Bitter and Sweet

As a videogame reviewer and a journalist with a looming deadline, playing the near-final build of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a bittersweet experience. Sweet for all the obvious reasons. I could simply write that "it's Zelda" and veteran gamers would fully understand. But let me go into a little more detail for those still unfamiliar with this franchise - there might be one or two of you left, after all. Nintendo's action-adventure series has, since its conception decades ago, set the standard for the genre with incredibly deep gameplay mechanics and clever puzzles, not to mention beautiful graphics. In fact, Nintendo 64's Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is even to this day heralded as the greatest videogame ever made by too many gamers and critics to count.

Now, bearing that in mind, Twilight Princess is bigger, deeper, and prettier. Which is, of course, precisely the problem when time itself is a hot commodity for me, and this is where the bitter comes into the equation.

If Wii Sports is for the non-gamers, Twilight Princess is for the hardcore. After I spent 10 hours with the game, I barely managed to squeak by two temples, with the third so far off that I could scarcely imagine getting there, let alone approach the objective. (For the record, out of 30 or so journalists, nobody came close to the third temple.) I asked how long it took Nintendo's testers to complete the entire game the first time through. The answer is a whopping 70-plus hours. Adding insult to injury, diabolical Nintendo translator and localization manager Bill Trinen told me that he was working on his second play-through of the game. Knowing what to do and where to go, and skipping cut-scenes, Trinen said that he had logged about 27 hours to make it about two thirds of the way through the temples themselves - and that doesn't account for any of the side quests or time sucks like fishing, a single operation that could easily add hours upon hours to Zelda's depth. .

When publishers claim that their games are 50 hours long, seasoned players usually half that number for the truth. But with Twilight Princess, I think we can really look forward to a 50-plus-hour adventure, bare minimum. This quest will keep you busy through the holidays and beyond. So, I'm pondering this revelation a lot as I try to imagine how in the hell I'm going to find the time to beat Zelda and still review 30 other games for the Wii launch. Of course, that's more than a little terrifying, but at the same time I am absolutely thrilled by the prospect of spending some quality time with Link, Epona, and Zelda again. Oh yeah, and Midna, too.

There's no way to know for sure how it'll all turn out yet, as even with 10 hours under my belt I've only scratched the surface. However, if the game keeps up or gets better - as Nintendo's people promise that it does - there is simply no way that the adventure will remembered as anything but a masterful classic and quite possibly the best launch title in the history of the business.

Two Systems - One Game

Twilight Princess may have started as a GameCube title, but it finished a Wii one. There remains this faction of gamers that refuses to accept the possibility. You know who you are. You continue to argue that because the controls were originally designed for the GameCube pad there is no hope for the Wii build. You say that your arms will get tired using the Wii remote. You speak of mirrored worlds and right-handed Link. And you know what? It's all crap. If you have the means to buy Twilight Princess for Wii and you still get it for GameCube, you are a fool. And I state that without meaning to suggest that the GCN iteration is flawed - it isn't. It's an amazing swan song for Nintendo's older system, so if you've got no other option you're still golden. But that said, it's not as good as the Wii incarnation. In fact, were it up to me and not Nintendo (and in my dreams, it is), I'd have scrapped the GCN build altogether, forcing everyone to exclusively buy the Wii version. Honestly, Nintendo gave you five good years with GameCube; it's time to move on.

At some point in time (admittedly, late in the long development cycle), the team making Twilight Princess decided to focus on the Wii version of the title over the GameCube one. The evidence of this truth is undeniable. Take, for example, the fact that Zelda arrives on Wii first, which is partly true because internal resources were moved from the GameCube build to the Wii one a good while ago. There are several important content-related exclusives that have come as a result of concentrating on the Wii game. The remote-enhanced control comes to mind. Using the pointer with Zelda felt unintuitive when Nintendo unveiled the mechanic last May, but it has come a long way since then. Now, slashing Link's sword with the remote feels very good and using the device to aim and target with weapons like the Hero's Bow and Gale Boomerang absolutely demolishes the traditional configuration. There really is no comparison - and there's no going back. Also, Zelda on Wii makes full use of the remote's internal speaker and this is, believe it or not, a very welcomed feature. I've always been skeptical of this speaker, mind you, because I simply don't think it outputs the best audio quality. But I have to admit that receiving audio cues and select sound effects through the controller is somehow more powerful. It actually does add another layer of immersion to the experience. And, of course, the Wii version of Twilight Princess runs in 16:9 widescreen mode while the GameCube incarnation doesn't. For many videophiles like myself, that in of itself is a very compelling reason to pick Zelda up on Nintendo's new generation console.

There is every reason to get Zelda on Wii, but if you're still not convinced that the controls work just fine, consider that I was just as skeptical as you are now before I put some serious play time into the game. So were the other 30 or so journalists who played alongside me. And when the gameplay session came to its too-early end, everybody in attendance agreed that the Wii remote and nunchuk combo performed beautifully. Nobody's arms were tired. Nobody felt that the continuity of the game universe had been sacrificed because the landscapes and items had been mirrored. And nobody complained that Link was a right-hander. In fact, we had a couple lefties who said playing with the game on Wii felt very natural.

The Ordona Province

It becomes clear from the moment Twilight Princess begins that the title is very much inspired by the classic Ocarina of Time before it. The title sequence follows Link as he rides Epona around a large, picturesque environment. He follows the corner of a chasm and Hyrule Castle looms in the distant horizon. This opening cinematic closes as the camera pans once more on Link, who has transformed into a wolf. The entire scenario is impressive both for its style and its scope. Even from the beginning, it's plain as day that the world in which Link's adventure takes place is absolutely enormous. In many ways this stylish sequence reminds me of titles like Ico, whose hero is similarly dwarfed by huge background structures. It's all beautiful and very ambient, setting the mood for the adventure to follow, but you needn't take my word for it because we have a direct-feed footage of the scene in our media section.

As soon as you start, you're asked to name your hero and your horse. Link and Epona are the standard titles and I chose to stick with tradition. Afterward, the game opens to a scene in Ordon Village, which is adjacent to Ordon Ranch and a section of the Ordona Province. It's twilight and a real-time sequence focuses on a blacksmith named Rusl and his apparent apprentice, Link. At this point in the game, Link has yet to don his trademark green outfit. He's still dressed in simple farmer attire, but even without his warrior clothing he is already destined for a warrior's adventure. Rusl tells Link that he believes twilight is the only time of day that the real world intersects with the spirit world and then asks him to embark upon a journey to deliver a handmade Ordon Sword and Shield to the royal family of Hyrule.

The cinematic clings to the storytelling method of most Zelda games. Real-time graphics and text bubbles in favor of flashier full-motion sequences and voice samples. Interacting with characters in Twilight Princess will feel very familiar to anybody who has played a Zelda game before. I've always been a big critic of Nintendo's reluctance to put more time and effort into its story presentations and am therefore slightly discouraged to see that very little has changed. But in the grand scheme of the Zelda experience, this shortcoming holds very little weight and indeed is lessened more and more as the game rages on and more sweeping, dramatic cut-scenes are showcased.

The game picks up the next morning as Link awakens in his hut. You find your way down a path, into Ordon Village proper, and then up another dirt road to Ordon Ranch. You can go at your own pace, as in any and every Zelda game, and so you could conceivably spend hours in Ordon Village interacting with the people and finishing off smaller, unimportant challenges, but to advance the story you'll need to do some goat herding and that takes place at the Ranch. This particular objective is not new - we've seen and played it at game shows in the past. But we've never seen exactly how it fits into the finished adventure. After entering the Ranch, you quickly learn how to call Epona by whistling with a piece of grass. After she comes running, you hop onto her back with the A button and can then control her smoothly around the environment with the analog stick on the nunchuck attachment. You kick your spurs to make her run faster if you want, although she only need be speedier to jump fences. Herding the goats into the barn is an easy undertaking as all you need do is nudge them forward from behind using Epona. After the task is done, you're free to go back into Ordon Village, which is where the title really starts moving, as far as I'm concerned.

As someone who has played and loved the Zelda franchise since its inception, I always look forward to the inevitable 'real beginning' of each new game, which is usually when Link is free to roam through the initial village, puzzles are strewn about, and something you do will eventually set the story in motion. Twilight Princess is no different and Ordon Village is the real beginning. Small huts and pimply hills surround this grassy locale, and everything is connected by way of a stream that flows down the center of town into a pond just beyond. Naturally, there are fish in this pond, and reeling them in is just one of the objectives, although it is hardly pressing. To find his way, Link will also have to use blade grass to call a hawk and solve a quick puzzle, feed a cat, buy a slingshot, and eventually meet up with some adoring kids. These villagers remain completely oblivious to the evils that are even now overtaking Hyrule and so there is a light, cheery atmosphere at the start. That will soon change, but not yet.

You Have Options

Link, the quiet, stoic hero, never says a word and begins his new adventure without a sword. Within an hour, practiced gamers will likely come by the fishing rod, the slingshot and a staff, and a while after that they'll gain access to the Ordon Shield and Sword, too, at which point some new combat possibilities become available. But before I get to any of that, let me go into some of the interface specifics.

If you hit the + button on the Wii remote, you'll bring up the collections menu, which is an interface that shows either a model of link or his wolf form on the left side and then lists the various items available to the character on the right. For instance, if Link were in possession of the Ordon Sword, an icon would display it, and if you pointed at the icon with the Wii remote you'd see the text: "Rusl crafted this fine sword. It is inlaid with Ordon goat horns." Other items on my collections screen at any given time included a Wallet, which carries up to 300 Rupees; a Quiver to hold 30 arrows; a Fish Journal, useful for documenting big catches; a list of Hidden Skills such as the Ending Blow, which is that special attack - performed by locking onto a fallen enemy and then pressing the A button - that causes Link to jump into the air and thrust his sword downward; some Letters from various people; and the Scent of Ilia, which is a sensory ability for Link in wolf form.

Just as important, though, is the options sub-menu, which enables you access to several customizable control and functionality details. You can change your lock-on type to hold or switch depending on your preference. You can set normal or inverted camera control. You can choose to turn the pointer functionality off so that all of your aiming is done with the analog stick. Why anybody would ever want to do that is beyond me, but the option is in place. And you can toggle Icon Shortcuts on or off. Normally, you tap the - button to bring up your inventory screen, which displays all of your usable items in a circular menu. You simply point to the item you want to use with the Wii remote, hit D-Pad left, right or down, and the item is assigned to the desired position. It's all very simple and easy. As a side note, the circular menu expands so there is no way to know how many items you'll end up with. Some of the items Link gains access to include the Fishing Rod, Bombs, Hero's Bow, Iron Boots, Slingshot, Lantern Oil, Gale Boomerang and Empty Bottle. Now, if you don't like the idea of hitting the - button to access your items, you can toggle on the Shortcuts, at which point you hold the Z button, point to the right-hand corner of the screen during gameplay, and press both the A button and B trigger to access your various weapons and other usables. Honestly, I doubt you'll ever use it, but again, it's there if you happen to be that one guy.

And finally, you can fully modify your Wii remote's settings. For instance, you can turn the device's internal speaker volume up or down. An on-screen circle shows where your remote is pointed and if the angle of your hand doesn't seem to quite match with it, you can modify the settings using D-Pad Up or Down until it does. Meanwhile, you're directed to widen or shorten a separate on-screen field so that it directly matches the placement and size of your sensor bar. And finally, you're asked to push forward or backward with the Wii remote - which either increases or decreases the size of an on-screen circle so that it exactly matches another - and when the two are perfectly aligned you know you are playing from your optimal distance. It's clear that a lot of thought has gone into making sure that the pointer's accuracy is more than merely satisfactory.

The Wolf, the Twilight and the Real

I don't want to spoil any major plot points so I'm going to mainly focus on some of the elements that have been previewed in officially released screenshots and videos. However, there is no way for me to continue onward without at least touching on the basic theme of the game as I know it so far, which deals in everything from the apparently evil Twilight Realm that is slowly blanketing the land of Hyrule and changing its inhabitants into spirits and the dichotomy between the hero Link and his wolf form to the troubling state of Princess Zelda, the menacing Twilight King, and many more faces and places that you'll both recognize and find entirely new.

Link does not begin his quest to save Zelda - he lives in a faraway village and has rarely, if ever journeyed beyond its borders. He is compelled to save Ilia, a pretty teenage girl who is positioned as his potential love interest shortly into the title. She lives in Ordon Village and is, in fact, the daughter of the mayor. But when she's kidnapped by a gang of boorish warriors from the Twilight Realm, which is a sequence that has been showcased over and over in videos, Link sets out to find her and some other taken kids, including Colin, Malo and Talo, and Beth, who is infatuated with and hopes to be as brave and strong as Link when she grows up.

When Ilia and the band of kids are kidnapped, Link is sucked into the Twilight Realm, where he automatically transforms into a wolf and becomes imprisoned in a dungeon. It is here that we are introduced to the surreal creature known as Midna. This character, with half crown and one fang, not to mention big, cat-like eyes, is covered in the same techno-tribal tattoos that grace all of the evil Twilight monsters, except Midna's marks are green while those on enemies are red, like black widows. Although Midna takes an immediate interest in Link's wolf form and sets him free of his shackles so that he can explore the dungeon and the areas beyond, the character is not really out to help him. Midna wants something from Link, which becomes more and more evident and the adventure progresses. Even before Link has any time to protest, Midna hops onto his back and tells him that if he wants to make it out of the Twilight then he must obey her commands.

Ever since I played Metroid Prime 2 and came away unimpressed with its Dark World sections, I have wondered and sometimes worried if the Twilight Realm in this new Zelda would befall the same fate. Thankfully, this is not at all the case. Actually, I've found that I look forward to many of the Twilight Realm situations for two reasons: first and foremost, because playing as a wolf is a lot of fun, and I'll explain why below. And second, because the Twilight Realm itself is pretty amazing. It is more or less a polarized version of the real Hyrule and as Link explores it, we see perpetually drifting and floating black particles covering landscapes and blooming backdrops. In my 10 hours with the game, some of the prettiest scenarios have unfolded in the Twilight Realm..

As a wolf, Link sacrifices any weapons he might have been able to use in his original form. After all, wolves don't often swing blades or shoot bow and arrows. But he also gains some immediate advantages. First is speed. The wolf can really run and you'll be able to tap the A button at any time for a quick burst. The second is the beast's ability to quickly pounce on enemies. Again, you just tap the A button near a Twilight creature and Link's wolf self will dive into or latch onto them, where you can continue pressing the A button to inflict damage multiples. In addition, subtly shaking the nunchuk attachment will cause the wolf to execute a quick spin attack.

A bit later, the wolf learns two integral moves, including the ability to (by holding the B trigger) generate a circular field that encapsulates as many enemies as will fit; when you release the B trigger, the wolf will blaze around the screen killing all the foes at once. This is a necessary move because some of the Twilight baddies attack in groups of three or four and after you kill two thirds of them the remaining enemy will howl with rage and magically revise the entire gang. The only way to defeat these forces is to attack them all simultaneously. It's a very innovative new mechanic and also one that adds quite a bit of challenge, especially since it is not always easy to capture all three or four evil entities in the field. It actually becomes part of combat strategy, as you'll need to figure out which enemy you can kill off first and then use the field to simultaneously dispose of the remaining two or three baddies. As I looked around the room while playing, I noticed that some of these encounters were particularly troublesome for my fellow editors, and there were lots of Game Over screens popping up.

The second wolf ability relates to one of the primary objectives for entering the Twilight Realm to begin with, which is to meet a Light Spirit, retrieve the Vessel of Light, and fill it with collected Tears of Light. That's a lot of Lights, I know, so let me try to explain. First, put aside any fears you might have about the Twilight Realm existing solely as a means to push collect-a-thons. You do chase down some gruesome white insects in order to retrieve the Tears of Light, yes, but this only happens a few times, according to Nintendo representatives, and then you're off to something else. In the Ordona Province, the Light Spirit is a giant, glowing stag called - you guessed it - Ordona. The Spirit explains that you need to find the Tears of Light and put them in an object he gives you called the Vessel of Light. Only when you do that will Light be restored to the area. The catch is that you can't see the Tears of Light without the wolf's second power, which is the ability of heightened senses. In wolf form, Link can (by pressing left or right on the D-Pad) go into an alternate vision mode where any nearby Tears of Light become visible. Using this sense yields a secondary result, which is that the wolf can see the various spirits of Hyrule who have become trapped in the Twilight. Later, the wolf can also use a slightly altered sense to sniff out the scent of any characters he tracks.

The wolf can also dig (by pressing D-pad Down) and the beast will often have to do so in order to find Rupees and even occasionally Tears of Light hidden in the ground. He'll also have to dig underneath fences and into gaps on a house's foundation to gain access to otherwise unreachable areas.

And finally, in wolf form, Link can use Midna to his advantage, too. The Twilight creature will giggle (an audio cue that also comes out of the Wii remote's speaker) whenever the wolf approaches an area where she can be of help. To use her, you simply press D-Pad Up and then tap the A button when prompted to make the wolf jump across chasms or up a series of tree branches. Your level of control during these situations is very limited - you are, after all, merely tapping a button to continue a sequence - but some cinematic scenarios unfold this way all the same and after a few minutes using Midna to access specific areas becomes second nature.

Obviously, the wolf is both faster and more agile than Link, which is why controlling the character is a lot of fun. But the animal is sometimes able to leave the realm of the Twilight and journey into the natural world, and during these situations you'll need to play much differently. When in wolf form, you can't stroll into Ordon Village and expect the mayor to greet you with open arms. The villagers fear the wolves and therefore they also fear and will attack you. Bearing that in mind, you'll do better to sneak around, listen to conversations when necessary, and talk to the animals. Cats, squirrels and yes, chickens, will give you advice about what to do or where to go, despite the fact that a wolf would probably eat of these animals. It's actually pretty funny because some of the chickens have a very dignified, proper speech - and all you want to do is beat on them, anyway. And to answer your next question, yes, when you're Link you can pick up the chickens and use them to glide off rooftops.

Zelda and Hyrule

After exploring a dungeon in the Twilight Realm in wolf form, you eventually make your way outside, where you are greeted by spiraling towers, stone walkways, bridges, and a nearby castle. Midna is no fan of subtlety and keeps asking if you know where you are. It becomes irrefutably clear: this is Hyrule Castle, and it's being overtaken by the blackness of Twilight. Minutes later, you run to the top of the immense structure and slink through a doorway, where Princess Zelda awaits. You've seen her in screenshots and videos by now so you know that she's remarkably well designed and beautiful. Zelda and Midna appear to know each other, although neither seems particularly fond of the other. The Princess explains what has happened and a cinematic ensues.

The sequence shows the hall of Hyrule Castle. Princess Zelda sits in her throne and a dozen or so guards stand at the ready in front of the castle's doors. Suddenly, a black fog blows through the entrance and into the hall, where litters of nasty Twilight creatures squirm form from the mist and proceed to attack and kill the guards. Afterward, a much bigger Twilight creature, walking on its hind legs, dressed in garb, and wearing a horned helmet, makes its way down the center isle toward Zelda. The monster tells the Princess that the time has come for her to surrender or die, and with that she drops her sword. In the next sequence, we can see Hyrule Castle on fire as the Twilight overtakes the area and transforms its peoples into spirits. It's an impressive cut-scene.

Now, imprisoned in her Twilight Castle, Zelda tells Midna and Link to leave before they are discovered, which eventually leads the character back to the real world and back to his heroic form.

Playing as Link

Although there are some new Wii twists, Link is controlled and moves through the expansive environments in a manner that will seem very familiar to seasoned Zelda fanatics. The nunchuk's analog stick controls the hero; the Z button is used for locking onto friends and foes (you can still target villagers on higher ledges and chat with them from the ground); and the C button triggers a first-person camera view. In first-person, you'll be able to look around with the Wii remote and turn in a full circle, if you want, with the analog stick. The GameCube version of Twilight Princess would seem to have an advantage here because it does feature a manually controlled camera mapped to the second analog stick, but you can still center the view behind Link at any point by tapping the Z button and, honestly, I rarely encountered any viewing angle issues while playing through a chunk of the adventure.

If you're running and you tap the A button, you'll roll, and you can roll as often as you want without ever breaking the momentum of your motion. Meanwhile, in what I consider to be a fantastic new addition to the series, you can now run and swipe your sword at the same time. As your running, you simply gesture with your Wii remote and Link will pull out his weapon; do it again and he'll swipe. Imagine a giant field full of grass. In previous Zelda games, your momentum would come to a grinding halt every time you slashed at a patch. But now, you can run around the entire field, gesturing with the Wii remote and cutting down patch after patch without every stopping. It sounds like a miniscule inclusion and for most it might be, but in practice it's a lot of fun in the same way that being able to run and dive without losing momentum in Mario 64 was.

After 10 minutes, playing Twilight Princess with the Wii remote and nunchuk feels good. You have to understand that the remote does not suddenly bring one-to-one swordplay to the table, which seems like an eventuality for a future Zelda game. But even without it, the control still works just fine. It is not clumsy by comparison to the GCN build and your arms will absolutely not grow tired and fall off. If you want to, you can make those exaggerated and dramatic full-arch movements as seen in Nintendo Wii promos to control Link's sword swipes. But by no means is playing that way a necessity. You could play like I do, which is just to subtly shake the controller to and from every time you want to perform a swipe. Keep shaking it and Link will continue to slash at enemies. It's not difficult. It's not messy. It works every time and it feels pretty damned good. In fact, after an hour or two with the game, you start to really prefer this method to more traditional controls. There is something more tangible to it. It might seem like a little thing, but shaking the remote in lieu of pressing a button more accurately conveys the sense that you're in control of a sword. It honestly, truly does. And I'm neither lying nor brainwashed when I state that, given the choice, there is no way I would go back to the old control scheme.

Shake the nunchuk and Link will execute his trademark circle slash. This is a more powerful move so Nintendo has put a limit on it. You have to wait until the hero's sword recharges - it takes about three seconds - before you can do another. Again, shaking the nunchuk, like the Wii remote, works well and feels very responsive.

As Link gains access to new items and weapons, he can equip them to the D-Pad for easy access. All you need do is press D-Pad Down, Left or Right to equip a weapon and then tap or hold the B trigger to use it. Projectile weapons really show off the Wii remote's superiority because you're replacing the clunky analog stick aiming mechanics with a means to really point at the screen, which feels far more intuitive. A half-hour into my play test with Twilight Princess, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the Wii remote's aiming operations worked. With the Slingshot equipped, I could simply hold the B trigger, point and aim with the Wii remote, and then release - all at a speed and level of precision not possible before. Before long, you'll find that riding Epona and nabbing headshots on distant enemies with more advanced weapons is a breeze. You'll be able to precisely target and destroy five enemies in three or four seconds. Once you play Zelda this way, there is no going back..

Using the Gale Boomerang works in fundamentally the same way, except you can lock onto as many as five different targets by tapping the Z button while you aim. When you want to throw the boomerang, you just release the B trigger and watch it go. In the Forest Temple, the first of many dungeons in the game, Nintendo has designed some very clever puzzles that revolve around the weapon. There are wind-based challenges in which you'll need to target - in the correct order - a series of pillars to open doorways, or to rip up floor tiles so that you can get at enemies lurking beneath them. But what I personally found the most intriguing is the way the Gale Boomerang can lock onto a faraway item and physically transport it to another targeted location. In one scenario, I had to figure out a way past a boulder located one tier above me. I noticed a ticking bomb in one part of the level. If I were to pick the bomb up with Link, there'd be no way I could run it all the way to the boulder before it exploded. So I pulled out my boomerang, locked onto the bomb, locked onto the boulder, and then released. The boomerang flew through the air, picked up the bomb and carried it directly to the boulder, which exploded, revealing access to a passageway beyond. Beautiful. Remember, this is the first dungeon, and already Nintendo is really making us use our heads to advance. The second dungeon, which I'm not allowed to write about yet, keeps the momentum moving. You've undoubtedly seen Link using the Iron Boots in videos. There are some spectacular sequences.

Scope, Saving and Difficulty

Twilight Princess features a huge, sprawling world - one of the biggest I've seen in any adventure game, and I've only witnessed portions of the universe so far. Link rides from Ordon Ranch through to the Village, takes a path into Faron Woods, which are immense, and eventually makes his way to the Forest Temple. The dungeon stretches into every direction on multiple levels, is drenched in monkeys (one of whom slaps his bloated rear end), and is sure to last most players a couple of hours the first time through. Nintendo representatives have stated that Hyrule Field is at least five times larger than the one in Ocarina of Time and based on the sections of it I've seen, I'm inclined to agree. I think, in fact, that it could be larger still. And this says nothing of the many other areas I've explored, but am not yet allowed to write about, including other villages and entire provinces. You could conceivably spend five or more hours messing around in Ordon Village the first day you play the game, and that represents about one percent of the adventure, as far as I can tell.
The game is further separated by the unofficially named Twilight Curtain, which cuts Hyrule in half and divides the real world from the Twilight. Whether you're Link or the wolf, it seems inevitable that you will at some point visit locations on both sides of the Curtain and there will in turn be different objectives to keep you busy.

Thankfully, you can save at any time and anywhere, including temples. However, if you save halfway through a temple and then quit the game, you'll progress will be noted, but you'll have to physically start back at the beginning of the temple when you return. There is a way around that, too, though. You meet this chicken with a man's face named Occolo - he's very disturbing. You can equip him as an item wherever you happen to be in a temple and he'll save your progress in exactly the same room.

As for difficulty, the game is undeniably harder than Wind Waker and on par with Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, if it's not more challenging yet. To give you some examples, you need to collect five heart pieces, not four, to up your life count. Restorative hearts are fewer and farther between. And enemies generally inflict greater damage on Link than they did in Wind Waker. Sure, there are foes that will only take off a quarter heart, but there are also enemies that will halve your heart, take off a full heart, or even take off two of them.

Final Thoughts So Far

I'm 10 hours through Twilight Princess and I still feel as though I've just gotten started. The game kicks off to a quick start and the action and challenges rarely relent. The result is an incredibly fun and rewarding experience that both feels like every Zelda we've played before and also completely new. I've always appreciated Nintendo design and Twilight Princess - even early on - demonstrates that few in this industry can make a game as epic and engaging as the Big N's top teams can. Of course, I'm not nearly through the finished product, but I have faith, and now that I've glimpsed Nintendo's newest Hyrulian adventure, I'd be surprised if it didn't go down as another genre benchmark, not to mention a cherished classic.

要点：1、很难相信这只是一款NGC引擎开发的游戏，画面非常出色，让我对Wii的性能充满了期待；2、游戏总流程将超过70小时，足够大家玩得过瘾；3、Wii手柄操作的感觉无以伦比，真是太美妙了；4、游戏中的迷题设计充满了创意，不动脑子是过不去的；5、它会成为经典，是的，不朽的经典；6、上帝，我已经等不及要玩到它了，期盼的日子真是让人无法忍受。


1)Twilight Princess延续了时之笛的神话.如果你是头一次玩TP,没70小时你不用想通关.就算完全记好所有主线流程、飞掉影片、无视所有支线,也得花27小时.(太好了~~~ )
2)如果你在了解wii上的TP的独到之处后还坚持只玩GC版的话,你就是......(其后奉承的废话就不译了)
3)一如前作,TP的自由度是令人放心的.
4)有很多人担心TP黑暗世界的设定会带来像Metroid Prime 2般的问题,但Matt Casamassina告诉你:没这回事,两个不同版本的海拉尔(正常和暮色世界)反而是令人惊讶之处.
5)说明wii版TP的操作(反正十多天后就玩到了,先故作神秘吧)
6)TP的世界最少比时之笛大5倍,大量優美景色和神秘世界等着玩家体验.(Matt还说单是Ordon Village就用了5小时探素,太夸张了吧)
7)TP的主线难度将和时之笛、玛祖拉面具持相同水准.但心之碎片完整化由原来用4个变成5个,怪物破坏力提升.(竟然boss战完全没提......)
8)总的来说,Twilight Princess将会令Legend of Zelda进入新的经典,其风格更会成为往后游戏的基准.


有谁能全翻译吗,太长了.

能是第六个满分游戏么:D

这样的游戏叫俺如何不买?

偶的最爱，值得期待。

求全文翻译。

数满分游戏就任式最多.应该是第7个满分游戏了吧

怎样才能买到wii啊~~!@@@@
为了Wii 我房子都买好了.

6)TP的世界最少比时之笛大5倍,大量優美景色和神秘世界等着玩家体验

这个赞！！

五个碎片才一个心啊？干吗要改？

大期待啊。Wii不知道啥时候能入手啊。

70小时也太长了

不禁让人怀疑到底是内容充实还是路途遥远....

当时大神似乎也是号称70小时来着……

还有一个月，12月2号

不知道我要延多少天拿到

:D 杀人鸟~


BSBSBSBSBSSBSBSBSBS~
就不能渣点么。

流程70小时有点过长了，应该是收集全所有要素的时间吧。
年纪大了，要花超长时间才能通关的游戏都有点怕怕啊。