was “I wonder if I can use them as fish bait.” Later on in the story, I return to the location at night and in animal form, and I’m able to speak with each of the frogs, while feeling a bit strange about contemplating their deaths.

In another excellently designed situation, I first experience a mountainous area in animal form, largely ignored by its rocky guardians. The twist is I can actually hear their thoughts as I’m exploring the area. I learn how bored and useless most of them feel in guarding such a remote and inaccessible mountain. When I return later in human form and do battle with the stone guards, the struggle takes on a whole new aspect thanks to my appreciation of the rumbling beasts’ thoughts.

I’m also going to have to take issue with a certain other review of Twilight Princess, which made the combat out to be a shallow experience consisting of little more than wiggling the Wiimote a bit. No offense to Gamestop’s Jeff Gerstmann, but he’s completely wrong in this case. (light spoiler warning) For example, in my battles with the lava crocs I had to completely change my tactics and perspective three times. First was the matter of discovering exactly how to dispatch the tricky creatures, which are only vulnerable from behind and spew out virtual volcanoes of fire from the front. Next, the Zelda developers started putting the crocs onto very small rock outcroppings, requiring me to rethink my strategy of leaping around wildly to get behind them. Finally, for the grand finale, the crocs started appearing when I was stuck to the ceiling, vulnerable and completely unable to dodge behind them. Genius. Also, these croc battles aren’t some exception to the general rule of boring combat. Many of Twilight Princesses creatures are actually walking mini-puzzles, which require several perspective changes to defeat.

This over arching theme of perspective shift also stretches into the realm of Zelda’s legendary puzzle design. Whenever I walk into a Zelda dungeon or cave, I relish the thought of carefully layered puzzles stretching as far as the eye can see. (light spoiler warning) For instance, one water dungeon room begins with me thinking about a staircase as simply a way up to the top floor, then as a rotating key, and finally as a series of locks for an underground river, carefully redirecting water to flood different rooms in the cave. Many other game designers seem to think that dragging a box around constitutes a puzzle. They should really play Zelda again.

Unfortunately, sticking steadfastly to complicated puzzles has its downsides. The main one being Zelda block. Anyone who has ever played a Zelda title will instantly know what I’m talking about. Several times in my play of Twilight Princess, I’ve been completely stuck for hours. This leads to seemingly endless wandering through caves or across the countryside, waiting for inspiration to strike. Personally, I love this kind of experience, but it’s not for everyone.

Overall, I’m completely comfortable referring to Twilight Princess in the same breath as other great boyhood literature like Huckleberry Finn. The difference with Zelda is that a good portion of the story and character arc has moved from the page and into my head. Despite showing some graphical age, Twilight Princess is simply the best experience that the rapidly maturing game art form has to offer.