Released in the US on November 19th, 2006, Twilight Princess was a strong launch game for the hotly anticipated Nintendo Wii, and fitting swan song for the closing act of the Nintendo GameCube. In this Zelda adventure, the land of Hyrule becomes threatened to be cast into a parallel realm of shadows by the King of Shadows. Upon entering the Twilight realm, Link is transformed into a wolf and is hostilely imprisoned. Teaming up with a mysterious and impish character by the name of Midna, they break free and set to restore the Light to the land of Hyrule. This particular entry in the Zelda series is heralded for its darker tones in storytelling and grittier, more realistic approach to art direction. It also features some of the largest and interesting dungeons of the series. While they may not be the most difficult of dungeons, they all feature unique and compelling narrative elements, as was a conscious design decision when the developers were creating these massive labyrinths. And sure enough, it paid off in that aspect. Who could forget the memorable moments of walking on the ceilings of the Goron Mines through use of magnetic plates and the iron boots, or searching the chilly halls of Snowpeak Ruins for fresh ingredients and a warm meal for the sick Yeti. These little bits of narrative touches help to build a more fully realized world and unforgettable experience.
Perhaps even more interesting than the game itself is the development process that led to its creation. While its previous entry, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, has earned a greater deal of respect and esteem in recent years, it received quite a bit of discontent initially for its seemingly "childish" art direction. This reaction may have in part been heightened more so due to the fact that as Nintendo had shown a realistic depiction of Link vs Ganondorf in a technical demo known as The Legend of Zelda: Space World 2000. So when a sequel to Wind Waker took word, there was expressed concern from Nintendo of America. Rather than worry about the art direction however, the developers focused on finding new gameplay innovations, such as horseback combat which had not been possible in Ocarina of Time. This later dictated a new art direction as the small dimensions of Toon Link didn't quite work well for such horseback riding animations. The developers also looked to play with the concept of parallel worlds, a popular theme in the Zelda series. Link was decided to turn into a wolf much like how he turned into a rabbit when entering the Dark World in A Link to the Past. But feeling the game was lacking a caliber of innovation, the game was delayed to be released simultaneously on the new Nintendo Wii and to allow more time for fine tuning and content development.
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| Concept Art of Link on horseback, a key focus when initially developing Twilight Princess. |
While the Wii version may have done little more than feature some nice sword waggling and excellent aiming controls, it was enough to reinvigorate the game and see release. Twilight Princess went on to receive critical acclaim and has become the best selling entry in the series to date so far, with nearly 9 million sales including the recent HD remaster for the Wii-U. And that Wind Waker sequel went on to become Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS, proving both art styles can coexist together. Still, here's hoping to another Wind Waker-esque game for the console. One can dream.
Fun Fact: Although Link is traditionally left-handed, due to the addition of motion controls for the Wii version of Twilight Princess and the fact that most people are right-handed, the developers made Link right-handed for the Wii version. However, because of the late decision to develop this along side with the GameCube version, the easier solution became to mirror the game worlds and change any text referencing East and West.
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