With nine dungeons, various sub-missions and collectable bugs and ghosts to locate, Twilight Princess is by far Link’s longest romp yet. It took me just over thirty six hours to see the credits, but there’s loads of stuff left to see and do – it wasn’t until the final battle that I realised I hadn’t acquired a decent shield and that there was a gap on the inventory for another tunic. I’d say that the 60 hours plus quoted on other websites is a bit over the top though – you’re probably looking at around 50 to explore every nook and cranny.
The first few dungeons are fairly typical for a Zelda game, with the Gordon lava dungeon prompting a roll of the eyes. The later ones display much more imagination, particularly once the skill to turn into a wolf at will is gained. Turning canine gives Link a second set of abilities – which puts a nice spin on things – as does the new ‘dreidel of doom’ weapon.
It all goes a bit Shadow of the Colossus near the end of the seventh dungeon (City in the Sky) with an outdoor boss battle against an enemy that you need to cling onto the back of before jamming the master sword in.
The only real criticism that I can aim at Twilight Princess is that the bosses are too easy, though better that than too difficult.
But yes, the Wii’s best game – by some margin – is a glorified GameCube game. You shouldn’t let that get to you though: the controls work perfectly, and I’d much rather aim projectiles by pointing at the screen than gently twiddling an analogue stick. It’s probably the best looking game on the Wii too; when in the dark Twilight realm there’s a soft glow to the textures, and galloping around Hyrule field is always a joy.
Besides, if Nintendo had had this as a GameCube-exclusive then their Wii launch line-up would have been restricted to Excite Truck, Wii Sports and Wii Play. All are fine games, but they’re not made for wasting away the hours like Link’s latest is.
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