List Price: £39.99
Our Price: £29.99
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1 to 2 months
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Average Customer Rating:
Manufacturer Maximum Age: 18 Audience Rating: Parental Guidance Batteries Included: 0 Binding: Video Game Brand: Nintendo EAN: 0605433010147 ESRB Age Rating: Teen Is Autographed: 0 Is Memorabilia: 0 Label: Nintendo Manufacturer: Nintendo Manufacturer Minimum Age: 132 Platform: Nintendo Wii Publisher: Nintendo Release Date: 2006-12-08 Studio: Nintendo
When an evil darkness enshrouds the land of Hyrule, a young farm boy named Link must awaken the hero - and the animal - within. Link, a young man raised as a wrangler in a small, rural village, is ordered by the mayor to attend the Hyrule Summit. He sets off, oblivious to the dark fate that has descended upon the kingdom. When he enters the Twilight Realm that has covered Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf and is captured. A mysterious figure named Midna helps him break free. With the aid of her magic, they set off to free the land from the shadows. Link must explore the vast land of Hyrule and uncover the mystery behind its plunge into darkness. As he does, he'll have to enlist the aid of friendly folk, solve puzzles and battle his way through dangerous dungeons. In the Twilight Realm, he'll have to use his wolf abilities and Midna's magic to bring light to the land. Besides his trusty sword and shield, Link will use his bow and arrows, fight while on horseback and use a wealth of other items, both new and old. Players can use the Wii Remote as a fishing pole, while a spin of the Nunchuk controller executes a spin attack.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Great game, but... and there's always a but... Comment: I like to start reviews by being fair to all; for the uninitiated, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a 3D event-driven adventure game, where you guide a character (you name him, unspoken default is Link) around a fantasy world, fighting enemies, exploring dungeons and towns, and collecting items and upgrades that expand your array of abilities and increase the areas of the map that you can access. You can interact with the world in a variety of ways; people will send you on quests, and at various points you become - by force at first, and later by choice - a wolf, which controls fairly differently and can utilise a 'sense' ability to 'see' smells and ghosts.
It is a great game, I should say before the lengthy criticism; by nature, this genre guarantees longevity and variety, when done right, and it is mostly done right. It looks great, sounds great, and the controls are - as one would expect from the company who make the machine the game is for - mostly really responsive and well thought out.
OK... fans typically start by comparing this to Ocarina of Time, LOZ's first 3D outing, and Wind Waker, the cel-shaded, boating-obsessed entry on GameCube. I'm a fan of this genre of game, not Zelda specifically, which means I try to look at other games like Brave Fencer: Musashi, Alundra, Golden Axe Warrior and Story of Thor as well when I'm deliberating. They are all noted for capturing the essence, but each being flawed in some way, usually where they're trying to distinguish themselves from Zelda... and, in his quest to distance himself from his own working formula all the time, Eiji Aonuma, the game's director, has done just that.
Twilight Princess is not the best of its type, a view that I know won't make me popular, but here's my reasons for coming to this conclusion.
It has a lot of the problems associated with the first of the games I listed earlier, BF:Musashi by Squaresoft. You cannot quickly control the passage of time (day/night) in Twilight Princess, unlike all 3 previous 3D installments, which makes collecting night-dwelling Poe ghosts, amongst other things, at times annoying.
It is also, like BF:M, loaded down with mini-games that are mostly compulsory to complete in order to progress. As other reviewers have pointed out, they're not difficult... but they are annoying. Mini-games should only be included as non-compulsory diversions with non-essential prizes, like high-scores and money. It isn't everyone that wants to play them.
To even get a sword - which you quickly lose again, just like Wind Waker - you have to herd goats (twice), fish (twice), wrestle goats (guess), shoot nuts at targets, and fly eagles around. This I wasn't keen on.
The game is linear, something that games of this genre should never be, and Zelda most of all. The story forces you to complete the dungeons and collect items in order because of the plot, and even if you could deviate, the dungeon items are so little use outside of the place you got them from (besides collecting 1 or 2 lifebar upgrades and money chests) that there'd be no point anyway.
Then there's the collecting side-quests... this time, you're looking for ghosts, evil bugs, fish, and shiny bugs. Evil bugs is compulsory... and you have to do it three times too, in the dark, as a wolf, before you can progress in the game.
In fact, there's a lot of initially interesting things that you have to do a lot, like fighting portal monsters, that become a little repetitive. Nothing is really ever challenging you... mostly, things are annoying obstacles until you work out how to pass them, then they're just annoying.
Perspective, aesthetic veneers, and timing play too large a part: most of the game's 'innovations' are cosmetic, with the spinner being merely a case of watching Link roll up a track and pressing B at the right moment to dodge/hit things. The wolf-leaping also consists of exciting-looking camera shifts, but are just timed button presses at heart. The 'innovative' wolf-senses are just the Lens of Truth from Ocarina of Time with nice optical effects, and the Clawshot... bar a few specified usage points that are heavily signposted, this item is a massive downgrade of the Hookshot that isn't actually good for much. And that includes the 'cool' double-line version you get near the end.
The Wii controller is also a bit disappointing. Ten minutes of miming swatting flies just to make Link hit things, and I wanted 'B button to attack' back in all its lazy glory. All this needed was a 'classic controls' option or use of GameCube/Wii Classic Controller pad, for when the novelty of the motion system wore off.
And, as I think many people have noted, it takes too long to do anything; when you just want to give the game half an hour or so in a free moment, you can't really achieve much, which is off-putting.
But, that said, aesthetically, it is nice. The whole thing has a earthy, warm feel, and there is clever use of the brand with old tunes and places popping up to provide nostalgia and/or variety. The previous games - or at least Ocarina of Time - are a tough act to follow, and although it doesn't best them, it tries and comes close.
There are a good few dungeons, and not a lot of water... horse-riding is back, and the boat's in the fish pond where it belongs. Dynasty Warriors style, you can fight on the horse, too, and ride the enemies' boars... much, much better. While most upgrades are a bit disappointing, bomb arrows were long, long overdue. And while the compulsory mini-games are intrusive, I am glad to see there are no stealth sections, which was the main gripe I had with all 3 of its 3D predecessors.
And at last, you can skip story sequences and certain repeat animations.
To conclude, I don't hate this game, and would recommend it to a fan of the genre, but Nintendo did fumble the ball a little with this, so while it is a luxurious 'experience' at times, Ocarina of Time is still the better 'game', even it doesn't look as nice... and at 1000 Wii points on Virtual Console, maybe an alternative option or additional purchase for the newcomer. Customer Rating: Summary: One of the best games on the wii! Comment: Having previously played Zelda : Ocarina of time on the N64 I knew what to expect with this title. I have read a lot of reviews stating that the N64 game is superior, but I have to disagree - I found this game much more enjoyable and I was hooked on it!
The controls are easy to master and using the remote as a sword you really feel part of the game.
Although I have now completed the story section of the game (it took me about 40 hours, and I would say I am a casual gamer), I still find myself going back from time to time for a spot of fishing or the other mini games within the game.
One of the major complaints of the wii is the graphics - this game surpasses all expectations on that front. It is visually stunning, and this really adds to the enjoyment of the game.
Hands down this is probably one of the best games if not the best game for the wii. It goes to show that the wii is not just for lame party games or cheap third party titles and is capable of having games that are ps3/360 standard in terms of gameplay. Customer Rating: Summary: Great game Comment: I must admit that i am not a die hard fan. This is the first zelda game
i have got. But i enjoyed this game more than most other games on the wii.
The only problem i have with it is that after you have finished the story it is not as good
Customer Rating: Summary: The reason the Nintendo Wii was made. Comment: Bought it.
Played it.
Completed it.
Sold it.
Bought it again!
Nuff said. Customer Rating: Summary: Highly entertaining, truly brilliant Comment: The best way to describe this game is brilliant, it makes you think about what you are doing aswell as enjoying it, right at the beginning - when you have rounded up the goats on the ranch and you jump into the village, you have little mysteries to solve, you approach people and speak to them, and they each have a little problem, you need to sort out their problem, for instance the small thin man moaning about the bees nest - you have to figure out how to knock down the bees nest, I wont give too much away but you have to buy a sling shot from the local shop, I used the sling shot to knock down the bee hive, also the lady who owns the shop has lost her cat, so until you find her cat and return it - you cannot buy anything from her shop! The graphics are phenomenal, really enhances the game to feel as though you are watching a dvd in some parts, I am 21 years old and although its not really scary or techincal, I thoroughly enjoy playing on it. There are quite a few surprises - I wont give too much away but you dont stay human after you complete the first part! I think this game deserves a 5* rating as I am quite drawn into the graphics and finding out any more surprises, not an average rescue/fighting game, your character changes, you can ride a horse, you can solve puzzles - I recommend this game to EVERYONE!
