Review in progress:
A very weak remaster of the most overrated Zelda game. It looks almost identical to the original and doesn't address any of the game's many issues.

The first few hours of Twilight Princess are excruciatingly boring. It has one of the worst intros I've ever had the misfortune of experiencing, and consequently, replays are a drag.

The storytelling is more cinematic than in previous Zelda games, but it's still lackluster and devoid of real substance.

Hunting for bugs is unfun padding. Wolf Link is a gimmick and doesn't add a lot to the game. Combat with wolf link is bland and simplistic.

The world feels lifeless. Castle Town is just a few screens and Hyrule Field is an empty wasteland.

The bosses are all way too easy and they're forgettable as a result. The hidden moves are effectively useless since everything is such a pushover. Hero mode needs to change the attack patterns instead of just upping the numbers. It's annoying that enabling hero mode forces you to mirror the world. I want the original map since that one lines up with Ocarina of Time. It feels especially jarring to have such a low difficulty level in this game because it's trying so hard to be dark and gritty.

There's almost no exploration. You are railroaded through the shitty story without any breathing room outside of a few mediocre sidequests.

The soundtrack is a missed opportunity. The lack of real instruments means that the attempts to sound epic and grandiose fall flat. Everything sounds like it was put through a MiDi tin can.

The dungeons and puzzles are some of the best in the series. The core Zelda gameplay is still strong here, but there could've been more innovation.

Twilight Princess is exactly the type of game you’d expect to follow up Ocarina of Time. The 6 games that released post Majora’s Mask featured a significant shift in the overall vibe of the series. Not a bad one per se but as someone that holds the vibes of the Ocarina of Time-Majora’s Mask duology near and dear to their heart, it wasn’t hard to notice that the series was trying to forge a new identity for itself. One that strays away from the occasionally creepy and dark vibes of Ocarina-Majora and leans towards a more light-hearted and cartoonish vibe like in The Wind Waker and The Minish Cap.

While I still I really like those games, I couldn’t help but feel like an ingredient of the Zelda recipe was missing from them. All the games pre-Majora’s Mask felt like they had a good balance of feel-good light-heartedness and serious, more mature undertones while the post-Majora’s Mask games seemed to lean more towards the prior. I really have no issues with this as I thoroughly enjoyed them but I can’t deny that they felt different.

This, of course, caused a lot of discourse within the fandom. Ocarina of Time was a cultural phenomenon widely regarded as a pioneer of not only 3D games but gaming as a medium. This departure in identity over the 8 following years cast a fair share of doubt on the series ever reaching the heights of Ocarina of Time again. The Wind Waker was ruthlessly scrutinized, The Minish Cap barely sold, and Four Swords Adventures came and went with no noise. Forcing Nintendo to be like “You want another Ocarina of Time? Fine, we’ll make one.”

Twilight Princess isn’t just a modern version of Ocarina of Time like some people like to say, it is a full blown spiritual successor. Everything from the art style, to the music, to the world and dungeon design feels like a proper evolution of Ocarina of Time. It just feels like the obvious direction they would’ve went with with the series. Twilight Princess relies on the foundations of Ocarina of Time while forging its own unique identity.

The game goes for a grounded and more mature vibe overall, completely contrasting The Wind Waker. I love The Wind Waker’s vibe a lot but playing it after what came before brings a feeling of unfamiliarity, I know most of us had to readjust ourselves for The Wind Waker in the beginning of it and said “oh okay this is different!” That readjustment wasn’t as present in Twilight Princess. As soon as you boot the game up you get an overwhelming “oh we are so back!” feeling as it exudes the same aura as the pre-Wind Waker games. That familiarity to me is very comforting which is why I find myself gravitating towards Twilight Princess more, even though I think The Wind Waker is the much bolder and more adventurous game.

Twilight Princess is often criticized for its linearity. While it sports a big map, it’s not really an open-world experience like The Wind Waker’s. Frankly, I don’t really care about that. A lot of people say that exploration is a huge standard of the Zelda series and it is often used as a tool to gauge how good some of these games are. I don’t really agree with that, Zelda isn’t a series that thrives on openness and exploration for me. Instead I think Zelda thrives on the sense of discovery more. You’re discovering new areas, overworld secrets, dungeons, towns, etc. Linearity doesn’t stop that sense of discovery, it just guides it. I can see how that can be a problem if you’re looking for a sense of unguided discovery, but that’s not what I play these games for. I’ll get into what I do play these games for later in the review. But for now I just really want to establish how I don’t have any issue with the linearity of Twilight Princess. I think it’s the reason why the game works, the linearity allows for a tighter and more planned out narrative-driven hero’s journey take place.

The overall story of Twilight Princess is alright. It’s nothing really revolutionary, I prefer the story of The Wind Waker as an overall narrative, but Twilight Princess shines through its fantastic story moments. It’s very cinematic in the sense that the scenes feel like they were directed like they’re for a movie. There’s a lot of framing techniques, musical cues, and moody lighting used. Characters are very grounded with their movements and express themselves like normal humans do in the real world. Scenes like the attack in Kakariko, the vision in Lanayru, Midna’s lament, and Illia’s memory are wonderfully directed and are some of my favorite scenes in the series. If Twilight Princess was a movie it would definitely be a big blockbuster. It’s just so grand and epic in every way with massive set pieces sprinkled throughout.

My first criticism about Twilight Princess is the pacing of the first half of the game. I know people usually complain about the opening hours of the game but I really have no problem with the opening. I feel like it’s a great tone-setter and shows you what normal life for Link look’s like before the main inciting incident happens. It’s a literary tool that is used in most movies, books, and other forms of narratives we see today. My issue actually starts after the inciting incident happens. The the world is now engulfed in twilight and every time you go to a new area you have to first go through the twilight realm version of that area and free it. This is the worst thing in the game for me and not because of the Tears of Light quest.

A lot of the previous Zelda games featured a dual-world mechanic with one being the normal world and the other being a distorted version of that world. Seeing the normal versions of those areas first and then seeing how the distortion makes them look is cool, but doing that order in reverse doesn’t work for me for several reasons. First, it's about the first impression you get of the new areas, the Twilight realm feels the same in every region of Hyrule, so having the excitement of going to a new location be met with an oppressive atmosphere that is shared by every other area in the game, even when that atmosphere is done masterfully, just doesn’t give a good first impression to any area in Hyrule. It doesn’t help that the most notable change that happens after freeing these areas from the twilight realm is that they’re now brighter and have their own musical theme. The areas just feel the same but with a different filter on now so it doesn’t feel that satisfying to free them.

My other big complaint about these sections is how they bring some of the narrative conflicts to a halt and ruin some story moments that would have otherwise been much better done. This comes with the fact that in the twilight realm, you can see what’s happening in the real world but you can’t really interact with anything from it. A big example is the kidnapped kids from Ordon Village. When you see them get kidnapped you naturally worry about where they’ve been taken and want to save them. What is the next thing the game does with that sub plot? Have you stumble on them while you’re in the twilight realm, finding out that they are safe with adults while not being able to interact with them until you finish releasing the area from the twilight. I don’t like these sections at all. I will say though that the sound design in the twilight realm is fantastic. As it is with the rest of the game.

What I love about Twilight Princess is that it’s very atmospheric and that comes in large part from the music. The music is spacious, triumphant, and nostalgic, even if you’re hearing these tracks for the first time. There are so many highlights including: Title Theme, Ordon Village, Midna’s theme, Twilight, Meeting Zelda, Light Spirit’s Elegy, Faron Woods, Forest Temple, Hyrule Field, Kakariko Village, King Bulblin Battle, Queen Rutela’s Theme, Lake Hylia, Zant’s Theme, Midna’s Lament, Sacred Grove, Arbiter’s Grounds, Snowpeak, Hidden Village, City in the Sky, and Final Battle. I didn’t realize how many favorites I had until I started listing them out. This might be one of my favorite soundtracks in the series. The only criticism I have with it is that I wish it wasn’t MIDI. These melodies are mesmerizing and deserve a lot better. I hope if the game gets another rerelease, they remake the soundtrack to be orchestral.

An area where Twilight Princess shines for me is through its characters. Not counting Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess takes a massive leap in terms of character writing. The people of this world feel real with real struggles, and complex motivations. Link himself is one of my favorite incarnations, he is just so expressive and responsive to what’s happening around him. He shows a wide range of emotions throughout the game: he gets passionately angry sometimes, remorseful, cheery, relieved, etc. He’s not as stoic and serious as all the promotional art of the game depict him. He’s just a simple farm guy with a big heart and wants to help out however he can and the game sells that through his characterization. He also works especially well with Midna, who is probably my favorite character in the franchise.

Midna’s the first character in the series that gets a proper arc. Midna is mischievous, sassy, charismatic, and just wants to use Link for her own selfish gains but as the game goes on, she grows a sense of admiration for Link and the sense of camaraderie that builds up between the two really carries the game. They are a great dynamic duo that really give the game its own sense of identity. Midna actually in many ways feels like the protagonist of the game with Link being the deuteragonist. She is the driving force behind the narrative, the stakes are much higher for her than they are for any other character, and she’s the one that has personal beef with main antagonist. This is Midna’s game and Link is just a vessel for her story to be told. The closest thing we got to a character this dynamic before was Tetra in the Wind Waker but the way she was handled in the back-half of that game kinda fizzled her out for me. God, I love Midna. Most of the emotional punches of the game for me come from her. There’s obviously the big Midna’s Lament sequence but that doesn’t come close to her agency and involvement during the final section of the game. All for it to lead to one of the most beautiful endings of the series which wouldn’t have hit at all if her character didn’t work.

Twilight Princess also has other characters that are really compelling! Zant and Colin come to mind as other stand out characters. Some characters do leave some to be desired though. Illia’s treatment is just weird to me, she’s Link’s childhood friend/potential love interest. I’m gonna go over minor spoilers Illia as a character so feel free to skip this paragraph if you haven’t played the game. I just don’t understand what they were even going for with Illia, she’s introduced in the beginning as someone that Link really cares about, then gets kidnapped and disappears for a while. At that point she’s used as a main motivator for Link to go through his journey. You don’t find her with the rest of the kidnapped kids, so you’d think they’re delaying that moment to do something interesting with her. Once you do end up finding her you find out she has amnesia? Interesting choice but nothing is done with that plot line at all. She just disappears for the rest of the game until close to the end where you help her get her memory back in a wonderful scene.. only for her to just stand there doing nothing for the remainder of the game. Just a very weird way to handle the character which is why she never worked for me.

Other characters that kind of fall short for me are Zelda and Ganondorf. Their designs do all of the heavy lifting for their characters, these two never looked this good before (or since to be honest). But other than that, they’re a bunch of nothing. Zelda gets a total of 3 minutes of screen time in the whole game and is only challenged by Ganondorf’s 3.5 minutes. Did these two really need to be in this game? Zelda and Ganondorf’s inclusion just feels like it happens out of necessity to the series traditions. Part of me wishes for a version of Twilight Princess that fully skips on including these two and instead makes Midna and Zant the Triforce wielders of the game. You could even change their names to Zelda and Ganondorf to offer a cute twist of expectations having the incarnations of those two be from the same tribe this time. I know the manga adaptation gives Zelda and Ganondorf some cool stuff so all I can hope for is for that to be added if we ever get a proper remake on the same level as Final Fantasy VII Remake. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening so I guess I have to live on with these incarnations that feel like nothing.

My favorite thing about Twilight Princess and what I think sets it apart from the rest of the series is its dungeons. This is the best dungeon lineup in any 3D Zelda game. Every single dungeon in the game ranges from great to fantastic. Forest Temple, Lakebed Temple, Arbiter’s Grounds, Snowpeak Ruins, City in the Sky, and Palace of Twilight are among my favorite dungeons in the entire series. Each dungeon has a visually and sonically distinct atmosphere that sets it apart from the others, some dungeons are spacious vistas of nature like the forest temple, some are ancient locations with cultural impact like the Arbiter’s Grounds and City in the Sky, and then there’s Snowpeak Ruins which is a fancy and sprawling mansion. I also love them all from a game design perspective, they serve a great balance of the simplicity of The Wind Waker’s dungeons and the labyrinthine design of Ocarina of Time’s dungeons. To me, these serve as the perfect level of challenge where they’re designed well enough for players to be able to figure out how the puzzles work without taking mental leaps to do so. They really are a highlight and the most fun part of the game for me, everytime I finish from a dungeon, I’d be so excited to get to the next one. Contrasting the sense of dread I get from some of the dungeons in some other Zelda games.

All of these dungeons are capped off with boss fights that I can’t describe in any word other than epic. Mechanically, they all function like regular Zelda bosses where you have to use the item you acquired in the dungeon to defeat them, but in every other way, these bosses are leagues above everything that came before. The sense of scale has been upped significantly, these bosses are big and they do a great job of making you feel like the most badass guy in Hyrule. I talked earlier about how Twilight Princess feels like a blockbuster movie with its set pieces, these bosses are what come to mind. Something really great is that each boss has their own distinct theme this time. Actually there are some really cool musical moments that happen with the bosses, mainly the triumphant tune that comes in as you get the upper hand on these bosses just fills you with so much adrenaline. Highlights for me are: Morpheel, Stallord, Blizzeta, Argarok, Zant, and of course Ganondorf.

Everything in Twilight Princess culminates in the climactic final part. Arguably the best final section of any Zelda game (only to be contested recently by Tears of the Kingdom). Only to be topped off by the best final boss fight of the series thus far, again only to be contested by Tears of the Kingdom. Ganondorf might only have 3.5 minutes of screen time but he makes them count! Fantastic final boss in every way and a fantastic ending to go along with it. I will never forget the first time I finished this game and how much I was in awe over this ending sequence. Top 3 favorite endings in the series by far.

Twilight Princess is not a perfect Zelda game but it sure comes close. It has every element that I look for in a Zelda game. I said earlier in the review that I will get into what I look for when I play Zelda games. What’s most important in a Zelda game for me is atmosphere, story, characters, music, dungeons, and bosses. Moving forward, I will be focusing on these 6 elements with each Zelda game I review as these categories are what’s most important to me. Twilight Princess excels in all of these categories which solidifies it as an S-Tier game for me and one of my favorite games in the series. I freaking love this game and I’m obsessed with it. I wasn’t planning on writing this much but I really love Twilight Princess so much that I just can’t stop talking about it.

Um dos meu favoritos entre os jogos do zelda, esse com uma pegada mais seria, uma atmosfera mais sombria se equiparando com Majoras, um estilo de arte bem marcante, por mais que a cada jogo zelda você certa diferenças na arte esse talvez seja o mais diferente, e eu gostei bastante

Personagens bem desenvolvidos, boss e dungeons divertidas, mecanias novas, como se transformar em lobo são muito interessantes e claro como sempre trilha sonora FODA

Esse é um Zelda que faz tudo muito bem, não tem porque não jogar ele se você gostou de outros Zelda.

Yeah, this is a better Ocarina of Time.

Better characters, better structure, and a great story that taps into the darker aspects of the Zelda franchise (though not quite Majoras Mask).

Though the art style is certainly...unique? It doesn't take too much away from the experience.

Absolutely god-tier game that I've noticed getting some unnecessary hate for its bug-hunting wolf segments that last like fifteen minutes at most. Everything about this game absolutely screams "Dark Fantasy". The atmosphere, music, story, villains, settings, and monsters all feel more twisted, strange, and evil l than any other game in the series (besides Majora's Mask). It also has quite possibly the most satisfying combat in any Zelda game. This game is damn near flawless, and is even better than BotW and TotK for my money.