Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The (cube: 2006): Reviews

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Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The


9.4

based on 16 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 241 votes
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GAMES:

Official Website

When an evil shadow stretches from the heart of Hyrule to its peaceful borderlands, a young farm boy named Link must awaken the hero ... and the animal ... within. When Link travels to the darkened land of Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf and must scour the land with the help of a mysterious being named Midna. Ride into battle against troops of foul creatures, using an incredible horseback combat system, then take on massive bosses that must be seen to be believed. Many puzzles stand between Link and the fulfillment of his quest, so players must sharpen their wits as they hunt for weapons and items. Link, a young man raised as a wrangler in a 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, and 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. [Nintendo]

PUBLISHER:	Nintendo
DEVELOPER:	Nintendo
GENRE(S):	Third-Person Action, Adventure
PLAYERS:	1
ESRB RATING:	T (Teen)
RELEASE DATE:	December 13, 2006

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

GameSpy

It's an amazing epitaph to the GameCube's life and it's certainly the best game from Nintendo this year. If you've been on the fence in any capacity, then please rest assured that you'll not be disappointed. Nintendo's flagship game has arrived in style and you better damned well appreciate it. It's ultimately fantastic.

100

1UP

Whatever the hardware, Zelda is a brilliant adventure: a stunning achievement, and reason enough to dust off that abandoned GameCube.

100

Cheat Code Central

Yeah, Wind Waker was a great game, but in looking back, it sure wasn't Twilight Princess. The darker direction takes our hero and the series into unchartered territory and fans will definitely appreciate the shift in mood.

100

Games Radar

It's still the most cinematic, engrossing Zelda we've ever played, and as such, deserves nothing but the absolute highest recommendation. Flaws are present, sure, but we'll burn our entire library of games before we say Twilight Princess is anything but incredible.

100

GamePro

The GameCube controller doesn't quite offer the potential of the Wii remote, so slicing down enemies and firing arrows isn't quite as engaging.

100

NintendoWorldReport

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is one of those few genre-defining games that while clearly dedicated to fans of the series, also serves as a wonderful adventure for those new to the series.

Game Chronicles

Everything about it is a little familiar, the result of decades of refinement, tweaked gameplay and an ever more fully realized game universe. Although I was sometimes amazed or delighted by a new trick or character, I never felt really, truly surprised by anything in this game.

Kombo

Over 40 to 50 hours of gameplay for your first time through. Every hour features challenging, rewarding, fun and entertaining gameplay. Excellent dungeon design and memorable locales.

Gaming Nexus

The best the series has to offer up to this point.

Games Master UK

A spectacular, jaw-dropping send off for the faithful old GameCube. [Mar 2007, p.84]

IGN

As someone who has played both the GameCube and Wii versions of Twilight Princess, I can confidently state that I prefer the latter for its handful of extras, including what I consider to be enhanced controls and an exclusive 16:9 widescreen mode. That being said, though, I can certainly understand why purists might want to stick with the more conventional controls of the GCN build and as far as a traditional setup goes, Twilight Princess is definitely as good as it gets.

Nintendo Power

Twilight Princess was a long time in coming, but the game's depth will make it last even longer among the Zelda faithful. [Feb. 2007, p.95]

GameDaily

Even without the Wii's motion controls and an orchestrated soundtrack, Zelda succeeds with an ambitious quest that rivals "Ocarina of Time" and a control scheme that players will love.

NTSC-uk

But the moment the opening symphony plays until the concluding credits, all fear and doubt quickly vanishes like the cool whispering of an autumn’s breeze. Though not flawless, Nintendo have once again demonstrated masterful craftsmanship, challenging design and imaginative artistry.

Thunderbolt

This game is more or less the latest version of a realm that has been long established and already seen. Yes, the story is darker, longer, and more character driven than anything before it. Yes, the dungeons and sidequests are remarkably well crafted. That doesn’t mean that both seasoned Zelda fans and newcomers alike will enjoy the lacking difficulty and the other small problems that plague the game.

GameSpot

Twilight Princess contains the same expertly designed puzzles and time-tested gameplay that you've come to expect from the series, though parts of its presentation feel stuck in the past.

The average user rating for this game is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 241 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Melody C. gave it a9:
A very fun game to play. The plot is really good and it connects with one another. It's a long adventure game and totally fun!

Rytango M. gave it a6:
I love all the bad reviews of this game, because well, they are right. my biggest disappointment was how HUGE the world is, but there is very little to do. also Zelda being a surprisingly minor character was a let down. i liked the swordsman idea, but i rarely used any of the special moves i learned. there were so many dungeons but not one gave me a challenge or sense of accomplishment. Zelda TP gives you something to do, but once i beat it, i never felt compelled to go through it again like OoT or LttP.

Dan W. gave it a4:
Zelda needs to mature. Repitition, uninspired design and twisted storyline that reminds me off a bad disney movie make this game fall flat on its face. The wolf segments were a shameless Okami ripoff without the joy or creativity and the gamein general just felt like if OoT had lost its lustre. A pathetic attempt. To be honest, I've lost faith in Miyamoto, Shadow of the Colossus has made me remember that fantasy games can be good, and don't have to have an overblown ego. You know you've seen everything when Sony starts making better fantasy games than Nintendo.

Sam J. gave it a10:
Don't be discouraged by the walls of text nit picking every single element of Twilight Princess and putting a negative spin on it. Twilight Princess gives you everything you want from a Zelda title, a moving storyline, inspiring characters, and most importantly, hours of enjoyment. The game mechanics and design are flawless. Not once will you be forced to redo tasks to the point they even remotely become tiring and although Hyrule is huge, transversing it is never a chore due to all the means of transportation at your disposal. If you are still skeptical after reading this, give a rent and you will likely realize you just wasted $7 since you will in all likelyhood find yourself buying it afterwards.

Zach L. gave it a6:
I am a huge Zelda fan, i have all of them, but with TP I think they could have done better, my number one complaint is that you get an item like a slingshot, use it for one dungeon and then get a bow and arrow that used for the rest of the game, you find yourself never using that first item again, same with the rod that controls statues, i only used it in that one dungeon (temple of time), which was the easiest dungeon ever (hate to say it). Another thing is that this game took 4 years to make. It took Oblivion for the 360 only 3. And look at the difference between the two. I still like playing it it is good fun, but it is a let down in my opinion. It became to si-fi such as a city in the sky and a twilight world with monsters that explode into squares when they die. The colors of the world were way to muddy and gritty, no deep blue water and dark green forests. There were a few good music soundtracks, but the rest still sounded like i was playing a super NES zelda. I hated the red suit of armor that you could only wear for a few minutes because you ran out of coins so fast. Dumb idea. What about a zelda with like six different tunics (green, red, blue, yellow, black white whatever) each with special abilities and consequences much the zora outfit of TP, and a bunch different swords(fire,ice) and so on.

Joseph V. gave it a10:
Twilight Princess never stops delivering. As soon as you finish, you'll want to go through it all over again.

Shelby G. gave it a10:
One of hte best LoZ games made to date, some of the items were reused from other games, but they did throw in a handfull of new stuff. Also the sword fighting from the back of Epona added another unique element to this great game.