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.
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......
