Yesterday afternoon I beat Zelda: Twilight Princess. As the second game in the second round of my contest, is this entry in the Zelda world a great new adventure, or is it simply an updated version of previous games? Well, read on to find out.

Graphically, the game is beautiful. The characters are all unique, and look really nice; the enemies are also really well rendered, each is very distinct, and looks great. The areas are all different and they range from the fiery Death Mountain to the frozen Snowpeak Mouintian. The best thing about the areas is that they are fully loaded when you enter, and some areas are really vast. Normally you can see from one side of the map to the other, allowing you to spot enemies ready for attack, certain landmarks, etc. However, the audio is not so awesome. The soundtrack doesn’t tend to stand up to games like Xenosaga, Final Fantasy, etc. Most of the songs are rehashed versions of old songs (which is nice for nostalgia), and there is no voice acting whatsoever (besides a number of lines from Midna, but they’re in Japanese).

The game, in my opinion, is very similar in structure to Ocarina of Time. The first few dungeons are so similar in atmosphere that it’s almost unbelievable. However, that doesn’t detract too much from the experience. The old weapons are back (slingshot, Hero’s Bow), some old items are redone (Boomerang, Clawshot), and there are some brand new items to enjoy (Epona’s call, Dominion Rod, The Wheel thing). The game plays a lot like OoT, MM, WW, etc, and the gameplay is very satisfying, as it puts a new twist on the tried formula. The one big difference in this game, however, is the ability to play as Wolf Link. Certain points in the game allow you to access this form which can fight (better than Human Link at first), dig holes (getting into secret areas), and sniff out certain scents once they’re learned. Also present in this game are a number of sidequests, optional areas, bottles, and secret combat moves.

The game lasted about 30 for me, and I only did one major sidequest (the bug one), and no optional areas. That’s a great length, especially for this kind of game. I think that one replay would be decent, one to get all the Heart Pieces, do the sidequests, etc. But, more than that might be overkill. If you liked OoT, then you’ll most likely like this one, too, as they’re similar in gameplay mechanics. Great game overall, just lacking in a few (small) areas.