Twilight Princess is a difficult game to review. What do you say that makes your review different from the others on the internet? How do you start or avoid controversy regarding this game? The fact that nearly every other website on the internet has already reviewed this title nearly kept me from sharing my own thoughts on it.

Then I realized that I do have a few things to say about the game after all. Read on for my review of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

[Note: I’ve tried to make this review as spoiler free as possible, but one or two things probably slipped through. Read at your own risk.]

I’ll get the obvious part out of the way first: Twilight Princess is an amazing game. It is easily one of the best games ever created. No one can truly dispute that. It succeeds in every department, though it does have a couple of nagging issues.

For a GameCube port, Twilight Princess is gorgeous. The fact that it was designed on the GameCube is obvious. Areas look blocky and there are jaggy pixels. However, the art direction is where all of the difference is made. Hyrule is a huge vibrant world just waiting to be explored. The cutscenes look magnificent, especially the character animations. Most of the emotional impact comes from the facial expressions alone.

Yes, I said emotional impact. The story of Twilight Princess is one of the areas where I have the most mixed feelings. While the game truly does feel more mature, it also feels like they stepped back in a couple of areas. Ocarina of Time felt like a game drenched in history. Majora’s Mask had a fairly dark and macabre plot. Twilight Princess seems to spend less time on the backstory behind the entire series. Sometimes, it just feels like you are being rushed from one temple to another. While Twilight Princess is the longest Zelda game to date, it feels like it should be much longer.

The area where the story of Twilight Princess does truly excel is in characterizations. This game has some of the most memorable characters in the series, and you really will develop a connection with them and even care for a few. In previous Zelda titles, you felt like you were listening to someone else’s conversation. In Twilight Princess, you feel like they are actually talking to you. You will really feel like you are changing their lives. Twilight Princess even hints at romance between Link and another character. In this area, it is a step forward for the franchise. That said, both Ganon and Zelda feel undeveloped. In Wind Waker, Ganon was almost a sympathetic character. Here, he has gone back to being a two dimensional villain.

The control was one of the areas where people were worried about Twilight Princess. They had nothing to worry about. Not only are the new Wii controls intuitive, I vastly prefer them over the old style. Within minutes, everything will feel natural to you. The combat actually seems more exciting in Twilight Princess. Everything moves at a faster pace because the new control scheme allows for that. Aiming is actually much more precise than before, which is good considering some of the situations you’ll find yourself in. If you are still on the fence about which version to buy, get the Wii one. I don’t think I can go back to the GameCube controls now.

My only real complaint? Twilight Princess does nothing new. In fact, it almost feels like Nintendo was afraid to try anything new. They went out to recreate Ocarina of Time and they succeeded. Twilight Princess is Ocarina of Time. They may have different plots, but the basic structure is almost identical. The endings are even similar. Twilight Princess is a fantastic game, but it feels like I’ve done it before. It is the “greatest hits” of the franchise. Sure, you have a great time, but you’ve done it all before. Both Majora’s Mask and Wind Waker felt more daring. They both tried new things and it worked. Twilight Princess just feels like a slightly better version of Ocarina of Time.

Twilight Princess is easily worth your time and money. Chances are that you’re already playing it and this review is just here to reinforce your opinions. It is a shoo-in for game of the year and ranks among the best games of all time. If you don’t have a Wii, this should be your first game when you get it. If you can’t decide which version, go with the Wii one.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a couple of sidequests to finish.

Rating: 9/10