Twilight Princess: My First Zelda, My First Love

I've talked a little before about Twilight Princess and what it means to me, but, I've wanted to give it it's own post ever since TPHD was announced. So! Here we go.

Twilight Princess was my first introduction to Zelda, and per the theme, it's likely my favorite. (Ask any Zelda fan---their favorite is probably their first.) I played it a lot at my friend's house long before owning it, and, though all we really did was fly around Ordon and Kakariko on cuccos, I was quickly hooked. I always liked the concept of Zelda, and was familiar with the characters from Smash (Melee, specifically) and just in general being a Nintendo fan, since, uh, birth, basically.

I bought it for myself the moment we got a Wii, and at 11 years old, I was completely obsessed with the game. I didn't just play it a lot, I played it every waking moment of an entire summer. I'd play it over and over again. Once I beat it, I'd let it sit on the ending screen for about and hour, if that, then I'd restart and play it all over again from the beginning!

I know the game like the back of my hand. I have the story and its atmosphere burned into my mind. For months I'd lull my often restless mind to sleep by retelling myself the story of Twilight Princess. The village of Ordon is like a second home.

I dunno, it's hard to really articulate my feelings for this game into words any more concretely than that. So I'm gonna just! I'll just list a few of my favorite things about it. (In, uh, no particular order!)

1) Midna

I don't think anyone dislikes Midna?? She's so good. She's sassy she's snarky she's only in this for herself. Well, she starts that way, but in the end she's grown to care about the World of Light, or at the very least, Link and Zelda.

She's so great. I love her so much. She's cute and she's funny and some of the most quotable lines from the game are from her. She's one of the best partners Link has ever had, in my opinion, because she's just brimming with character and she's generally a joy to have with you. (Er, when she's not insulting you, that is.)

2) The atmosphere

Gosh, I, I love the atmosphere of Twilight Princess so much. It's one of my favorite vibes or aesthetics (harsh saturation, bright colors on a dark background / an overshadowing darkness balanced with hope and the persistence to keep moving, balanced with a story that wrenches at your chest). I dunno if I love these things so much because I always have, or because of all the time I spent in Twilight Princess's world, but, man! I love them a lot.

3) The character designs??

This is a smaller thing but, honestly, Twilight Princess has some of the best (and, strangest) character designs, especially for NPCs. Weird NPCs is a trend in all Zelda games, but you don't have quite the variety you do in other games like you do in Twilight Princess. Maybe that's just because other games don't have Hyrule Castle Town, which brims with a very large amount of colorful characters.

4) The story!!

Before this point I'd only ever played Mario games, and, while Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door was something I'd already been exposed to, I still wasn't that familiar with games that had stories! The concept was a little strange to me, and seeing so many vibrant and complex characters was wonderful!

I love, man. I love so much of Twilight Princess's story. I love the concept of Wolf Link, of Midna, a princess thrown out of her kingdom and avoiding detection while she finds what she hopes will be her and her people's salvation. I love Zelda, a princess in mourning. I love Link---local farmhand who gets pulled into something bigger than himself.

I love traveling with Midna, gradually learning more about who she is and where she comes from. I love her character in general---which I've already said!---but I love the role she plays in the story, I love how this story is almost, above anything else, a story about her.

I love Ilia and the Ordon kids!! Colin's a gift and a sweetie. I love watching his narrative progress, as well as the other Ordon kids. I love how often Twilight Princess tugs on your heart strings.

Link manages to return from the Twilight Realm, but he's still a wolf. He has no idea where his friends are. He finally finds him, but his first meeting with them---they have no idea he's there. The Bulblin King kidnaps Colin, makes you fight for his freedom. You find Ilia, but she doesn't remember you. You save Ralis, Prince of the Zoras, but his mother is dead, all she can offer you is a gift to help you along.

There's more, there's so much more. Twilight Princess is a constant balance between light and darkness, between joy and loss, between despair and hope. You can probably argue in a lot of games that Link always keeps moving, always gets back up and keep going but it's not just Link, in Twilight Princess. It's everyone. 

Colin stands in the face of danger to protect his friends. Ilia helps a lost Zora kid despite not remembering who she is. Telma and the Resistance constantly fight for hope and freedom in a land where Hyrule's soldiers are laughably weak. Midna makes herself keep going despite all she's lost---for her, it's not because she believes in a better world, but because she has to. And that's alright.

Twilight Princess looks like this dark and edgey Zelda game on the outside because oh Link transforms into a wolf, oh it's rated Teen, oh Zelda get's freaking possessed at one point, oh the whole atmosphere of the Twilight Realm is dark but...

Twilight Princess, a thousand times over, is more a story about hope.

5) There's so much to discover!!

There's a million little things in Twilight Princess to do or to find. All Zelda games are like that, but, there's so many in Twilight Princess that stand out to me. There's the clawshot game in Castle Town (and the discovery that the guy's shady and not as kind as he seems). There's Agitha, and all the separate places you can find her. There's Corro and his birds nest of hair, there's that purple rupee forgotten in Link's basement. There are at least two hidden caves to explore in Hyrule field. There's the Cave of Trials. There's the guy with the guy with the canon and the funny little tune it plays. 

There's the two guys in Castle Town that constantly stare at each other. There's an NPC that looks like a witch. All those cats that just flock to you when you walk up to them!! There are Gorons waiting around all over the place---not just on Death Mountain, they're everywhere! That never felt like something you saw a lot, in other games.

Each character had their own story, and, it seemed really special and unique in Twilight Princess. I didn't just fall in love with the main characters, I fell in love with the minor ones, too.

There's, I dunno, probably a lot more than this, but really, just!! Twilight Princess is so close to my heart and of all the games I played obsessively as a kid I'd probably consider this one the most like Home. You ever have a video game like that? That's just home, to you? Twilight Princess is that for me.

I have so many fond memories of it, I love every detail about it (except, uh, needing to point your wiimote at the sensor bar to work half your items, lol) and I'm. Hoooo. I love it so much. 

I can't wait for Twilight Princess HD. I can't wait to return home, and to have home look a thousand times better than it ever has.

This game is such a huge part of my life and such a huge part of who I am and I don't know if I'll ever be able to fully articulate those feelings, but, hopefully you have a game like that too. A game that you know like the back of your hand, a game you'd consider home, a game that seems to make up a component of your soul.

I love Twilight Princess so much, I....

See you later......

If they put the Wii map in the game, why is it only in Hero Mode? (Twilight Princess HD - What's New)

So Nintendo released a trailer for Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and I'm so hype!

I think I've talked about it before, but, Twilight Princess is one of my all time favorite games. I was absolutely obsessed with it six or seven (or, eight, maybe?) years ago and spent a whole summer literally playing it non-stop. I'd beat it, let it sit on the ending screen for an hour, then just restart and play from the beginning all over again.

So, obviously, Twilight Princess has a super special place in my heart and I'm super excited for this HD remake because I can't wait to step back into this world again. (Also it looks so good in HD? I'm gonna cry?)

Here's the trailer they released a few days ago: "LoZ: Twilight Princess HD - What's New"! 

The opening notes of the trailer music alone just get me so excited -- this is one of the orchestral pieces they released as promos for Twilight Princess. It's not my favorite orchestral piece for the game (that one's the song that plays in the intro trailer), but it's still really good to hear it!

Hearing the music, seeing this game, it just fills me with so many memories and emotions, I'm so excited for it, and I really really really can't wait to play.

- - - 

1 - the HD

Obviously, the HD is really kind to this game. I don't even, need to go in depth there. Everyone already knows it looks pretty as heck. The models are updated? Everything is rounder and smoother? Their faces look so good??? I'll cry again??

It looks so beautiful - honestly, out of all the Zelda games to get an HD port, Twilight Princess might benefit from it the most? The game already was shooting for a semi-realism style, and the HD makes that a lot less "nitty-gritty" and a lot smoother. The style of Twilight Princess benefits greatly from an HD update.


Of course, other than the obvious changes to make it HD, this game's had a few other modifications and added features as well. I'm gonna talk about a few of the things they added, and, brought up in this trailer here.


2 - Hero Mode

Just like any other Zelda Hero Mode, it features taking double damage every time you're hit.

It also features one more thing, though. The thing I'm most excited about, and, a most skeptical about.

Hero Mode is flipped! Like the Wii version of the game, Link is right handed. Originally, this was done because they figured the majority of people are right handed, so it would be comfortable to the majority of people to hold and swing the Wii-mote in their right hand. (See also: Skyward Sword.)

Of course, at the time of porting Twilight Princess to the Wii, they'd already made a large portion of the game for the GameCube, in which Link was left-handed. Rather than rebuild everything, it was easier at the time to just mirror it. Meaning, Link is right handed, while Zelda and Ganon become right-handed. All the cutscenes get mirrored, as well as the scenery and map. East becomes West. Right becomes left.

To anyone who's familiar with one version of the game, it's extremely disorienting to play the opposite version.

I was a little mad when they first announced Twilight Princess HD -- excited, mainly, of course -- but when I realized the map was the Gamecube version all I could do was let out this long-suffering sigh, resigned to get constantly lost all the time.

Finding out that Hero Mode existed, and was the mirrored Wii map, I was really excited. Now I could play that all the time, and never get lost again! A real blessing! But, then I got to thinking about it....

You see, if they're going to include both versions of the game in Twilight Princess HD, why like this? Why have one only be in Hero Mode, a mode you have to unlock?

And, if they're going to include both versions, why choose the GameCube version as default? Yes, it was the "original" version of the game, but, look at the sales! According to Wikipedia, the GameCube version sold 1.32 million, and the Wii version sold 5.82 million. That's over 4 million more copies. 4 million more people played the Wii version, are familiar with the Wii version. 4 million more people will probably struggle more with Normal Mode than Hero Mode -- at least in terms of navigation.

Sure, it won't make a difference to people who initially played the GameCube version, or to anyone who hasn't played the game before, but, still. Why choose the GameCube map as the default? Why assume the Wii map is going to be the "harder" one?

In my opinion, the game should start off with a choice -- a choice to pick which map, which version you want. Do you want the GameCube version or the Wii version? Pick, and then when you get put in Hero Mode, it automatically flips to the other version. Everyone's happy, everyone's challenged by the "Hero Mode is mirrored" thing. It's perfect!







3 - The Ghost Lantern.

This is a new item they introduced, which, according to the Twilight Princess HD official website, will glow when you're in the same area as a Poe, making the Poe soul collecting sidequest much easier. This is something myself and other fans had already speculated about, when we first saw it. It's good to see it's got an official description, though!

Even though it's pretty clear what this item is for now, I'm gonna point out one interesting thing I noticed about it.

The trailer made it explicitly clear to show the lantern glowing during the daytime---meaning not only will it glow when you're around a Poe, it also serves as a sort of signal. "Hey, there will be a Poe here at night, better wait around.

Another interesting thing, I realize, now that I'm comparing the two images side by side: Link's standing in two different spots.

The lantern glows while Link is standing down by the water, and, the Poe is up a couple levels, by Auru's watchtower. This is something hard to convey without a video visual, but the point remains. Link is in the same area as the Poe, but not right where the Poe is.

How close to the Poe do you have to be before the Lantern starts to glow? Does it glow brighter when you get closer? Some interesting things to consider.



4 - Gamepad functionality

Obviously, the Wii U Gamepad is used to play the game, and there's quite a few things it does.

1 - This wasn't in the trailer, but they mentioned it in the Nintendo Minute on the game. In Twilight Princess HD, you can tap the Gamepad to instantly transform into a wolf! It seems like a neat little thing, and I'm sure it'll make a lot of speedrunners happy.

Personally, I never minded talking to Midna to do this, but, maybe that's because I never had a faster option! My opinion may change after I've tried out this instant transform thing.

2 - Your map and items are both on the Gamepad screen! This is a semi-expected feature, seeing as Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds (for the 3DS) did this as well.

It means that you can check your map and swap which items go on which buttons in real time, taking out the need to pause the game to do so. Maybe you're a little skeptical of that, since swapping items in real time is hard, but, hey. It's worked in other games. It can work here, too.

5 - Wolf Link Amiibo / Cave of Shadows

The game also includes a Wolf Link amiibo packaged with (some versions) of the game, and, not only does it look good, it unlocks a brand new dungeon called the Cave of Shadows. It looks like the Cave of Ordeals that's in the original game, but designed with being a wolf in mind.

- - - 


That's all the new content I know of, and all that was really in the trailer, but, still, I'm super excited! It comes out March 4th (three days before my birthday!!) and I already have it pre-ordered (it's a gift from my sister!!!) and I can't wait!

I really do love this game so much and I'm so excited to play it again.

Thanks for listening to me yell about Twilight Princess.